Vowel Retraction of Low Front Vowel in Western Canada

The low front vowel [æ] tends to be retracted before nasals in western Canada. In a study conducted by Hall (2000), participants from Vancouver produced a central vowel, but participants from Toronto did not.

The following words were produced with vowel retraction by partcipants from Vancouver:

bank
can
ham
hand
jam
lamb
land
man
pan
pants

Vowel retraction of the low front vowel before nasals appears common in Vancouver. The low central vowel is considered less marked than the low front. The phenomenon of vowel retraction in western Canada is an example of language change in progress.

Mate in 13 Moves

In a game of speed chess against Maryder of the USA, I mated in thirteen moves. My opponent played black. Here are the moves of the game along with my commentary:

1. e4 e6
2. d4 c6
3. Nf3 d5

Black challenges my centre.

4. exd cxd
5. c4 dxc
6. Bxc4 Nc6
7. Nc3 g6
8. d5 Nb4
9. 0-0 e5

The black king is exposed.

10. Bb5+ Nc6
11. Re1+ Ne7
12. Nxd5 a6

Both black knights are pinned. Black has no time to play a6. He needs to play Bg7 to prevent my next move.

13. Nf6#

Black gains a pawn early but fails to prevent mate. On my thirteenth move, he probably expects Ba4 or Bc4. My thirteenth move takes away the black king's only escape square.

Scots and the Great English Vowel Shift

The Great English Vowel Shift refers to a series of changes in the pronunciation of English vowels.  However, in Scots the vowels were not affected the same as in English. Two differences were with the back vowels [u] and [o]. The vowel [u] remained unaffected and did not diphthongize to [aʊ] and the vowel [o] first became the front rounded [ø] and later the vowel [e].

In Scots  the following words have the vowel sound [u]:

about
brown
cow
down
house
how
mouse
now
round
sour

In Scots the following words have the vowel sound [e]:

bone
broad
drove
home
no
oak
rope
soap
stone
whole

Many Scots words with [u] and [e] are similar to words in Danish, Norwegian and Swedish. Compare the following:

brown brun (Danish/Norwegian/Swedish)
house hus (Danish/Norwegian/Swedish)
how hur {Swedish)
mouse mus (Danish/Norwegian/Swedish)
round rund (Danish/Norwegian/Swedish)

bone ben (Danish/Swedish) bein (Norwegian)
home hem (Swedish) hjem (Danish/Norwegian)
no nej (Danish/Swedish) nei (Norwegian)
rope rep (Swedish) reb (Danish)
stone sten (Danish/Swedish) stein (Norwegian)

The Great English Vowel Shift did not change the vowels of Scots to the same extent as in English. The high back vowel did not change and the mid back vowel became the mid front vowel [e]. The result is that many words in Scots are pronounced similarly to words in Danish, Norwegian and Swedish.

Vowel Formants

Vowels can be represented by their frequencies. They have a different distribution of acoustic energy. Their formant values are the acoustic resonances of the vocal tract and are represented as dark bands in a spectrogram. Each vowel can be identified by the unique frequencies of the first and second formants.

Here are the approximate values of the first and second formants of five vowels:

[u] F1 300 Hz F2 800 Hz
[o] F1 500 Hz F2 1000 Hz
[i] F1 320 Hz F2 2500 Hz
[e] F1 500 Hz F2 2300 Hz
[a] F1 1000 Hz F2 1400 Hz

The low vowel [a] has the highest frequency at the first formant, but at the second formant, the vowel [i] has the highest. The high back vowel [u] has the lowest frequency at both formants. The vowel with the greatest difference in frequency between the two formants is [i].

In addition to articulatory characteristics, vowels can also be identified by their acoustic properties. All vowels have a different distribution of acoustic energy. Their formant values vary from speaker to speaker. However, the frequencies of the first and second formants are sufficient to identify every vowel.

Swahili Numbers

Swahili is a Bantu language. It is the official language of Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda, and it is widely used throughout East Africa. Here are the numbers from one to ten in Swahili:

moja
mbili
tatu
nne
tano
sita
saba
nane
tisa
kumi

The /t/ is aspirated in all positions. The word for two, mbili, consists of a word-initial homorganic consonant cluster. The word for four, nne, has a word-initial syllabic nasal.

Swahili is a language which is widely-spoken in East Africa. It belongs to the Niger-Congo language family, a large family which includes most of the languages of Africa. The numbers from one to ten clearly indicate that Swahili is very different from Indo-European languages.

Father-Bother and Cot-Caught Mergers

Two common mergers in English are the father-bother and cot-caught mergers. The first is almost universal in North America. The second is almost universal in Canada and common in the western and southern United States. In the United Kingdom, many speakers lack the merger. Let us explore the differences between the two mergers.

Received Pronunciation does not have the father-bother merger or the cot-caught merger. Here are the phonetic transcriptions of these four words in Received Pronunciation:

father [fɑðə] bother [bɔ:ðə] cot [kɒt] caught [cɔ:t]

In Received Pronunciation father has an unrounded vowel and bother has a rounded one. However, in the case of cot and caught, both words have a rounded vowel.

In North America, many speakers have the two mergers. However, speakers in New York and Boston do not. However, these speakers  lack the low back rounded vowel of Received Pronunciation. They use the low back unrounded vowel in father instead.

Almost all speakers in Canada as well as those from the western and southern United States have the father-bother and cot-caught mergers. Here are the phonetic transcriptions of the four words for those with the mergers:

father [fɑðɚ] bother [bɑðɚ] cot [kɑt] caught [kɑt]

Speakers who have the father-bother and cot-caught mergers use the same vowel in all four words. On the other hand, those who lack the merger such as speakers of Received Pronunciation, use different vowels. In Received Pronunciation, bother and caught have the same vowel, but father and cot do not. In cot, Received Pronunciation uses a vowel which North American English does not have.

Dutch Dialects

Dutch is a language with many dialects. It can be classified into six main ones. Five are in the Netherlands and one is in Belgium.

Here are the six main dialects of Dutch:

Brabantic

Flemish

Hollandic

Limburgish

South-Geldric

Zealandic

Flemish is spoken in northern Belgium and can be further divided into West Flemish and East Flemish. The other dialects are spoken in the Netherlands. The Dutch spoken in Amsterdam is part of the Hollandic dialect group. Though Belgium and the Netherlands comprise a relatively small area, they are home to many dialects of Dutch.

R-coloured Vowels

R-coloured vowels are vowels with an immediate change in quality when followed by the consonant /r/. These vowels occur in less than 1% of the languages of the world. Though they are rare, they occur in rhotic varieties of English, Brazilian Portuguese, and Mandarin Chinese.

R-coloured vowels occur in most rhotic varieties of English, including Canadian, American and Irish. Here are examples of English words with r-coloured vowels:

car
early
force
start
war

Other names for r-coloured vowels are rhotacized vowels, rhotic vowels and retroflex vowels. R-coloured vowels are analyzed as one vowel modified by the rhotic consonant. In non-rhotic varieties of English such as Received Pronunciation r-coloured vowels do not occur.

Phrasal Verbs with Up

Many English phrasal verbs are formed with the particle up. In many cases the particle up has the meaning of completion or intensity. Here are examples of phrasal verbs with the particle up:

clean up
drink up
eat up
finish up
heal up
light up
save up
sweep up
use up
wake up

Phrasal verbs such as eat up and finish up express completion. Others such as light up and save up express intensity. Many English phrasal verbs are formed with the particle up.

Umlaut

The word umlaut comes from German and refers to the change in sound of a vowel. It also refers to the diacritic, which is two dots side by side above a vowel. Languages which use the diacritic include Finnish, German, Hungarian, Swedish and Turkish.

Here are examples of German plurals which have the umlaut:

Hand Hände (hand) (hands)
Haus Häuser (house) (houses)
Mutter Mütter (mother) (mothers)
Wort Wörter (word) (words)
Zug Züge (train) (trains)

Languages such as German, Hungarian and Swedish use the umlaut, a diacritic placed above a vowel to indicate a sound change. In addition to the diacritic, the words also refers to the sound change. In English, irregular plurals such as feet, geese and teeth are the result of a process known as i-umlaut.

Rounding of the Back Vowel in Canadian and American English

The back vowel in words such as bother and daughter shows variation in rounding. In Received Pronunciation, the back vowel is rounded. In Canada and the United States, however, this varies according to the region.

In western Canada, central Canada and the northeastern United States, the rounded vowel is common. The unrounded vowel is common in the western United States, the southern United States and Atlantic Canada. In other regions, the use of the rounded and unrounded vowels varies more. For example, the rounded vowel is common in western Pennyslvania, but the unrounded one is common in eastern Pennsylvania.

Though Received Pronunciation consistenly uses a back rounded vowel in words such as bother and daughter, this is not the case in Canada and the United States. In Canada, the rounded vowel is common in the west and the unrounded in the east. In the United States, the unrounded vowel is common in the west, but in the east many speakers use the rounded vowel. The back vowel exhibits variation in rounding in Canada and the United States. 

Articles

Articles are used to give extra information about the noun they modify. In English the definite article is the and the indefinite article is a/an. However, many languages do not have articles. Here is a list of languages with no articles:

Languages Without Articles


Czech
Farsi
Hindi
Indonesian
Japanese
Korean
Malayalam
Mandarin
Polish
Punjabi
Russian
Shona
Slovak
Swahili
Tamil
Thai
Ukrainian
Urdu
Yoruba
Zulu

Articles are used in many languages. The Germanic and Romance languages all have articles, but they are not found in many of the major languages of the world such as Hindi, Mandarin and Russian. Many linguists believe that Proto-Indo-European, the ancestor of the Indo-European languages, did not have articles.

The Rainbow

The English poet Christina Rossetti wrote many beautiful poems. One of them is titled The Rainbow. Here it is:

The Rainbow

Boats sail on the rivers,
And ships sail on the seas;
But clouds that sail across the sky
Are prettier than these.

There are bridges on the rivers,
As pretty as you please;
But the bow that bridges heaven
And overtops the trees,
And builds a road from earth to sky,
Is prettier far than these.

The poem consists of only two stanzas and ten verses. Christina Rossetti feels that the beauty of clouds that sail across the sky is greater than that of boats and ships that sails on rivers and seas. She also tells the reader that the rainbow which connects heaven and earth is more beautiful than bridges over rivers. The Rainbow is a testament to the beauty of nature.

Names of Fruit and Nut Trees in Spanish

The names of many fruit and nut trees in Spanish end with an o. A common pattern is to change the final a of the nut and fruit to an o for the tree. Here is a list:

almond almendra almond tree almendro
apple manzana apple tree manzano
cherry cereza cherry tree cerezo
chestnut castaña chestnut tree castaño
grapefruit toronja grapefruit tree toronjo
guava guayaba guava tree guayabo
orange naranja orange tree naranjo
papaya papaya papaya tree papayo
plum ciruela plum tree ciruelo
pomegranate granada pomegranate tree granado

Many names of fruit and nut trees in Spanish are similar to the names of the fruit and nut. The ending with a is feminine and the ending with o is masculine. However, this is not the only pattern. The name for fig is higo and fig tree is higuera. However, the pattern illustrated here is used for a number of fruit and nut trees in Spanish.

Null Morpheme

The null morpheme is a morpheme with no phonetic form. It can be considered an invisible affix. The null morpheme is often represented with the symbol Ø.

The singular of English nouns can be represented with the null morpheme. This contrasts with the plural morpheme -s. Here are examples:

book + Ø = singular
book + s = plural

chair + Ø = singular
chair + s = plural

table + Ø = singular
table + s = plural

The null morpheme can also indicate the plural of irregular nouns:

sheep + Ø = singular
sheep + Ø = plural

The null morpheme also marks the present tense of verbs which are not third person singular.

he/she run + s = third person singular
they run + Ø = third person plural
I run + Ø = first person singular

The null morpheme is common not only in English but also in other languages. It is very useful for illustrating contrasts with overt morphemes. In English the null morpheme exhibits contrasts with the plural morpheme and the third personal singular verb morpheme.

Yod-Dropping in Norfolk Dialect

Many English speakers have yod-dropping after coronals. Words such as dew, duke, new, student, tune are usually pronounced with no palatal glide in American English. However, the dialect of Norfolk exhibits yod-dropping not only after coronals but after all consonants. The palatal glide is only preserved when it is word-initial as in unit and usual. The following words have yod-dropping in the Norfolk dialect:


beauty
cute
few
human
humour
museum
music
music
pew
view

Yod-dropping after coronals is common in American English, but it does not occur after labials and velars. However, the dialect of Norfolk exhibits yod-dropping after all consonants. This makes the Norfolk dialect very innovative with respect to yod-dropping.

Velar Palatalization in Caribbean English

Velar palatalization is a feature of Caribbean English. The palatalization occurs with velar plosives followed by low vowels. A glide is inserted after the velar plosive. Here are examples:

can
car
cart
cat
gallery
garden
gas
gone
got

Many English speakers palatalize the consonants of duty, tube and news. However, Caribbean English also exhibits velar palatalization. This palatalizes velar plosives before low vowels. This is a distinctive feature of Caribbean English.

Filler Words in Different Languages

Filler words are words that mark a pause in speech. They are classified as interjections. A common filler word in English is um. Here is a list of filler words in different languages:

Danish øh
Dutch ehm
Finnish niinku
French euh
German äh
Hungarian ő
Indonesian anu
Italian ehm
Norwegian øh
Portuguese é
Romanian deci
Spanish este
Swedish öhm
Tagalog ah
Turkish yani

Filler words have no meaning. They are used to signify a pause or hesitation in speech. Many filler words are monosyllabic and consist of simple syllables.

Norwegian Numbers

In Norwegian there are numbers with more than one form. The number 7 can be either sju or syv, 20 can be tjue or tyve and 30 can be tretti or tredve. Most Norwegians say førti for 40, but some say førr. The result is that Norwegian numbers can be said in many ways.

Norwegians who use sju for 7 tend to use tjue for 20 and tretti for 30. Those who use syv for 7 often use tyve for 20 and tredve for 30. In the traditional counting system, numbers such as thirty-one place the ones before the tens. This is the same as in German and Danish. The number 31 is thus literally one and thirty. In the modern counting system, the tens are placed before the ones, the same as in English. To illustrate, here are a few Norwegian numbers with the modern counting system and the traditional one:

Modern System

22 tjueto
35 trettifem
49 førtini
55 femtifem
63 sekstitre
74 syttifire
88 åttiåtte
91 nittien
96 nittiseks
97 nittisju, nittisyv

Traditional System

22 toogtyve, toogtjue
35 femogtretti, femogtredve
49 niogførti, niogførr
55 femogfemti
63 treogseksti
74 fireogsytti
88 åtteogåtti
91 enognitti
96 seksognitti
97 syvognitti, sjuognitti

Norwegian has two counting systems. One is traditional and the other is modern. The modern system is taught in schools and used on the news, but many continue to use the traditional system.

Weak Vowels in Received Pronunciation

In English the schwa is very common in unstressed syllables. It is the first vowel in ago and potato. However, Received Pronunciation, a variety of English that does not have the weak-vowel merger, also uses the high front unrounded lax vowel extensively.

In the past, the word visibility was pronounced with the high front unrounded lax vowel in the second and fourth syllables, but this is now rare. Most speakers today use the schwa in the second and fourth syllables. This is evidence that the use of the schwa in Received Pronunciation has increased, but the high front unrounded lax vowel still occurs in many unstressed syllables.

Received Pronunciation contrasts addition and edition. In the first word the schwa in used, but in the second the high front [I] is used. Received Pronunciation has the high front [I] in cabin, but the schwa in ribbon. In Received Pronunciation these two words do not rhyme.

Here are words which have the schwa in Received Pronunciation:

allow
anthem
apron
ballad
button
carrot
children
chorus
hamlet
happiness
joyous
palace
parrot
piglet
stomach

The following words have the high front [I]:

cabbage
event
finish
language
lettuce
liquid
magic
magnet
millet
office
puppet
rabbit
spirit
toxic
trumpet

Many words with the schwa can also be realized with syllabic consonants such as middle, open and rhythm. A number of observations can be stated. The schwa occurs in the diminutive suffix -let such as in booklet, piglet and ringlet and in the derivative suffix -ness such as in forgiveness, happiness and kindness. The high front [I] occurs in word-final -ic such as in basic, classic and historic and also in word-final -age such as in advantage, baggage and manage. In Received Pronunciation both the schwa and the high front lax vowel occur regularly in unstressed syllables.

Victory With A Knight Sacrifice

In a game of speed chess, I sacrificed my knight for victory. My opponent was leonardo9329 of Brazil, who played black. Here are the moves of the game along with my commentary:

1. e4 g6
2. d4 Bg7
3. Nf3 d6
4. c4 Nf6

I have a strong pawn centre.

5. Nc3 Bg4
6. Bd3 Nc6

I usually play Be2, but I decide to overprotect my pawn.

7. Be3 h5
8. h3 Bd7

I expect black to take my knight, but he retreats.

9. 0-0 Qc8
10. Kh2 e5

I prevent Bxh3.

11. d5 Ne7
12. c5 Qd8

I prepare to open the centre.

13. cxd cxd
14. Nb5 Nc8

Black wants to prevent Nxd6+, but the king is in the centre of the board. It is better to play Bxb5.

15. Rc1 a6

It is better to castle.

16. Nc7+ Kf8
17. Nxa8 g5

It is hard to find good moves for black, but this simply drops a pawn.

18. Ng5 Bb5
19. Nc7 Bxd3
20. Qxd3 Bh6
21. Nge6+ fxe6

I sacrifice my knight. Black accepts the sacrifice, but his queen is lost because I can play Ne6+ on my next move.

Blacks plays very defensive moves with Bd7 and Nc8, but he fails to provide adequate protection for his king. This allows me to play a knight sacrifice. Whether black accepts or declines the sacrifice, he can not save his queen. For this reason he resigns.

Spanish Dialects

Spanish has many dialects. In Spain the two main dialects are Castilian and Andalusian. However, Spanish has many more.

Spanish dialects can be divided into five main groups. They are the following:

European
Mexican
Central American
Caribbean
South American

European Spanish refers to the Spanish of Spain. Central American Spanish features Guatemalan Spanish, a variety that shares features with Mexican, and Panamanian, a variety that shares features with Caribbean. Caribbean Spanish includes the Spanish of Cuba, the Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico. South American Spanish has many varieties such as Andean-Pacific and Rioplatense.  The Andean-Pacific includes Colombia, Peru and Ecuador and the Rioplatense includes Argentina and Uruguay.

Spanish dialects have significant differences in pronunciation and vocabulary. The two countries with the most Spanish speakers, Spain and Mexico, have a number of dialects. The two main dialects are European and Latin American, but the dialects can also be further classified into five main groups.

Pronunciation of the Allomorph /-es/

The English allomorph /-es/ occurs in plurals and third personal singular verbs. Examples of plurals  include boxes, judges and roses. The allomorph also occurs with third personal singular verbs such as catches, fixes and wishes. The allomorph has two possible pronunciations: it can be pronounced [əz] and [Iz].

The pronunciation [əz] is used in Canada, the northern United States, Australia and New Zealand. In Received Pronunciation, the pronunciation [Iz] is used. This pronunciation is also used in southern England and the southern United States.

The English schwa only occurs in unstressed syllables. However, the high front lax vowel is also common in unstressed positions. In certain dialects such as Australian, Canadian and Northern American, the schwa is used in the allomorph /-es/ but in others such as Received Pronunciation and Southern American, the high front lax vowel is used.

Two Schwas In English

The schwa is classified as a mid central vowel, but English has two. The schwa in word-final  position is significantly different from the schwa in other positions. The word-final schwa has a relatively consistent vowel quality, but the word-internal schwa is higher and varies in backness and lip position.

The word-initial schwa in words such as about, against and ago patterns similarly to the word-medial schwa of entrance, general and summary. The word-final schwa corresponds to an orthographic a. On the other hand, the schwa in other positions can correspond to a number of letters. For example, it is an e in seven, an o in apron and a u in campus.

In an experiment by Edward Flemming (2007), nine female speakers of American English pronounced words with word-final schwas such as Rosa, sofa and umbrella and words with word-medial schwas such as probable, suggest and today. The medial schwas were high vowels, but the word-final schwas were central. The word-final schwas varied little in vowel quality, but the other schwas varied signficantly.

Unlike word-final schwas, word medial schwas are very short. To realize the vowel quality of the medial schwa, it is necessary to move from the articulatory position of the previous segment to the vowel target and then to the position for the following segment. In positions with very short vowel duration, vowels are likely to be strongly assimilated to surrounding segments. Word-medial schwas occur between two segments, but word-final schwas do not.

The English variable schwa results from the neutralization of all vowel qualities. However, the mid central schwa found in word-final position contrasts with unstressed [i] and [oʊ]. Compare the schwa of data with the vowels of city and motto.

English has two schwas. One is a word-final schwa and the other a variable schwa, which occurs word-internally. The word-final schwa is mid central and the variable schwa is high. The variable schwa has a shorter duration than the word-final one. Though word-internal and word-final schwas are transcribed with the same phonetic symbol, they are in fact different.

Palatalization in English

Palatalization is the term for a sound change in which a consonant becomes a palatal consonant or becomes palatalized. This is a common phonological process in not only English but in fact in all languages. The term palatal vowel is often used to refer to front vowels. Palatal consonants and vowels are articulated near the palatal region of the oral cavity.

Palatalization in English exhibits three alternations that are types of palatalization. They are coronal palatalization, velar softening and spirantization.

Coronal palatalization involves an alternation between alveolars and alveopalatals. The alternation involves changes in both the manner and place of articulation. Here are examples:

perpetuity perpetual
please pleasure
residue residual

Velar softening exhibits alternations between velar plosives and coronals. This alternation also involves changes in both the manner and place of articulation. Here are examples:

analogue analogy
critic criticize
medication medicine

Spirantization exhibits alternations between the voiceless alveolar plosive and either the voiceless alveopalatal fricative or voiceless alveolar fricative. This alternation involves a change in the manner of articulation, i.e., secret secrecy or both the manner and place of articulation, i.e., part partial. Here are examples:

secret-secrecy
communicate-communication
part-partial

Palatalization is a common phonological process. The sound change usually applies to consonants but can also apply to vowels articulated near the palatal region. English palatalization can be exemplified by three phonological alternations.

Paraguayan Spanish

Paraguayan Spanish refers to the Spanish spoken in Paraguay. The language exhibits strong influences from Guarani, an indigenous language which is spoken by the majority of the population. Many of the pronunciation features of Paraguayan Spanish are variable, in particular the pronunciation of the letters r and s.

In contrast to most Spanish speakers, Paraguayans maintain a distinction between ll and y. The ll is a palatal lateral and the y is either an affricate or a palatal glide. Unlike in other Spanish dialects, the loss of the palatal lateral, a process known as delaterization, never occurred in Paraguayan Spanish.

Syllable-final r it is often pronounced as an approximant. In the consonant cluster tr, the r is assibilated. In some parts of Paraguay, the rr is not pronounced as an alveolar trill but rather as an approximant.

Syllable-final s is often aspirated. This also occurs in many other varieties of Spanish such as Cuban, Panamanian and Argentinian. The feature is not uniform in all speakers.

Paraguayan Spanish has been strongly influenced by Guarani. Features of the dialect include the use of the palatal lateral and the assibilation of the consonant cluster tr. Syllable-final r is often pronounced as an approximant and syllable-final s is often aspirated.

Dialects of England

Though England has a small area, it is a country with many dialects  The differences extend not only to pronunciation but also to vocabulary and grammar. A few of the dialects of England are the following:

Bristolian
Brummie
Cockney
East Anglian
Geordie
Mancunian
Scouse
Yorkshire

Geordie is spoken in the northeast of England. Bristolian is the English of Bristol, Brummie is the English of Birmingham and Cockney is spoken in an area of London. East Anglian is the English of Suffolk and Norfolk in the southeast of England. Mancunian is the English of Manchester and Scouse the English of Liverpool. Yorkshire is spoken in northern England and is featured in the classical piece of literature Wuthering Heights.

England has a number of dialects. Received Pronunciation has many speakers in London but is not restricted to one part of the country. One of the most famous dialects, Cockney, is spoken in the East End of London.

Palatalization in Northern Norwegian Dialects

Palatalization is a feature of many northern Norwegian dialects. It occurs with alveolars, especially the alveolar lateral /l/ and alveolar nasal /n/, but also with the plosives /t/ and /d/. In certain dialects palatalization affects the alveolar consonant and results in a secondary articulation, and in others, it attaches to the stressed vowel and results in a diphthong. Also possible is the realization of both pronunciations simultaneously, the diphthong and the palatalized consonant.

The following words are palatalized in many dialects of northern Norway:

ball (ball)
fjell (mountain)
han (he)
kald (cold)
kan (can)
kvell (evening)
munn (mouth)
redd (afraid)
slutt (end)
vann (water)

Palatalization can also occur in other positions of the word:

alle (everyone)
alt (everything)
liv (life)
hadde (had)
vannet (the water)

One of the features of many dialects of northern Norway is palatalization. It is especially common with the alveolar lateral and nasal. The dialects have different types of palatalization. In some the vowel combines with a palatal glide to create a diphthong, in others the consonant becomes palatal, and in some both types occur.

Pronunciation of Newfoundland

Newfoundland  is a large island and also the most populous part of the Canadian province of Newfoundland and Labrador. The official name used to be Newfoundland, but in 2001 it was changed to Newfoundland and Labrador. The name Newfoundland can be pronounced in many ways.

Newfoundlanders say [nufIndlænd] or [nufInlænd] with stress on the third syllable. In the second syllable a schwa can be used instead of the high front unrounded lax vowel. The d of the second syllable is often dropped.

Other English speakers often place the stress on the first syllable of the word and produce a schwa or high front unrounded lax vowel in the second and third syllables. The d of the second syllable can also be dropped. If the high front unrounded lax vowel is used, it can be illustrated with [nufIndlInd]. Also possible is the pronunciation of new with a palatal glide. In this case the pronunciation is [njufIndlInd].

Also possible is to place the stress on the second syllable. In this case the second syllable is pronounced [faund]. With second-syllable stress, the island of Newfoundland is pronounced [nufaundlInd] or [njufaundlInd]. The vowel of the third possible can also be pronounced with a schwa rather than a high front unrounded lax vowel.

The island of Newfoundland can be pronounced in many ways. The stress can be placed on the first, second or third syllable. The first syllable can pronounced with or without the patalal glide. The second syllable can be pronounced with or without the d, but the d is maintained when the second syllable is stressed and the vowel is a diphthong. In the unstressed syllables, the vowel can be a high front unrounded lax vowel or a schwa. Speakers from Newfoundland and Labrador stress the final syllable of Newfoundland.

Ten Beautiful Spanish Words

Spanish is the most widely-spoken of the Romance languages. It has many beautiful words. Here is my list of ten beautiful Spanish words:

azul (blue)
corona (crown)
flor (flower)
luna (moon)
luz (sun)
mar (sea)
mariposa (butterfly)
montaña (mountain)
sol (sun)
vida (life)

Five of the words end with the vowel [a], a low central vowel. Four end with liquids and one with a fricative. Four of the words are monosyllabic. The longest word, mariposa, has four syllables.

Happy-Tensing

Happy-tensing refers to the process in which the word-final high front vowel is realized as the tense vowel [i} and not the lax [I]. Words with the word-final high front vowel include city, coffee, money, movie and suddenly.

The lax pronunciation occurs in Conservative Received Pronunciation, the English of the southern United States, in much of northern England and in Jamaica. In Scottish English, the vowel of day may be used. Many words spelled with -ee and -ey such as coffee and money were once pronounced with the vowel of day.

Happy-tensing occurs in the English of Australia, Canada, New Zealand and South Africa. In the north of England, happy-tensing occurs in Liverpool and Newcastle. Speakers with happy-tensing always distinguish pairs such as taxes and taxis.

Many English speakers produce a tense vowel in words such as coffee, happy and movie. The tense vowel has become more common in Received Pronunciation than in the past. It is less marked than the lax counterpart.

Optional Schwa Deletion in English

In a number of English words the schwa can be deleted. The schwa follows a stressed vowel and is word-medial. The process is known as medial posttonic schwa syncope.

The schwa can be deleted in the following words:

average
camera
chocolate
definitely
family
interesting
listening
opera
separate
temperature

Notice that the optional schwa is immediately preceded by a stressed vowel.Schwa deletion is possible in imaginative but not in imagination. In imaginative the schwa is posttonic, but in imagination it is pretonic.

Schwa deletion never occurs word-initially. It is not possible in words such as about and ago. It doesn't occur word-finally, either. Words such as era and sofa never undergo schwa deletion.

Not all medial posttonic schwas can be deleted. For example, schwa deletion is not possible in colony or company. The reason is that schwa deletion does not occur between a liquid and an alveolar nasal or between consonant clusters.

Medial posttonic schwas are often deleted in English. This is a variable rule. Schwa deletion is more common in casual speech than in formal.

Weak Vowel Merger

The weak vowel merger refers to the neutralization of the schwa and the unstressed  high front unrounded lax vowel. The merger is common in Canadian English, Australian English and New Zealand English. With the exception of the southern United States, it is also common in American English.

Speakers with the weak vowel merger make no distinction between addition and edition. The schwa is used in the first syllable of both. Speakers with the merger have the schwa in the first syllable of addition and the high front unrounded lax vowel in the first syllable of edition.

Many speakers with the weak vowel merger pronounce roses and Rosa's identically. They produce a schwa in the second syllable of both words. Those who do not have the weak vowel merger have the high front unrounded lax vowel in the second syllable of roses and the schwa in the second syllable of Rosa's. Though I have the weak vowel merger, I maintain a distinction between roses and Rosa's. I pronounce roses with a central schwa and Rosa's with a lower schwa similar to the vowel of but. 

Many English speakers have the weak vowel merger. However, it is not found in the English of England or the southern United States. Though many speakers who have the merger pronounce roses and Rosa's identically, this is not the case for all speakers.

Pronunciation of the French Adverb Plus

The French adverb plus means more. It has two main pronunciations. It can be pronounced [ply] or [plys]. The affirmative adverb is pronounced with a word-final [s] and the negative adverb is not.

In the following sentences plus is pronounced [plys].

Je veux plus de beurre. (I want more butter)
Je vais acheter plus de livres. (I'm going to buy more books)

In these sentences plus is pronounced [ply].

Je ne veux plus de beurre. (I don't want any more butter).
Je n'aime pas les oranges non plus. (I don't like oranges, either)

When plus is a comparative or superlative adverb, it is pronounced [ply] in the middle of the sentence. If a vowel follows, it is pronounced [plyz]. When plus is at the end of the sentence, it is pronounced [plys].

Je cours plus vite que toi. (I run faster than you)
Je cours le plus vite. (I run the fastest)
Je cours le plus. (I run the most)
Le livre est plus intéressant que le film. (The book is more interesting than the movie)

The pronunciation of plus varies. The affirmative adverb is pronounced with a word-final consonant, but the negative adverb is not. The comparative and superlative adverbs are usually pronounced with the consonant. When they occur sentence-finally, the consonant is not pronounced.

Diphthongs

Diphthongs are a combination of two vowel sounds in the same syllable. They can be characterized as vowels with two components. Diphthongs have two different targets because the tongue moves during their articulation.

Diphthongs can be classified into different types. Common classifications include rising and falling, and also closing, opening and centring. Falling and rising diphthongs do not refer to tongue height. For tongue height the terms closing and opening are used instead.

Falling diphthongs begin with a vowel of higher prominence than the second. This prominence is realized with higher pitch and volume. The word my contains a falling diphthong.

Rising diphthongs begin with a vowel that is not so prominent and end with a prominent full vowel. The Spanish word tierra (earth) contains a rising diphthong. Though diphthongs are often transcribed as sequences of two vowels, the less prominent component can also be transcribed as an approximant.

The terms closing, opening and centring refer to tongue height. In closing diphthongs, the second component is higher than the first. This is the case with the diphthong of joy. The first component is mid back and the second is high front.

Opening diphthongs are diphthongs in which the second component is lower than the first. In the Spanish word tierra (earth), the diphthong is opening. The first component of the diphthong is high front and the second is mid front.

In centring diphthongs the first component is more peripheral and the second is more central. Non-rhotic varieties of English have centring diphthongs. For example, the words here, there and tour have centring diphthongs in RP.

Diphthongs are very common in the languages of the world. They can be classified into different types such as rising, falling, closing, opening and centring. Diphthongs contast with monophthongs, which consist of a single vowel sound.

Members of the Legislative Assemblies of Canada

Canada has ten provinces and three territories. Members of the Canadian parliament are called Members of Parliament or MPs. However, the members of the Legislative Assemblies have different names.

In British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island, Yukon, the Northwest Territories and Nunavut the members of the Legislative Assemblies are called members of the Legislative Assembly or MLAs. However, in Ontario they are members of Provincial Parliament (MPPs), in Quebec they are Members of the National Assembly (MNAs) and in Newfoundland they are Members of the House of Assembly (MHAs).

Canada has a federal parliament and provincial and territorial legislative assemblies. The members of the legislative assemblies are called MLAs in most provinces and in all territories. However, in Ontario, Quebec and Newfoundland they are MPPs, MNAs and MHAs.

French of Southern France

Standard French is based on the accent of northern France. This is the variety that is usually taught to foreigners. The French of southern France is distinct.

In northern France unstressed e is usually not pronounced, but it is in southern France. This is the case in the following words:

cerise (cherry)

fraise (strawberry)

samedi (Saturday)

semaine (week)

ville (city)

Nasal vowels are often pronounced with a velar nasal. For example, pain (bread) is pronounced with a velar nasal in southern France. In northern France, the vowel is fully nasalized.

The vowels of southern France are often different from those of the north. The word lait (milk) is pronounced with a closed vowel in the south, but an open vowel in the north. The word chose (thing) has an open vowel in the south, but a closed vowel in the north. 

The French of southern France lacks a phonemic opposition between the closed and open vowels. In northern France, les (the) has a closed vowel, and lait (milk) has an open vowel, but in southern France, both words have a closed vowel. In southern France, only closed vowels occur in open syllables, and only open vowels occur in closed syllables.

The French of southern France is distinct from Standard French. Thiis is especially evident in the vowels. In southern France, the phonemic distinction between the closed and open vowels does not exist. Unlike in the north, the unstressed e is pronounced in all positions and nasal vowels are often pronounced with a velar nasal.

Pin-Pen Merger

The pin-pen merger is common in the southeastern United States. Speakers who have the merger pronounce the words pin and pen identically. The two words are pronounced with the vowel of pin.

Other words which are pronounced the same in the pin-pen merger are the following:

den-din
gem-gym
hem-him
ten-tin
when-win

The pen-pin merger occurs before tautosyllabic nasals. In words such as desk and disk the merger does not apply. The pen-pin merger is an example of neutralization.

Problems with Description of Tense/Lax Vowels

English vowels are often described with the terms tense and lax. In the binary feature system, tense vowels are [+tense] and lax vowels are [-tense]. However, many linguists consider the terms tense and lax controversial. The reason is that these vowels can be distinguished by additional factors.

Tense vowels are defined as vowels with more muscular constriction. In addition, tense vowels are diphthongized in many varieties of English. Diphthongs often have a longer duration than do monophthongs.

Phonologists have frequently divided English vowels into tense and lax, but the tongue height is not the same. The tense vowel is higher and more peripheral than the lax vowel. The tense vowel also has an expanded pharynx, a more advanced articulation, and more lip rounding. The feature ATR (Advanced Tongue Root) can be used to distinguish tense and lax vowels. Tense vowels are classified as +ATR and lax vowels are -ATR.

According to Peter Ladefoged, the terms tense and lax are just used to designate two groups of vowels that behave differently in English words. He prefers to distinguish them in terms of the syllable types in which they occur. Though all vowels can occur in closed syllables, only a restricted set can occur in open syllables.

The tense vowel of pool can occur syllable-finally but the vowel of pull cannot. Likewise, the vowel of eat can occur syllable-finally but the vowel of sit cannot. However, it is important to mention that in certain dialects of English, the lax vowel occurs in words such as city. This is the case in most dialects of northern England.

Tense vowels are usually produced with greater length than in lax vowels, but this is not always the case. Length is not the criterion for distinguishing these vowel sets. The tense and lax vowels can be distinguished on the basis of height and tongue root configuration. Tense vowels have a more advanced tongue root than lax ones.

The terms tense and lax fail to capture all the differences between the two vowel sets. In addition to greater muscular constriction, tense vowels have a higher tongue position, more advanced tongue root, greater lip rounding and expanded pharynx. They usually have a longer duration than lax vowels and are diphthongized in many dialects. It is clear that the differences between tense and lax vowels involve more than muscular constriction.

Word-Final Devoicing of Fricatives in South African English

South African English has many characteristics which it shares with the English of southern England. With the exception of a few varieties spoken in the Cape Province, South African English is non-rhotic. It also has the trap-bath split. One characteristic which distinguishes South African English from other varieties is the devoicing of word-final fricatives.

Word-final voiced fricatives tend to fully devoice in South African English. As a result, words such as bathe, luge, keys and wave are pronounced differently than in other varieties of English. However, pairs such as base-bays, face-phase, life-live and safe-save are not pronounced identically because of pre-fortis clipping. Words such as base, face, life and safe have shorter vowels than in bays, phase, live and save. As a result, they are minimal pairs.

Word-final fricative devoicing is a characteristic of South African English. However, pre-fortis clipping keeps words such as base and bays distinct. Pre-fortis clipping exists in all varieties of English and is evident in pairs such as cab-cap and sad-sat. In South African English, though, pre-fortis clipping applies not only to plosives but also to fricatives.

Papiamento

Papiamento is a language spoken on the Caribbean islands of Aruba, Bonaire and Curacao. They were formerly known as the Netherlands Antilles. Though Papiamento is a language based on Portuguese, it also has influences from Dutch, Spanish and African languages. Here are the numbers from one to ten:

unu
dos
tres
kuater
sinku
seis
shete
ocho
nuebe
dies

Though Papiamento is based on Portuguese, the numbers are more similar to those of Spanish. This is the case with dos, ocho, nuebe and dies which are dos, ocho, nueve and diez in Spanish. In Portuguese these numbers are dois, oito, nove and dez.

Papiamento is a Creole language which is based on Portuguese but has strong influences from Dutch, Spanish and African languages. With respect to the numbers, Papiamento reflects a strong influence from Spanish. The language has three dialects which correspond to the three islands where it is spoken.

Irregular Italian Plurals

Italian plurals are different from those of French, Spanish and Portuguese. The regular plural ending is not s. Most masculine nouns end in -i and most feminine nouns end in -e.

Here are regular plurals in Italian:

il ragazzo i ragazzi (the boy/the boys)
la ragazza le ragazze (the girl/the girls)

il libro/i libri (the book/the books)
la casa/le case (the house/the houses)

A number of Italian plurals are irregular. Here are examples:

il braccio/le braccia (the arm/the arms)
la città/le città (the city/the cities)
il dito/le dita (the finger/the fingers)
il labbro/le labbra (the lip/the lips)
la mano/le mani (the hand/the hands)
la moto/le moto (the motorcycle/the motorcycles)
la radio/le radio (the radio/the radios)
l'università/le università (the university/the universities)
l'uomo/gli uomini (the man/the men)
l'uovo/le uova (the egg/the eggs)

Certain nouns such as braccio (arm) are masculine in the singular but feminine in the plural. Nouns such as moto (motorcycle) are invariable in singular and plural. The plural of uomo (man) has an extra syllable in the plural. From the examples it is evident that Italian has a number of irregular plurals.

The Word-Initial kn of English

English words such as knee and knife have a silent k. It is not pronounced. The phonetic value is zero. However, it was pronounced in Middle English.

Before the sixteenth century, the k was pronounced in these words. This was the case in the time of William Shakespeare. However, in the beginning of the 1600s, speakers gradually stopped pronouncing it.

The reason for this sound change is not clear. It may be due to the influence of French and Latin, languages which did not have the kn cluster. It is an example of consonant cluster simplification.

The other Germanic languages did not undergo this change. The word for knife in Danish, Norwegian and Swedish is kniv, and the k is pronounced. The German word for knee is Knie, and in Dutch it is knie. In these words the k is pronounced as was the case in Middle English.

The change in the pronunciation of the kn resulted in homophones such as knew-new, knot-not and know-no. The English language retained the spelling kn despite the change in pronunciation. The spelling reflects the pronunciation of Old English and Middle English.

In word-initial kn, the k is not pronounced. The original CC sequence became C. This sound change did not occur in other Germanic languages which still retain the [kn] of Old English and Middle English.

Contrastive Vowel Length in Australian English

Australian English has a distinction in vowel length that does not occur in other varieties of English. The contrast is not qualitative but rather quantitative. The sole distinction is vowel length. Here are minimal pairs with the short vowel on the left and the long vowel on the right:

bid/beard
come/calm
cut/cart
ferry/fairy
hut/heart

In most varieties of English, vowel length is not distinctive. However, Australian English preserves phonemic vowel length in a number of word pairs. This serves to distinguish Australian English from other varieties of English.

With All My Heart

I want to share my latest poem. This is dedicated to my wife Grace. I hope you enjoy it!

With All My Heart

Never had I dared to dream
Of a love like this,
Someone who loves me
As I am.
I feel my heart can't stop beating,
As if time stood still.
When you look at me,
I feel your love.

All I am, all I have
Till my very last breath,
I will love you
With every beat of my heart.
All I ask, all I want
Is to wake in your arms
To love you every day
With all my heart.

We've conquered every mountain,
Sailed on open seas,
And now after every storm we stand.
You make life an adventure.
Let's write the next page
To be happy every day.

An incomprehensible moment
Made you my angel,
And together we are strong.

All I am, all I have
Till my very last breath,
I will love you
With every beat of my heart.
All I ask, all I want
Is to wake in your arms
To love you every day
With all my heart.

Gender Neutral Language

Feminism is the reason for gender-neutral language in English. Words such as fireman, mailman and policeman are often replaced with firefighter, letter carrier and police officer. Sometimes the word man is replaced with person.

However, words which have a negative connotation are usually not replaced with any other form. This is a clear case of inconsistency. Feminism seems to have no objection to words such as conman, gunman, henchman, hitman, madman, man-eating shark, middleman and yes-man. In the case of conman, though, con artist is also possible.

Likewise, the forms motherland, mother nature and mother tongue are never replaced. Though they are not gender-neutral, they remain because they include the word mother. If they contained the word father, it is likely that other forms would exist.

Feminism is the cause of many gender-neutral words. However, it is clear that the creation of gender-neutral words is inconsistent. Words with negative connotations usually lack gender-neutral forms, and words with mother are never replaced. Feminism only appears to resist the use of  compound words with man when such words have positive connotations.

Characteristics of the Icelandic Alphabet

The Icelandic alphabet is derived from the Roman. Unlike in Danish, Norwegian and Swedish, Icelandic also has letters with acute accents. Here are a few letters of the Icelandic alphabet:

1) á is pronounced [au].

2) é is pronounced [jɛ]. 

3) í is pronounced [i:].

4) ó is pronounced as the diphthong [ou].

5) ú is pronounced [u:]. (The letter u is usually a high front rounded lax vowel).

6) ö is pronounced as in German

7) ð is usually a voiced interdental fricative

8) þ is pronounced as a voiceless interdental fricative

Though the Icelandic language is a Scandinavian language, a number of letters differ from those of Danish, Norwegian and Swedish. The alphabet has letters written with acute accents, and with the exception of ú, the difference between the acute and non-acute letters is not quantitative. The Icelandic alphabet also has separate letters for the voiced and voiceless interdental fricatives.

Mixed Conditionals

Conditional sentences consist of a main clause and a dependent clause. The dependent clause contains the conjunction if. They can be categorized into four types: 0, 1, 2 and 3. However, conditionals can also be mixed. Let us look at examples:

The following are mixed conditionals:

If I had won the lottery, I would be a millionaire.
If I had studied business, I would have more opportunities.
If she had been born here, she wouldn't need a work visa.

Notice that the if-clause expresses an event in the past, but the main clause expresses an event in the present.

Here are more examples:

If I didn't have to work so much, I'd have gone to the movies with you last night.
If James knew Italian, he would have translated the form for you.
If I had enough money, I would have bought the BMW we saw yesterday.

In these sentences the if-clauses expresses an event in the present, but the main clause expresses an event in the past.

Conditional sentences are very common. They can begin with the main clause or the dependent clause, also known as the if-clause. Among the conditional sentences are also sentences which consist of mixed conditionals.

English of Northern England

The English of northern England consists of many varieties. Famous ones include Liverpool and Manchester. Nevertheless, the accent of northern England is distinct from that of the south.

The following is typical of the English of northern England:

The trap-bath split of southern England is not observed. The words cat and cast both have a front vowel. However, the words calf, can't, half and master have a back vowel, unlike in American English.

The vowel of cat is pronounced with a central vowel rather than a front vowel. The front vowel is common in southern England. In words such as cart, palm and tomato the vowel is also central but longer than in words such as cat, man and past.

The foot-strut split is absent in northern England. The result is that but and cut rhyme. In some varieties, words such as book and look have the vowel of blue. This pronunciation is also common in Scottish English.

The diphthongs of day and snow are often pronounced as monophthongs. However, this varies across the region.

In words such as best, dress and pet, the vowel is usually lower than in southern England. The final vowel of words such as city and happy is pronounced with a lax vowel rather than a tense one by most speakers. Liverpool is a notable exception.

The north of England lacks a clear distinction between the velarized and non-velarized lateral. In the north, most speakers pronounce lake and well with a velarized lateral. The English of Manchester uses only the velarized /l/. However, in Northumberland, the /l/ is never velarized. This is also typical of Irish English.

Northern England has many varieties of  English. The pronunciation varies from one region to another. However, a number of pronunciation features serve to distinguish the English of the north from that of the south.

The Little Prince

The Little Prince is the most famous work by French writer Antoine de Saint-Exupéry. The short novel is one of the most translated in the world. In fact, it has been translated into over 300 languages. The story has themes of friendship, loneliness, love and loss.

Though The Little Prince appears to be a children's book, it makes many observations about life and human nature. In one part of the novel, the young prince meets a fox, and the fox shares messages which are famous because they deal with human relationships.

The narrator of the novel begins with a discussion of adults and their inability to perceive. Later the narrator becomes a pilot and his plane crashes in the Sahara Desert. He is far from civilization and has only enough water for eight days.

In the middle of the desert, the narrator is greeted by a young boy who he calls the little prince. The prince has golden hair and loves to ask questions. While the narrator attempts to repair his plane, the little prince tells the narrator about his life.

On the eighth day since the plane crash, the narrator and the prince are dying of thirst. The prince has become sad from his memories and longs to return home. The prince finds a well, which saves the pair. The little prince allows a snake to bite him and falls to the ground.

The next morning the narrator cannot find the body of the little prince. The reader must determine whether the prince returned home or died, or if the encounter was all part of the narrator's imagination.

The Little Prince is a famous story with many themes. The main characters are the narrator and the little prince. The story is very philosophical and explores the themes of love, loss, friendship and human relationships.

Uvular Consonant

The uvular consonant can be a fricative or trill. It can also be called an approximant. Though not as common as the alveolar trill, it occurs in a number of languages.

In European languages, the uvular pronunciation of the rhotic consonant is found in Danish, French and German. It is also found in varieties of Dutch, Norwegian, Portuguese and Spanish. The uvular pronunciation also occurs in Afrikaans, Arabic, Armenian, Hebrew, Italian, Kazakh, Malay and Uzbek. Though the uvular consonant is normally not associated with Italian, it occurs in the northern city of Parma.

The rhotic is usually realized as an alveolar trill, but a number of languages use a uvular. This uvular can be a fricative or a trill. Languages with uvular consonants include Arabic, French, German and Hebrew.

Twelve Pronunciations of Water

English is a language with many dialects. One of the characteristics which distinguishes these dialects is pronunciation. Dialects can be classified as rhotic and non-rhotic. Other differences are in the vowels and in the use of the flap in certain dialects. These differences can be illustrated by the pronunciation of the word water. Here are twelve pronunciations:

1) [wɔ:tə] 
2) [wɔ:ʔə] 
3) [wɑʔɚ]
4) [wɑtə]
5) [wɑtɚ]
6) [wɑt̬ɚ]
7) [wɑɾɚ]
8) [wɔɾɚ]
9) [wɔɾə]
10) [wʊɾɚ]
11) [wo:ɾə]
12) [wo:tə]

The first pronunciation is the pronunciation of RP. It can be considered Standard British English. The second pronunciation also occurs in British English, especially in the south of England. The third pronunciation is common in southwestern England and the fourth pronunciation is typical of northern England.

The fifth pronunciation is common in Scotland and Ireland. The sixth pronunciation occurs in Irish English and has a voiceless apico-alveolar fricative.

Number 7 is common in North America. This is followed by a pronunciation which is typical of New York. Number 9 is also typical of New York but is a non-rhotic pronunciation. Number 10 is a pronunciation which is associated with Philadelphia. Here the first vowel is the vowel of put.

The last two pronunciations are typical of Australia and New Zealand. The eleventh pronunciation has a flap and the twelfth has an alveolar plosive. The twelfth pronunciation is more formal than the eleventh.

The examples illustrate the variation in English pronunciation. Though the word water has only four segments, it can be pronounced in many ways. The different pronunciations indicate that English has several dialects.

Spanish Diminutives

Diminutives are very common in Spanish. They are used more than in English. Spanish diminutives are formed with a suffix.

With words that end in a vowel, the vowel is dropped and -ita or -ito is added. With feminine nouns, the suffix variant is -ita and with masculine nouns it is -ito. Here are examples:

pájaro (bird) pájarito (small bird)
perro (dog) perrito (small dog)
casa (house) casita (small house)

With words that end in e the suffix is -cita or -cito.

café (coffee) cafecito (small coffee)
tigre (tiger) tigrecito (small tiger)
fuente (fountain) fuentecita (small fountain)

With words that end in n or r the ending is the same as with vowels.

camión (truck) camioncito (small truck)
rincón (corner) rinconcito (small corner)
mujer (woman) mujercita (small woman)

Words which end in other consonants add -ita or -ito.

låpiz (pencil) lapicito (small pencil)
pastel (cake) pastelito (small cake)
reloj (clock) relojito (small clock)

Many words lack a diminutive such as ciudad (city), edad (age) and espacio (space). A few diminutives are irregular such as pez (fish) and pececito (small fish). Spanish diminutives can be applied not only to nouns but also to adjectives and adverbs. Examples include quieto/quietecito (quiet) and rápido/rapidito (quickly).

Diminutives are used extensively in Spanish. The Spanish diminutive has suffix variants. They can also be combined with the plural suffix -s. Spanish diminutives can be formed not only with nouns but also with adjectives and adverbs.

Pronunciation of r in Brazilian Portuguese

The r of Brazilian Portuguese is different from that of Spanish. As in Spanish, the intervocalic r is an alveolar flap but in other positions, the pronunciation varies. In the south of Brazil, the r can be pronounced in all positions as in Spanish, but this is not the case for most speakers. Let us look at examples.

In world-initial position, most Brazilians pronounce the r as a glottal or velar fricative. This sound occurs in real (royal), rio (river) and roda (wheel).

When the r is word-final, it can be pronounced as a velar fricative, glottal fricative, alveolar approximant, alveolar trill or not pronounced at all. This depends on the dialect. Examples include jantar (dinner), lar  (home) and mar (sea).

Between vowels, the r is realized as an alveolar flap. Examples include amarelo (yellow), muro (wall) and ouro (gold).

Most Brazilians pronounce the double r the same as the word-initial r. It is a glottal or velar fricative. Examples include carro (car), cigarro (cigarette) and garrafa (bottle).

In words such as honra (honour), the r is not classified as intervocalic even though the first vowel is fully nasalized. Here the r is realized as a glottal or velar fricative. This is in contrast to hora (hour) in which the r is an alveolar flap.

The r of Brazilian Portuguese has different realizations. It can be a glottal/velar fricative, alveolar trill, alveolar approximant or alveolar flap. In word-final position, many Brazilians do not pronounce the r at all. Speakers who use the glottal/velar fricative do not use the alveolar trill, and speakers who use the alveolar trill do not use the glottal/velar fricative.

Variation in Spanish Pronunciation

The Spanish suffix -ismo is the equivalent of the English -ism. It occurs in a number of words such as capitalismo (capitalism), federalismo (federalism) and nacionalismo (nacionalism). This suffix also has four possible pronunciations. Let us illustrate.

The suffix -ismo has the following pronunciations:

1) [ismo]

2) [izmo]

3) [ihmo]

4) [i:mo]

The first two pronunciations are the most standard. The first one is the same as the spelling of the suffix. In the second pronunciation we have an example of voicing assimilaton. The assimilation is regressive because the voiced nasal triggers voicing in the fricative. The third pronunciation is an example of glottalization. This can also be classified as debuccalization, which is a type of lenition. The fourth pronunciation is the most complex. Here we have deletion and compensatory lengthening. The word-initial vowel lengthens to compensate for the loss of the consonant.

The first and second pronunciations of the suffix are the most formal. In contrast, the last two are the least formal. The Spanish suffix -ismo can be pronounced in four different ways. The pronunciations illustrate voicing, glottalization, deletion and compensatory lengthening.

Languages of Indonesia

Indonesia is a country with over 700 languages. Most belong to the Austronesian language family, but in eastern Indonesia many Papuan languages are spoken. Though Indonesia is the official language, most Indonesians speak other languages as their first language.

In addition to Indonesian, other languages with millions of speakers include Javanese, Sundanese, Madurese, Minangkabau, Buginese, Banjarese, Acehnese, Balinese, Betawi and Sasak.

With over 700 languages, Indonesia has the second largest multilingual population in the world. Only Papua New Guinea has more languages. Despite the presence of the Dutch for over 350 years, few Indonesians can speak Dutch. Indonesian is the language which serves to unite the country.

Language vs. Dialect

A number of languages are very similar to one another. However, for political reasons, they are often classified as languages rather than dialects. In other cases, however, languages are often classified as dialects.

The Danish, Norwegian and Swedish languages are similar to one another. Norwegian and Swedish have a similar sound system, and Danish and Norwegian share many words. Norwegian and Swedish in particular share a high degree of mutual intelligibility. Nevertheless, they are considered languages.

Hindi and Urdu are also similar. Hindi is spoken in India and Urdu in Pakistan, and the two languages have different scripts. Despite their high degree of mutual intelligibility, they are never considered dialects.

The term Serbo-Croatian was once used for the official language of the former Yugoslavia, but now the language has different names. It can be called Bosnian, Croatian, Montenegrin and Serbian. These are all mutually intelligible, but for political reasons different names are used.

Indonesian and Malay are mutually intelligible, but for political reasons, they are usually classified as languages. There are significant differences in spelling, grammar, pronunciation and vocabulary. The two varieties also use different loanwords.

The Dutch spoken in Belgium is often called Flemish. Though Flemish differs in many respects from Dutch, standard Dutch is taught in school. However, Belgians prefer to call their language Flemish.

China is a country with many languages. The most widely-spoken is Mandarin, but others such as Cantonese, Hakka and Wu are also spoken. Though they are not mutually intelligible, languages such as Cantonese are often called dialects. The reason is that they use the same script of Mandarin.

The Philippines is a country with over 100 languages. Tagalog, one of the official languages, is always referred to as a language. However, the regional languages, though they are not mutually intelligible, are often called dialects.

The difference between a dialect and a language is not always so clear. For political reasons, languages are often mutually intelligible but not considered dialects. In other cases, languages are often called dialects because they share the same writing system and because regional languages have less prestige than the official language. Languages have a higher status than dialects.