Words with æ in Danish and e in Norwegian

The letter æ is used in both Danish and Norwegian. For example,the Norwegian word vær means weather and in both languages the word bær means berry. However, it is far more common in Danish. In fact, many Danish words with æ have e in Norwegian. Here is a list to illustrate:

bælte belte (belt)

blæk blekk (ink)

færge ferje (ferry)

gæst gjest (guest)

knæ kne (knee)

mælk melk (milk)

næse nese (nose)

træ tre (tree)

æble eple (apple)

æg egg (egg)

The letter æ was once used in English. It is a letter of both the Danish and Norwegian alphabets. In many cases, Danish words with the letter æ correspond to the letter e in Norwegian.

Unstressed Mid Vowels in Portuguese

Portuguese has two mid front vowels and two mid front back vowels. They can be high mid or low mid. The quality of the unstressed mid vowels varies from one dialect to another. Let us illustrate with two words.

The word fonologia (phonology) has two mid back vowels. They are in the first two syllables and are unstressed. The stress is penultimate. In northern Brazil the first two mid back vowels are low mid. They can also be called open. However, in southern Brazil, they are high mid or closed. In Portugal, the mid back vowels in the word fonologia are raised and have the quality of [u]. Not all unstressed mid vowels are raised in European Portuguese, but in many cases they are.

Another word with two mid vowels is energia (energy). In this word they are mid front vowels. As in the word fonologia (phonology), the stress is penultimate. In northern Brazil, the mid front vowels are low mid, but in southern Brazil they are high mid. They can also be distinguished with the terms open and closed. However, in Portugal, they are raised and retracted and thus pronounced with a high central unrounded vowel. The high central unrounded vowel does not occur in Brazilian Portuguese. 

The dialects of southern Brazil realize unstressed mid vowels with mid high tongue position, but the dialects of northern Brazil realize them with mid low tongue position. The unstressed mid vowels of northern Brazil can be classified as open, and the unstressed mid vowels of southern Brazil can be classified as closed. European Portuguese is different. The unstressed mid vowels are often raised, but in those cases in which they are not, they are open vowels.

The Word So

The word so is a very useful word. It can be used in a number of ways. Let us illustrate with a few examples.

It is often used as an adverb and modifies both adjectives and adverbs. In the sentence She is so good, the word modifies the adjective good. However, in the sentence She sings so well, it modifies the adverb well.

The word so can be used as a discourse marker. It can be used to summarize information as in the sentence So, the meeting will be moved to next week. However, it can also signal a change of topic such as So, what do you do?

Another meaning of the word so is also. This is illustrated in the sentence I love tennis and so does my brother. However, the word order is different. With the word also, the sentence is I love tennis and my brother does also.

The word so can also be placed after verbs and replace clauses. For example, to answer the question "Can he come?", it is possible to answer with "I hope so". The sentence "I hope so" expresses the idea "I hope that he can come". Here it replaces the subordinate clause "that he can come".

In many sentences so functions as a conjunction. This is the case in the sentence She isn't feeling well, so she can't come today. The word so connects two independent clauses and is thus a coordinating conjunction.

Though so is a small word, it is very common and has many meanings. It can modify both adjectives and adverbs, function as a discourse marker, express the meaning of also, function as a conjunction that connects independent clauses and follow verbs with the function of replacing clauses. The word so has many uses in English.

Dutch Words with the Same Form in English

Dutch is a Germanic language and shares many common words with English. A number of Dutch words are identical to English in both spelling and meaning. However, the pronunciation is often quite different. Here are ten Dutch words that are identical to English in both spelling and meaning but are pronounced differently:

beginner

blind

fruit

hand

school

water

week

wild

wind

winter

The velar/uvular fricative is used in the word beginner and the labiodental approximant is used in water, week and wind. Final consonant devoicing is applied in the words blind and wind.

Dutch vocabulary is often similar to that of English. The words in the list are identical to the English counterparts. However, they are pronounced differently.

Variants of the Prefix sub-

The prefix sub- is very productive in English. It comes from Latin and means under. Examples of words with the prefix include subcontinent, submarine and subterranean. The prefix also has many variants. They are the result of assimilation. Here are words with variants of the prefix sub-:

succint

suffix

suggest

support

surreal

suspend

The process which assimilated the prefix to derive the features is the following:

succint = sub + cint

suffix = sub + fix

suggest = sub + gest

support = sub + port

surreal = sub + real

suspend = sub + pend

The process which derives the prefix variants is reverse assimilation. However, in the case of suspend, the process is spirantization because the plosive /b/ becomes /s/. The variants illustrate the process of assimilation, a very common linguistic process.

Amsterdam Dutch

Dutch has many dialects. One well-known dialect is the dialect of Amsterdam. Let us discuss the phonology of Amsterdam Dutch.

In most Dutch dialects, the lateral is velarized in the syllable coda but not in the syllable onset. The word laat (late) is pronounced with a different lateral than the word stoel (chair). However, in Amsterdam Dutch, both words are pronounced with the velarized lateral.

All Dutch fricatives are devoiced in the syllable coda, but in Amsterdam Dutch, the fricatives /v/ and /z/ are often devoiced in the syllable onset. This is also common in other parts of the western Netherlands. In the eastern Netherlands and in Belgium, however, they are not devoiced in the syllable onset.

The /r/ is an alveolar trill or alveolar flap in the syllable onset. It can also be a trill or flap in the syllable coda, but now a number of speakers of Amsterdam Dutch use an alveolar approximant in the syllable coda. However, it is never the uvular fricative or trill of other Dutch dialects.

The mid front vowel of geel (yellow) and mid back vowel of brood (bread) are diphthongs. This is also the case in many other Dutch dialects. However, in the southern Netherlands and in Belgium, they are not diphthongs but monophthongs.

Features associated with the dialect of Amsterdam include the devoicing of the fricatives /v/ and /z/, the velarization of the lateral in all positions and the alveolar trill or tap. It does not differ so much from standard Dutch. The features of Amsterdam Dutch are closer to those of the northern dialects than of the southern ones.

Lateral of Jamaican English

In English the lateral can be pronounced with velarization. This is especially common in syllable-final position. Many varieties of English such as American and Received Pronunciation have velarized laterals. However, this is not the case in Jamaican English, a variety which never velarizes the lateral.

The lack of velarization of the lateral in Jamaican English is a feature that it has in common with many Irish dialects. The dialect of Newcastle in northern England is another variety which does not velarize the lateral. In Received Pronunciation, the lateral is not velarized syllable-initially but it is syllable-finally.

Jamaican English does not velarize laterals. The lack of velarization is one feature which distinguishes Jamaican English from many varieties of English. Many Irish dialects of English also lack velarization of the lateral.