Sunday, March 17, 2024

Pronunciation of Old French

Old French was spoken between the eighth and fourteenth centuries. The pronunciation was quite different from that of today. Though scholars cannot say precisely how it was pronounced, the spelling was a better indication of pronunciation than it is today.

The r was almost certainly an alveolar trill, the sound that is heard in languages such as Italian and Spanish. The ll was not a palatal approximant but a palatal lateral, and the ch was a voiceless alveolar affricate, a common sound in many languages. Today the letters ch represent not a voiceless affricate but rather a voiceless alveopalatal fricative. The process which changed the affricate to a fricative is known as spirantization.

The pronunciation of Old French was closer to the spelling than the pronunciation of modern French. For example, the word beau (beautiful) is pronounced with only one syllable. However, in Old French, it was two syllables. It consisted of a voiced bilabial plosive and monophthong in the first syllable and a diphthong in the second syllable.

The pronunciation of French has changed signifcantly through the years. Though the pronuncation of French changed, the spelling did not reflect the changes in the pronunciation. The result is that French spelling is not very phonetic. In this respect, French and English are similar.

Tuesday, March 12, 2024

English Sentence Structure

English is an SVO language. The basic sentence structure consists of the subject followed by the verb and the object. However, other structures are possible. The following sentences illustrate SVO and other sentence structures:

1) My father loves sports. (SVO)
2) It is late. (SVC)
3) They left. (SV)
4) I gave him an idea. (SVOO)
5) He lives in Boston. (SVA)
6) I saw her yesterday. (SVOA)
7) He arrived last week. (SVA)
8) Sometimes I paint. (ASV)
9) Autumn is my favourite season. (SVC)
10) Come here! (S) (VA)

The tenth sentence is different from the others because the subject you is not used. However, it is understood and can thus be classified as a covert subject. Adverbials usually follow the verb, but in the sentence Sometimes I paint, the adverbial precedes it. The fourth sentence has two objects, indirect and direct. The sentences exemplify the different structures of English sentences.

Wednesday, March 6, 2024

Ten Beautiful French Words

French has many beautiful words. Here is my list of ten beautiful French words:

argent (silver)
étoile (star)
fleur (flower)
lune (moon)
mirroir (mirrow)
montagne (mountain)
oiseau (bird)
rivière (river)
soleil (sun)
vent (wind)

Three of the ten words have nasal vowels. They are argent, montagne and vent. The final letters of argent, soleil and vent are silent.

Friday, February 23, 2024

Preservation of hv in Danish and Norwegian

Danish and Norwegian preserve the letters hv. They always occur word-initially. However, Swedish does not. In Swedish only the v appears.

Though Danish and Norwegian retain word-initial hv, the glottal fricative is not pronounced. The phonetic value is [v]. However, it was pronounced in the past. Swedish spelling reflects the current pronunciation because only v appears in Swedish spelling.

Here is a list of ten words to compare the Danish and Norwegian words with word-initial hv and Swedish words with word-initial v:

hvad vad (what)
hval val (whale)
hvede hvete vete (wheat)
hverandre varandra (each other)
hvem vem (who)
hvid hvit vit (white)
hvilken vilken (which)
hvor var (where)
hvordan hur (how)
hvorfor varför (why)

The words hvede and hvid are Danish, and hvete and hvit are Norwegian. Many interrogative pronouns begin with hv in Danish and Norwegian. Swedish no longer preserves the word-initial hv which is still present in Danish and Norwegian.

Wednesday, February 21, 2024

Variation in the Pronunciation of the Dorsal Fricative in Spanish

The dorsal fricative of Spanish can be produced with different places of articulation. It occurs in words such as gemelo (twin), jaula (cage) and juego (game). In many dialects it is realized as a velar fricative. However, in most of Spain it is a uvular fricative and in the Caribbean it is often realized as a glottal fricative.

The velar fricative is common in Mexico and many parts of South America. The glottal fricative is also used in many dialects. It is common in Colombia, Bolivia, the Caribbean and southern Spain. The uvular fricative is exclusive to northern and central Spain.

Spanish has many dialects. The dorsal fricative has three realizations. It can be uvular, velar or glottal. The uvular pronunciation is only used in Spain.

Friday, February 16, 2024

Rioplatense Spanish

Rioplatense Spanish is the variety of Spanish spoken in most of Argentina and in Uruguay. It originated in the Rio de la Plata Basin. One of the most distinguishing characteristics of Rioplatense Spanish is the alveopalatal fricative. It replaces the palatal approximant used in most varieties of Spanish.

In Argentina Rioplatense Spanish is spoken in southern Argentina and in the capital city. It is not spoken in northwestern Argentina nor in the northeastern region which borders Paraguay. Rioplatense Spanish is spoken in all of Uruguay.

The alveopalatal fricative is usually voiceless in the capital city of Buenos Aires and in Uruguay. In other parts of the country, however, it is usually voiced. It can be heard in words such as yo (I), ayer (yessterday), caballo (horse) and lluvia (rain).

Rioplatense Spanish is spoken in two countries, Argentina and Uruguay. It is spoken in all of Uruguay and most of Argentina. Though it originated in the Rio de la Plata Basin, it is now spoken over a much larger area.

Monday, February 12, 2024

One Word With Different Pronunciations in Three Languages

Danish, Norwegian and Swedish are similar languages. However, it can be the case that the same word in spelling and meaning is pronounced differently in each one. The word banan means banana in the three languages. The pronunciation of the word is different in each language. 

In Danish the word banan is transcribed /banæʔn/. The second syllable has a glottal stop before the word-final nasal. In Norwegian and Swedish, the word banan does not have the glottal stop of Danish. The word is transcribed /bɑnɑn/ in Norwegian. The Swedish pronunciation is similar, but in Swedish it is /banɑn/. The vowel of the first syllable is a central vowel in Swedish, but it is a back vowel in Norwegian.

Though Danish, Norwegian and Swedish are undoubtedly similar languages, they often differ in pronunciation. Norwegian and Swedish are closer to one another in pronunciation than Danish is. The word banan, which means banana, is pronounced differently in the three languages.

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Finding the Proto-Form

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