Language of Birds

Dr. Toshitaka Suzuki, an animal linguist at the University of Tokyo, proved that a Japanese bird called the tit uses syntax in its calls. By combining two different sounds, the birds are able to communicate messages such as the location of a food source and a warning to other birds of the presence of a predator. The birds use syntax because the sounds that are combined to produce a message must be used in a specific order.

Dr. Suzuki's research illustrated that the order of the sounds is important to the birds. It is a fundamental aspect of the structure of human language. For example, the sentence "Alex sees Helen" has a different meaning from "Helen sees Alex".

The Japanese tit uses a variety of different calls. One is to signal danger and another is to call other birds. One call warns the birds to approach cautiously because of the presence of a predator, but reversing the other does not produce the same response. This confirms that the birds understand the sequence of the sounds.

This research suggests that the ability to combine sounds into meaningful sequences also exists in birds. In other words, they have the cognitive ability to merge sounds in a specific order. Dr. Suzuki's work proves that they use syntax to communicate with one another.

Poem (Dreams)

 The American poet Langston Hughes wrote the poem Dreams. Here it is:

                                          Dreams

Hold fast to dreams

For if they die

Life is a broken-winged bird

That cannot fly.

Hold fast to dreams

For when dreams go

Life is a barren field

Frozen with snow.

The poem consists of two stanzas with four verses each. Each verse consists of four syllables, but the third verse of the first stanza has seven, and the third verse of the second has six. The second and four verses of each stanza rhyme.

Langston Hughes expresses the importance of dreams. He compares the death of dreams to a bird that cannot fly and a barren field of snow. Just like the injured bird and the barren field, a life without dreams is a life that is not complete.

Quirky Subject in Icelandic

In Icelandic, the subject is not always in nominative. It is often marked accusative or dative. This type of subject is called a quirky subject, and Icelandic is a language in which it occurs.

The sentence I am cold with the meaning of I feel cold is Mér er kalt in Icelandic. The subject is in dative case. In the sentence I want water, Icelandic uses the accusative case in subject position. The Icelandic sentence is Mig langar í vatn. In both sentences, English uses nominative case, but Icelandic does not.

In English the subject is always marked in nominative case. However, in other languages such as Icelandic, this is not the case. Icelandic has quirky subjects, subjects that are not marked with the nominative case.

May/Must in Danish and Norwegian

Danish and German are both Germanic languages, and they share many similarities. However, sometimes the same word has different meanings in the two languages. One such word is må.

In Norwegian the word means must and in Danish it means may. Here the word may expresses permission and can be replaced with can. Let us illustrate with examples.

The sentence "You must go" is Du skal gå in Danish and Du må gå in Norwegian. Though the sentence is identical in both languages, the meaning is different. To say "You may go" with the meaning of "You have permission to go", Danish uses Du må gå and Norwegian uses Du kan gå.

Though Danish and Norwegian are often very similar, there are significant differences. In certain cases, identical words havc different meanings. This is the case with the Danish word for may and the Norwegian word for must.

Portuguese Lateral Approximant

The Portuguese lateral approximant has two allophones. One is the alveolar lateral and the other is velarized. They are also known as the light l and dark l. In Brazilian Portuguese, however, the velarized lateral is only used in the southernmost part of Brazil. In other parts, the lateral is vocalized.

In the word lago (lake), the lateral is not velarized. However, in the word sal (salt), the lateral is velarized in Portugal and in the southernmost part of Brazil. In the rest of Brazil, the syllable-final l is vocalized. In intervocalic position, the lateral is usually pronounced without velarization in Brazil, but with a bit of velarization in Portugal. 

Portuguese has two allophones for the lateral approximant. One is used for syllable-initial position and the other for syllable-final. In European Portuguese, the syllable-final lateral is velarized, but in Brazilian Portuguese, the lateral is vocalized by the majority of speakers.

Modification of Nouns with -tion and -sion

Many English nouns end with the suffix variants -tion and -sion. They are both variants of the suffix -ion. In many cases, the suffix -ion is added directly to the root. This is the case with forms such as confession and reaction. However, many nouns modify the root in combination with the suffix.

The following forms all have modified roots:

add-addition

appear-apparition

apply-application

combine-combination

comprehend-comprehension

describe-description

divide-division

organize-organization

reduce-reduction

solve-solution

The word appear is quite different from apparition. In fact, the word appearance also exists, but the word apparition is used for an unexpected, remarkable appearance. In words such as addition and combination, the epenthentic vowel changes the syllable structure from VC.C to V.CV.

Voiceless Vowels of European Portuguese

Voiceless vowels often become voiceless in European Portuguese. This happens with vowels that are unstressed and is very common at the end of words and in rapid speech. The vowels can also be completely deleted.

The words quatro (four), sete (seven) and escola (school) all have vowels that can be voiceless. In the word quatro, the final vowel can be voiceless or completely deleted. This is also the case with the final vowel of sete. In the word escola, the first vowel can be voiceless. When the vowels are voiceless, they are pronounced without vocal cord vibration.

In European Portuguese, voiceless vowels are very common. They also occur in varieties of Brazilian Portuguese, but they are a feature that is much more associated with European. The use of voiceless vowels is more common in the dialects of southern and central Portugal than in the northern ones.