Garden Path Sentences

Garden path sentences are sentences which are often misinterpreted. They are not so easy for the reader to parse. The reason is that they contain words which appear to have more than one structural analysis.

Here are five examples of garden path sentences:

The old man the boat.
The horse raced past the old barn fell.
I told the girl the cat scratched Mark would help her.
The florist sent the roses was pleased.
The government plans to increase taxes were defeated.

The first sentence can be misinterpreted because old man isn't a noun phrase. Here old is a noun and man is a verb. If we write It is the old who man the boat, the meaning is clear.

The second sentence is in passive voice. We can clarify the meaning by writing The horse which was raced past the barn fell.

In the third sentence Mark is not an object but a subject. We can rewrite the sentence as follows: I told the girl who the cat scratched that Mark would help her.

The fourth sentence is also in passive voice. We can clarify the meaning by writing The florist who the roses were sent to was pleased.

In the fifth sentence government plans isn't a noun followed by a verb. Here government plans is a noun phrase. We can clarify the meaning with a possessive noun: The government's plans to increase taxes were defeated.

Garden path sentences often confuse the reader because they have a structure which can be misread. They're called garden path sentences because to be led down the garden path means to be deceived. In many cases, the addition of a few words can help to clarify the intended meaning.

R-Dissimilation in American English

Many American speakers drop one /r/ from words which have two /r/s. The deleted segment is always post-vocalic. This type of deletion is normally produced by rhotic speakers who tend to retain the /r/ in every other position. It is a dissimilation process because it avoids the presence of identical segments in the same word.

The process usually occurs with adjacent syllables such as in larger but also with intervening syllables such as in thermometer. The latter is an example of long-distance assimilation. Deletion usually occurs in unstressed syllables, but can also occur in stressed syllables such as in farther.

Here is a list of words with r-dissimlation:

adve(r)sary
cate(r)pillar
co(r)ner
easte(r)ner
fa(r)ther
forme(r)ly
forwa(r)d
hambu(r)ger
gove(r)nor
la(r)ger
northe(r)ner
o(r)der
pa(r)ticular
pe(r)formance
qua(r)ter
repe(r)toire
southe(r)ner
su(r)prise
the(r)mometer
ve(r)nacular
weste(r)ner

(The /r/ in parentheses indicates the deleted segment).

The deleted /r/ is usually the first post-vocalic /r/ in the word, but this is not the case in formerly, forward and northerner. Notice that in these cases the deleted /r/ is unstressed. R-dissimilation doesn't apply to word-final position. Here the /r/ is always maintained.

R-dissimilation appears to be most common between labial and coronal consonants. This is the case in adversary, caterpillar, farther, formerly, governor, northerner, particular, repertoire, southerner, surprise, thermometer, vernacular and westerner. It doesn't occur with velar consonants. For example, the first /r/ is never deleted in worker.

R-dissimilation is common in many varieties of American English. This phonological process deletes a post-vocalic /r/ from a word with two. The deleted /r/ is usually unstressed and between coronal and labial consonants. The speakers who apply r-dissimilation usually retain the /r/ in all other positions.

Goulash

Goulash is Hungary's most famous dish. There are many variations of this soup. Here is the recipe:

600 grams of beef cut into cubes
2 tablespoons oil
2 onions, chopped
2 cloves of garlic
2 tomatoes, peeled and chopped
2 green peppers, seeded and sliced
3 potatoes, sliced
1 tablespoon paprika
salt and pepper to taste

Heat the oil and fry the onions until they are golden.
Add the beef cubes and brown.
Add the garlic, salt and pepper.
Pour water to cover and let simmer on low heat.
After 30 minutes add the potatoes, tomatoes and green peppers.
Add water (2-3 cups) to cover.
Cook until the vegetables are ready.

If you like, you can serve goulash with sour cream. Enjoy!

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!