Raised Non-Sonorant Alveolar Trill of Czech

The raised-non sonorant alveolar trill of Czech is a rare consonant sound. It is produced by simultaneously rolling the tongue and creating a fricative without vocal fold vibration. In Czech it is represented by the letter ř.

Many Czech words have the consonant. It occurs in words such as  řeka (river), dveře (door), tři (three) and lékař (doctor). The raised non-sonorant alveolar trill of Czech can occur in all word positions: initial, medial and final.

The raised non-sonorant alveolar trill no longer occurs in Polish, but it once did. Though Slovak is closely related to Czech, it does not occur in Slovak. The raised non-sonorant alveolar trill of Czech is a rare consonant that is both a fricative and a trill.

One Sentence in Four Norwegian Dialects

Norwegian can be classified into four main dialects. They are the eastern, western, central and northern. To illustrate the differences, let us look at one sentence in the four languages. It is important to mention that the sentences can vary within the dialects themselves because they also exhibit variation.

The English sentence is I don't know what they want. Here it is in the four main dialects:

Jeg vet ikke hva de vil. (eastern)

Eg veit ikkje kva dei vil. (western)

Æ veit itj ka dæm vil. (central)

Æ veit ikkje ka dei vil. (northern)

The four sentences are similar, but they are clearly different. Only the eastern dialect uses the word hva for what. The sentences reveal a few differences with respect to Norwegian dialects.

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.