Trisyllabic Laxing

Trisyllabic laxing is a process in English which affects tense vowels and diphthongs. They become lax in word formation when followed by two or more syllables and the first syllable is stressed. The process first occurred in Old English.

Here are examples of trisyllabic laxing:

divine divinity
profound profundity
serene serenity

denounce denunciation
pronounce pronunciation
renounce renunciation

apply applicative
derive derivative
provoke provocative

impede impediment
school scholarly
sole solitude

fable fabulous
tyrant tyranny
vile vilify

In the cases of denounce, pronounce and renounce, the lax vowel in the nouns denunciation, pronunciation and renunciation does not carry primary stress but rather secondary stress. This stress shift is also evident in word pairs such as civilize/civilization, organize/organization and realize/realization. In these word pairs, however, trisyllabic laxing is optional.

Trisyllabic laxing has exceptions. The process does not apply in the following words:

alien alienate
brave bravery
danger dangerous
hyphen hyphenate
lone loneliness
moment momentary
motor motorist
nice nicety

The rule of trisyllabic laxing applies to many English words. The process first developed in Old English and affects tense vowels and diphthongs. They become lax when they are stressed and are in the third syllable or farther from the end of the derived form. However, this rule has exceptions.

British and American Compound Nouns

English uses many compound nouns. Most of them are the same in all varieties of English. However, a few compounds are different in British English and American English. Here is a list with the British compound on the left and the American on the right:

cookery book cookbook
dialling tone dial tone
doll's house dollhouse
driving licence driver's license
filing cabinet file cabinet
sailing boat sailboat
skimmed milk skim milk
skipping rope jumprope
sport section sports section
swimming suit swimsuit

In a number of compounds, British English uses a gerund such as in sailing boat and swimming suit. British English uses a possessive noun in doll's house, and American English uses one in driver's license. Though most compound nouns are the same in all varieties of English, these examples illustrate a few differences.

Excerpt from Romeo and Juliet

Romeo and Juliet is undoubtedly one of William Shakespeare's most popular plays. The language of the play is very beautiful. Let us analyze the language of one excerpt.

Juliet says the following words:

'Tis but thy name that is my enemy;
Thou art thyself, though not a Montague.
What's Montague? it is nor hand, nor foot,
Nor arm, nor face, nor any other part
Belonging to a man. O, be some other name!
What's in a name? that which we call a rose
By any other name would smell as sweet;
So Romeo would, were he not Romeo call'd,
Retain that dear perfection which he owes
Without that title. Romeo, doff thy name,
And for that name which is no part of thee
Take all myself.

Juliet tells Romeo that it is only his name that is her enemy. He is the one she loves, but he is not a Montague. This seems to be a contradiction because his last name is Montague, but she means that he is not her enemy. She explains that the word Montague is not a part belonging to a man. In other words, his name does not define him.

She wishes that he had another name. If he did, her family could accept him. She then explains that if a rose had a different name, it would still smell the same. For her Romeo's name is not important because she loves him. It is only a title. Even if he had a different name, he would be just as perfect. But then she asks him to remove his name.

At the end of Juliet's monologue, she tells Romeo that his name is no part of him. He bears no responsibility for his name and she cannot fault him for it. She offers herself to him.

These powerful words spoken by Juliet affirm her love for Romeo. She makes it clear that his name does not change the person he is. Juliet wants to be with him and asks him to take her. These words are among the most famous in the play Romeo and Juliet.

Hasselback Potatoes

Hasselback potatoes are a great way of preparing potatoes. Use a wooden spoon to slice through the potatoes but not all the way. These potatoes are the Swedish version of baked potatoes. Here is the recipe:

5 potatoes
2 tablespoons butter
salt
2 tablespoons breadcrumbs

Preheat the oven to 225 degrees Celsius.
Peel the potatoes and make small slices in each one.
Add butter and bake for 20 minutes.
Take the potatoes out and add salt and breadcrumbs.
Bake for another twenty minutes or until the potatoes are ready.

If you prefer, you can add grated cheese instead of breadcrumbs. Enjoy!

Phonetic Merger in Spanish

The Spanish y of yo (I) and ll of lleno (full) have merged in most dialects. The two are now pronounced as a palatal fricative or approximant by most speakers. For those who maintain a distinction, the ll is a palatal lateral.

In most of Argentina and Uruguay, the sound is pronounced as a voiced alveopatal fricative. This sound is present in the words leisure, pleasure and treasure. Among younger speakers of Buenos Aires, this sound is often realized as a voiceless alveopalatal fricative as in fish, pressure and sugar.

A few parts of the Spanish-speaking world maintain the distinction between the y of yo and ll of lleno. The distinction remains in parts of Argentina, Ecuador and Peru, in most of Bolivia, and in Paraguay and the Philippines. In Spain the distinction has been lost in most of the country.

The original palatal approximant and palatal lateral of Spanish have merged in the speech of most speakers. This is the result of a process known as delateralization. However, a few areas still maintain the distinction.

Milk Porridge

Milk porridge is not as well known as sour cream porridge, but is a great alternative. Here is the recipe for this Norwegian dessert:

1 litre milk
200 millilitres flour
50 grams butter
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon

Slowly add the flour to the milk over medium heat. Stir until the mixture thickens. Lower the temperature and cook for five minutes. Add the butter and salt at the end. Serve with sugar and cinnamon .

This is a simple and tasty dessert. Enjoy!

Sponge Cake

Sponge cake is delicious and easy to make. Here is a Swedish recipe:

2 eggs
150 ml sugar
2 teaspoons grated lemon rind
300 ml flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
75 grams butter
100 ml milk

Beat the eggs and sugar until thick.
Add the flavouring, flour and baking powder.
Melt the butter and cool.
Stir into the batter.
Add the milk gradually.
Mix to form a smooth batter.
Pour into a buttered cake pan that has been sprinkled with breadcrumbs.
Bake for about 45 minutes at 175 C.

This cake is great with coffee or tea. Enjoy!