Centering Diphthongs in Received Pronunciation

Received Pronunciation has centering diphthongs. They are found in words with post-vocalic r. The centering diphthongs of Received Pronunciation consist of a high lax vowel and schwa.

Examples of words in Received Pronunciation that have centering diphthongs include beer, cure, here, tour and you're. The result is that words such as be and beer sound quite different.

The word bee has a high front unrounded tense vowel. However, in beer there is a diphthong. The first component of the diphthong is a high front unrounded lax vowel and the second is a schwa

In rhotic accents of English, centering diphthongs do not occur. However, in Received Pronunciation, they do. They consist of a high vowel followed by a schwa. The lax high vowel is either front unrounded or back rounded.

Variation in the Swedish of Stockholm

The Swedish spoken in Stockholm is considered the variety that is closest to standard Swedish. It is the variety of Swedish that is often heard on radio and TV. However, it is not complely uniform. There is variation in the Stockholm dialect.

Stockholm Swedish is known for its approximant r. The approximant is especially common in syllable-final position. However, it is not used by all speakers. Those who do not use the approximant use an alveolar flap instead.

The palatovelar fricative is common in words such as sju (seven) and stjärna (star). It is used not only in Stockholm but in much of Sweden. However, there are speakers of Stockholm Swedish who do not use it. They use a retroflex alveopalatal fricative. In fact, the use of the retroflex alveopalatal fricative is associated with wealthy speakers.

The vowels i and y can be pronounced with retracted pronunciation. Though this pronunciation can be considered marked, many speakers use it, and it is often associated with Stockholm. Many of those who use it are wealthy speakers.

The vowel ä in words such as näsa (nose) and räka (shrimp) is pronounced with a mid front unrounded lax vowel in most of Sweden. However, in Stockholm, there are speakers who use a mid front unrounded tense vowel. The use of the tense vowel is associated with the Swedish of Stockholm.

The Swedish of Stockholm forms the basis of standard Swedish. It is the variety that is usually taught to learners of the language. However, the dialect is not uniform. There is variety in the dialect of Stockholm.

French Tongue Twisters

Tongue twisters can be challenging, especially if they are said quickly. Here are ten French tongue twisters.

1. Seize chaises sèchent.

2. Un chasseur sachant chasser doit savoir chasser sans son chien.

3. Le plat plein ploie sous le poids ou ne ploie point?

4. Si six scies scient six cyprès, six cent six scies scient six cent six cyprès!

5. Suis-je bien chez ce cher Serge?

6. Les chaussettes de l'archiduchesse sont-elles sèches?

7. Seize jacinthes sèches dans seize sachets secs.

8. Je troque trente trucs turcs contre treize textes tchèques.

9. Quarante carottes crues croient que croquer crée des crampes.

10. Cinq chiens chassent six chats.

1. Sixteen chairs dry.

2. A hunter knowing how to hunt must know how to hunt without his dog.

3. Does the full plate bend under the weight or does it not bend?

4. If six saws saw six cypresses, six hundred and six saws saw six hundred and six cypresses.

5. Am I indeed at dear Serge's place?

6. Are the socks of the archduchess dry?

7. Sixteen dry hyacinths in sixteen dry bags.

8. I'm trading thirty Turkish things for thirteen Czech texts.

9. Forty raw carrots believe that crunching causes cramps.

10. Five dogs chase six cats.

Boundary Gemination in Finnish

Boundary gemination is a common feature in standard Finnish. In boundary gemination, the final consonant of a word causes the first consonant of the following word to be lengthened. Finnish has many examples of boundary gemination. Let us explore a few. 

The following Finnish words exemplify boundary gemination:

hernekeitto (pea soup)

itsepäinen (stubborn)

jätesäkki (garbage bag)

kasvihuone (greenhouse)

liikevaihto (revenue)

osoitekirja (address book)

pesukone (washing machine)

puhetaito (speaking skills)

rannekello (wristwatch)

taidekoulu (art school)

In the compound words, gemination occurs between word boundaries. The word hernekeitto consists of herne (pea) and keitto (soup). The k of keitto is geminated. This is also the case for osoitekirja, pesukone, rannekello and taidekoulu.

In itsepäinen, the p is geminated, in jätesäkki the s, in kasvihuone the h, in liikevaihto the v and in puhetaito the p. Despite the spelling, they are lengthened. Though boundary gemination often occurs with voiceless consonants, it can also occur with voiced as in liikevaihto.

Finnish has the phenomenon of boundary gemination. It is not indicated in the spelling of the language, but it is part of the spoken language. Certain dialects do not have boundary gemination, but it is definitely a feature of standard Finnish.

The Danish/Norwegian Word Ikke

The word ikke means not in both Danish and Norwegian. Though the word is identical in both languages, it is pronounced quite differently. Let us compare the pronunciation in the two languages.

In Norwegian the word ikke is pronounced with a high front unrounded lax vowel, a long voiceless velar plosive and a schwa. In Danish, the first vowel is a mid front unrounded tense vowel and the plosive is a voiced velar. Unlike in Norwegian, the Danish plosive is not long. The final vowel is also a schwa.

Danish has another possible pronunciation. The word-final vowel can be deleted. In this case, the word has only one syllable and not two. The monosyllabic pronunciation is considered less formal.

Danish and Norwegian share many words in common. The word ikke means not in both languages. However, the word is pronounced quite differently in the two languages. In fact, Danish and Norwegian are not so similar with respect to pronunciation.

Lack of Vowel Reduction in Southern Brazilian Portuguese

In parts of southern Brazil, the unstressed mid vowels retain their full value. In other words, they are neither raised nor reduced. This is especially true of rural areas with significant immigration from Germany, Italy and Slavic countries.

The words importante (important) and carro (car) are pronounced with word-final high vowels in most of Brazil. This is also true in Portugal. However, in parts of southern Brazil, they are mid vowels. 

This phonetic characteristic is considered conservative. There may be two factors to explain it. Southern Brazil received many immigrants who spoke German, Italian and Slavic languages. The phonetic structure of their languages reinforced the articulation of unreduced vowels. Another is the geographical proximity to Spanish. The south has borders with Uruguay and Argentina. Constant historical contact with Spanish, a language that completely lacks vowel reduction, further stabilized the preservation of unstressed mid vowels in the region.

Vowel reduction, also known as vowel raising, is common in Portuguese. However, it is often resisted in the dialects of southern Brazil. This may be explained by the arrival of immigrants whose languages did not have vowel reduction and by the geographic proximity to Spanish.

Languages of Indonesia

The official language of Indonesia is Indonesian. It is similar to Malay, and in fact, Indonesian and Malay are mutually intelligible. In addition to Indonesia, many other languages are spoken in the country.

Javanese has many speakers, and most of them are on the island of Java. Sundanese also has many speakers, and many of them are found in the western part of Java. Madurese is primarily spoken on the island of Madura. In western Sumatra, there are many speakers of Minangkabau. Two other prominent languages are Balinese and Acehnese.

Though most Indonesians can speak Indonesian, many other languages are spoken in the country. After Indonesian, the most widely-spoken languages of Indonesia are Javanese and Sundanese. Indonesia is a  country of great linguistic diversity.