The Barber of Seville

One of the most popular comedic operas is The Barber of Seville by the Italian composer Gioachino Rossini. The opera has two acts and is considered a masterpiece of comedy and music. It is based on the French play by Pierre Beaumarchais.

The opera begins in a public square outside the house of Bartolo. He is a doctor of medicine and Rosina's guardian. A group of musicians and a young student named Lindoro serenade Rosina, but it is to no avail. Lindoro, who is actually the young Count Almaviva in disguise, wants Rosina to love him for who he is and not for his money. After Lindoro pays the musicians, they leave him to plan his next move.

Figaro, the barber, approaches Count Almaviva. Since Figaro used to be a servant of Count Almaviva, the Count asks him for assistance with Rosina. Figaro advises the Count to disguise himself as a drunk soldier and seek accommodation from Bartolo in order to enter the house. For his suggestion, Figaro is generously rewarded. 

In a room of Bartolo's house, Rosalina writes to Lindoro because she wants to get to know him better. As she is leaving the room, Bartolo enters with the music teacher Basilio. Bartolo is suspicious of the Count, and Basilio suggests that they create false rumours about him to be rid of him.

When the two leave, Rosina and Figaro enter. Figaro asks Rosina to write a few nice words to Lindoro, but she has already done so. Bartolo remains suspicious of the Count, but Rosina does not reveal anything.

Count Almaviva disguises himself as a soldier and pretends to be drunk. He then enters the house and asks for accommodation. In fear of the drunk man, Berta the housekeeper rushes to Bartolo for protection. Bartolo tells the soldier, Count Almaviva in disguise, that he has an official exemption which excuses him from the requirement to accommodate soldiers. The Count pretends to be too drunk to understand and dares Bartolo to fight. While Bartolo searches his desk for the document to prove his exemption, the Count whispers to Rosina that he is Lindoro in disguise and gives her a love letter.

Bartolo suspiciously demands to know what is in Rosalina's hands, but she fools him by handing over her laundry list. Bartolo and the Count begin to argue loudly and then Basilio and Figaro enter. Figaro warns that the noise is disturbing the entire neighbourhood. Finally, the noise attracts the attention of the police officer and his troops who rush into the room. Bartolo demands that the police officer arrest the drunken soldier, but when the Count quietly reveals his true identity, the police officer refuses. Bartolo and Basilio are both astonished.

Count Almaviva again appears at Bartolo's house, but this time he is disguised as Don Alonso, a priest and music teacher who says he is substituting for the ill Basilio. To gain Bartolo's trust, Don Alonso tells him that he has intercepted a note from Lindoro to Rosina, and that Lindoro is a servant of Count Almaviva who has bad intentions towards Rosina. While the Count pretends to give Rosina her singing lesson, Figaro arrives to shave Bartolo. Unwilling to leave Rosina alone with Don Alonso, Bartolo insists that Figaro shave him there in the music room. Basilio suddenly appears for his scheduled lesson, but he is generously bribed by Almaviva and persuaded to leave. However, Bartolo overhears Don Alonso and Rosina speaking, and angrily tells Don Alonso to leave.

Later Bartolo orders Basilio to have the notary ready to marry him to Rosina that evening. Bartolo shows Rosina the letter she wrote to Lindoro and persuades her it is proof that Lindoro is only a companion of Count Almaviva and is playing with her at the Count's request. Rosina believes the story and agrees to marry Bartolo.

Count Almaviva and Figaro climb up a ladder to the balcony and enter Rosina's room through a window. Rosina accuses Count Almaviva, who she believes is Lindoro, of betraying her. At that moment, Count Almaviva reveals his identity and the two reconcile. While Count Almaviva and Rosina speak, Figaro urges them to leave. Basilio and the notary approach the front door. The Count, Rosina and Figaro try to leave with the ladder, but discover it has been removed. 

Using bribes and threats, Count Almaviva convinces the notary to marry him to Rosina with Basilio and Figaro as the witnesses. Bartolo enters with the police officer and his men, but it is too late. Though he is very upset, Bartolo is calmed by the news that he can keep Rosina's dowry. 

The opera The Barber of Seville is a masterpiece of music and comedy. Though the barber is in the title of the opera, the main characters are Count Almaviva and Rosina. Gioachino Rossini composed more than 40 operas, but The Barber of Seville is undoubtedly his most popular.

Unique Characteristics of French Phonology

French is a Romance language. However, the phonology of French differs from that of other Romance languages in many areas. Let us analyze the phonology of French.

Unlike other Romance languages, French has front rounded vowels. They occur in words such as lune (moon), tu (you), deux (two) and feu (fire). In words such as jeune (young) and peur (fear), the vowel is mid front lax rounded, but in deux and feu, it is mid front tense rounded.

In words such as rouge (red), roi (king) and mer (sea), French has a uvular consonant. It can be pronounced as a uvular fricative or uvular trill. It is different from the alveolar trill of Italian and Spanish.

A sound which is used in French but not in other Romance languages is the labiopalatal approximant. It occurs in words such as cuisse (thigh), huit (eight) and nuit (night).

Also characteristic of French is the stress. Instead of the word stress associated with other Romance languages, French tends to stress each word quite evenly with the strongest stress at the end of the phrase. In the phrase Excusez-moi (Excuse me), the main stress is placed on the final word moi.

French phonology differs signficantly from that of other Romance languages. Differences include the front rounded vowels, the uvular fricative or trill and the labiopalatal approximant. Another difference is the phrase-final stress rather than word stress.

The Necklace

The Necklace is a short story by the French writer Guy de Maupassant. It conveys the message that people should be happy with what they have. If they are not, it can bring them problems and anxiety.

The story introduces the reader to Mathilde Loisel, a pretty woman married to a clerk in the Ministry of Education. Though he works hard, he can only provide her with a modest lifestyle. She regrets her economic circumstances and imagines a more extravagant lifestyle. Though she has no fancy jewels or clothing, she longs for them constantly. She has one wealthy friend, Madame Forestier, but refuses to visit her because of the sadness it gives her.

One night her husband proudly gives her an invitation to a formal party hosted by the Ministry of Education. He hopes that his wife will be happy to attend, but she is angry and begins to cry. She explains that she has nothing to wear and she suggests that he give the invitation to a friend whose wife can afford better clothes. Her husband is upset by her reaction and asks how much a nice dress costs. She thinks it over carefully and tells him that 400 francs is enough. Though he is astounded by the amount, he agrees to give her the money.

As the day of the party approaches, Mathilde behaves strangely. She confesses that the reason for her behaviour is her lack of jewels. Her husband suggests that she wear flowers, but she refuses. He asks her to visit Madame Forrestier and borrow jewels from her. Madame Forestier agrees, and Mathilde selects a diamond necklace. She is very grateful for her friend's generosity.

At the party, Mathilde is the most beautiful woman, and everyone notices her. She loves the attention and feels very satisfied. At 4 a.m. she finally looks for her husband, who has fallen asleep in an empty room. He covers her shoulders in a coat and asks her to wait inside, away from the cold air, while he gets a taxi. She is ashamed of the cheap coat but follows him outside and they get into a taxi.

When they arrive home, Mathilde is sad that the night has ended. As she removes her coat, she discovers that her necklace is no longer around her neck. In a panic, her husband goes outside and retraces their steps. Terrified, she sits and waits for him. He returns and is in even greater panic because he has not found the necklace. He tells her to write to Madame Forestier with the excuse that she damaged the necklace and is getting it repaired.

They continue to look for the necklace but fail to find it. After one week, her husband says they have to replace it. They visit many jewellers in search of a similar necklace and finally find one. It costs 40,000 francs, but the jeweller says he can give it to them for 36,000. Mr. Loisel decides to use the money he has saved from his father and to borrow money from different people . He then buys the necklace, and Mathilde returns it to Madame Forestier. Her friend is annoyed that Mathilde took so long to return it, but does not open the case to inspect it. Mathilde is relieved.

The Loisels begin a life of poverty. They dismiss their servant and move into a smaller apartment. Mr. Loisel now has now three jobs and Mathilde spends all her time doing housework. Their misery lasts ten years, but they finally manage to repay their financial debts. Mathilde's beauty has disappeared. She and her husband are tired and stressed from their many years of hardship.

One Sunday, while she is out for a walk, Mathilde notices Madame Forestier. Feeling emotional, she approaches her and greets her. Madame Forestier does not recognize her, and when Mathilde identifies herself, Madame Forestier cannot help but say that she looks different. Mathilde explains the long story of losing the necklace, replacing it and working for ten years to pay their debts. At the end of her story, Madame Forestier takes Mathilde's hands and tells her that the original necklace was imitation and worth 500 francs at the most.

Mathilde longs for a life of luxury, but her dissatisfaction causes her many years of hardship. Though her husband cannot provide her with the lifestyle that she desires, he loves her. The story The Necklace teaches that people should be happy with what they have but also the value of honesty. If Mathilde had told Madame Loisel the truth about the necklace, she probably woud have been able to replace it easily.

Ambiguity of the Pronoun We

The pronoun we is the first person plural subject pronoun of English. Unlike the first person singular I, the specific number of the pronoun we is not clear. It may refer to two individuals or it may refer to more. It is also unclear whether the pronoun refers to the person addressed or not, and also whether or not it refers to men or to women.

In a number of languages, we has an inclusive form and an exclusive form. The inclusive form extends to the person who is addressed, but the exclusive form does not. Languages with both inclusive and exclusive forms include Fijian, Hawaiian, Malayalam and Punjabi.

Though the number expressed by the pronoun we is not specific, certain languages have a dual form. It indicates that the subject consists of two individuals. Languages which use the dual meaning of the pronoun we include Breton, Slovenian and Sorbian.

Spanish has the words nosotros and nosotras. The word nosotros refers to men or to men and women. However, the word nosotras refer to women only. 

In English the pronoun we can refer to two or more people, can include or exclude the person addressed, and it can refer solely to men, to men and women and to women only. In other languages, the pronoun has exclusive and inclusive forms, a dual form and in Spanish a form that is exclusively for women. The precise meaning of the pronoun can thus vary from one language to another.

Compound Words with Modified Pronunciations

Most compound words are pronounced with the identical pronunciation of each word in the compound. However, a few compound words are not. Let us look at ten compound words with modified pronunciations.

The following compound words have pronunciations which differ from the individual words:

breakfast

cupboard

endless

everybody

gentleman

gentlemen

necklace

nothing

vineyard

woodland

In the compound breakfast, both the word break and the word fast are not pronounced as they are in the individual words. 

This is also the case with cupboard. The final consonant of cup is not pronounced, and the word board is pronounced with a different vowel in the compound cupboard.

In the compound endless, the word less is pronounced with a schwa.

The word everybody has a different vowel in the second part of the compound. It is not the same vowel used in body.

The compound gentleman has a schwa in the word man. This is also true for the word gentlemen. The result is that gentleman and gentlemen are pronounced the same.

In the word necklace, the second word of the compound is not pronounced the same as the word lace. The final vowel in necklace is a schwa.

However, in the word nothing, it is the first part of the compound which is pronounced differently. The first vowel of nothing is different from the vowel of no.

In the compound word vineyard, both parts of the compound have different vowels from those of vine and yard. However, in British English, only the first word of the compound is pronounced differently.

The compound woodland has a different vowel in the second part of the compound. The word land has a schwa when it is in the compound word woodland.

Most compound words are pronounced the same as the individual words in the compound. The compounds boathouse, surfboard and weekday are pronounced with the identical pronunciations of each word in the compound. However, with certain words, the pronunciation is modified. This indicates that the pronunciation of compound words can change over time.

Examples of Cases in Latin

Cases are an important part of Latin grammar. Latin nouns use different ending based on their role in the sentence. Let us illustrate the use of four cases: nominative, accusative, genitive and dative.

The first Latin sentence we want to analyze is Puella cantat. The meaning of the sentence is The girl sings. In the sentence the word puella (girl) is in nominative case.

Now we can analyze Puellam videō. It means I see a girl. The word puellam (girl) is the object of the sentence. It is in accusative case.

The next sentence is Hic est liber puellae. It means This is the girl's book. In this sentence puellae (girl's) is in genitive case.

Let us now analyze the sentence Canem puellae dant. The meaning of the sentence is They give the girl a dog. In this sentence the word puellae is the indirect object. Though it has the same ending as in the sentence Hic est liber puellae (This is the girl's book), it is in dative case because it is the indirect object of the sentence.

The examples illustrate the importance of case in Latin. In English the word girl is invariable in the nominative, accusative and dative cases. However, in Latin puella is used for the nominative, puellam for the accusative, and puellae for the genitive and dative. It is clear that nouns in Latin are inflected more than they are in English.

Different Words in Danish, Norwegian and Swedish

Danish, Norwegian and Swedish are North Germanic languages and are closely related to one another. Many of the words used in the three languages are identical. However, they also have words that are quite different from one another. The first word is Danish, the second one is Norwegian and the third is Swedish. Here is a list of three words that differ in the three languages:

dreng gutt pojke (boy)

spand bøtte hink (bucket)

pige jente flicka (girl)

brint hydrogen väte (hydrogen)

overskæg bart mustasch (mustache)

larm bråk buller (noise)

ilt oksygen syre (oxygen)

rive rake räfsa  (rake)

hindbær bringebær hallon (raspberry)

i dere ni (you)

The words i/dere/ni are for the second personal plural. For the second person singular, all languages use du. The words hindbær and bringebær both have the word bær, the word for berry. Norwegian uses words that are similar to those of many other languages for hydrogen and oxygen, but Danish and Swedish do not.

It is evident from the list that Danish, Norwegian and Swedish words can differ considerably from one another. Though many words in the three languages are similar and even identical, it is not always the case. The words from the list illustrate this reality.