Spanish Pronominal Word Order

Spanish is classified as an SVO language. The sentence David tiene dos hermanas (David has two sisters) expresses this word order. However, with personal pronouns the order can be different.

The sentence David wants to see you can be expressed in Spanish in three different ways. They are 1) David quiere verte; 2) David te quiere ver; 3) Te quiere ver David. Here are the word orders of the three sentences:

1) SVO
2) SOV
3) OVS

Since Spanish is an SVO language, the first sentence can be considered underlying. In the second sentence, the verb and object are inverted and in the third the subject is placed at the end. Since the pronoun te is distinct from the subject pronoun tú, the different word orders cause no confusion.

Though Spanish is an SVO language, different word orders occur with personal pronouns. Spanish has a more flexible word order than English. This can be observed in Spanish pronominal word order.

Victory With A Knight Sacrifice

In a game of speed chess, I sacrificed my knight to win. My opponent was Tomubone of the USA, who played black. Here are the moves of the game along with my commentary:

1. e4 e6
2. d4 d5
3. Nc3 Bb4
4. e5 Bxc3+
5. bxc3 c5
6. Nf3 c4

All the pawns on the c, d and e files are fixed.

7. Be2 b5
8. 0-0 h6
9. h3 Bd7
10. Ba3 a5
11. Bc5 Na6
12. Re1 Nxc5

Black captures my active bishop.

13. dxc5 Qc7
14. Qd4 Rc8
15. Qg4 g6

I prepare an attack.

16. Nh4 Qxc5

Black wins a pawn, but this is a mistake. A better move for black is Nd7.

17.  Nxg6 fxg6

It is better for black to decline the sacrifice with Rh7.

18. Qxg6+ Kd8

No matter where the king moves, the rook is lost.

19. Qg7 Kc7

Black connects the rooks, but it is too late.

20. Qxh8 Ne7
21. Qxh6

In a difficult position, black decides to resign. He wins a pawn on his sixteenth move, but fails to anticipate the knight sacrifice which leads to the loss of his rook. This is the turning point of the game.

Latin Pronunciation

Latin pronunciation is similar to that of Italian. The vowels can be long or short, and this affects stress. In a trisyllabic word, the stress falls on the second syllable if the vowel is long and on the first syllable if the vowel of the second syllable is short.

Before ae, e, oe and i, a few consonants become soft. The letter c is then pronounced as ch in English, the sc is pronounced as in sheep, the g is pronounced as in gentle, the gn as in onion and ti when followed by another vowel is pronounced as the ts in cats.

The r in Latin is trilled as in Italian and consonants can be short and long. Unlike Italian, Latin has many words which end with consonants and more consonant clusters.

The pronunciation of Latin is regular and can be learned quickly. In fact, it does not differ so much from Italian. However, the grammar of Latin is more complicated.

Banana Cake

Banana bread and banana cake are popular around the world. Here is a Swedish recipe for banana cake:

2 ripe bananas, mashed
3 tablespoons butter
2 eggs
3/4 cup sugar
1 1/4 cup flour
2 cups milk
2 teaspoons baking powder
2 teaspoons vanilla sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon

Melt the butter.
Beat the eggs and sugar.
Add the flour, baking powder and cinnamon.
Add the melted butter and bananas.
Pour in the milk and mix.
Butter a pan and coat with oatmeal.
Add the batter and bake for 40-50 minutes at 175 degrees Celsius.

German Word Order

German is an SVO language. This is the same as English. However, German word order can be quite different from English. Let us look at a few examples.

In the sentence Ich sehe das Haus (I see the house), the German word order is the same as in English. However, in the question Kannst Du das Haus sehen? (Can you see the house?), the infinitive see is placed at the end. This is also true for past participles as in Ich habe das Haus gesehen (I have seen the house).

In subordinate clauses German verbs are placed at the end. The sentence Sie ist krank (She is sick) has the same word order as English. However, the sentence Sie kann nicht kommen, weil sie krank ist (She can't come because she is sick) places the verb is at the end. Also notice that a comma separates the main clause from the subordinate clause.

German also has V2 movement. This simply means that the verb must be the second constituent of every sentence. The sentence Wir kommen (We're coming) has the same word order as English, but Jetzt kommen wir (Now we're coming) is different. Here the verb comes before the subject.

Though German is an SVO language, many German sentences have a different word order from that of English. This can be seen in subordinate clauses, sentences with infinitives and past participles and in sentences subject to the V2 movement rule. German word order often places verbs, past participles and infinitives in sentence final position.

Cheese Souffle

The souffle is a famous French dish. The egg whites and egg yolks need to be separated, and it's important not to open the oven door during baking. Here's a recipe for a cheese souffle:

4 eggs
1 cup grated cheese (Gruyere, Swiss)
4 tablespoons butter
4 tablespoons flour
1 1/2 cups milk
salt
pepper
nutmeg

Preheat the oven to 180 degrees Celsius.
Butter the baking dish.
Heat the butter in a pan.
Add the flour and stir quickly for one minute.
Add the  milk and stir for a few minutes over low heat.
Remove the pan from the heat.
Separate the egg whites and egg yolks.
Beat the egg whites with a pinch of salt.
Add the egg yolks to the pan and the grated cheese.
Add a pinch of nutmeg and pepper.
Carefully fold the egg whites into the mixture.
Pour into the baking dish.
Bake for approximately 35 minutes.

Serve immediately. Enjoy!

Dutch and German Diphthong Correspondence

The Dutch diphthong ij often corresponds to the German ei. In English this diphthong is often spelled i as in rice, time and wine. Here is a list which illustrates the orthographic correspondence between the Dutch ij and the German ei:

bijna beinahe (almost)
fijn fein (fine)
ijs Eis (ice)
rijk reich (rich)
rijst Reis (rice)
schrijver Schreiber (writer)
tijd Zeit (time)
vrijdag Freitag (Friday)
wijn Wein (wine)
Zonneschijn Sonnenschein (sunshine)

Most of the words in the list are similar to the English ones. Unlike in Dutch, German words are always capitalized. The Dutch diphthong is similar to the German one, but the first component of the Dutch diphthong has a more advanced articulation than in German.

Wine-Whine Merger

In the dialects of English which have the wine-whine merger, the two words are pronounced the same. In those which lack the merger, wine has a voiced labiovelar glide and whine has a voiceless one. The pairs Wales/whales, weather/whether, wear/where and which/witch are  homophones for those speakers who have the merger and distinct for those who do not.

The merger is present in the English of Australia, England, Jamaica, New Zealand, South Africa and Wales, and is widespread in the English of Canada and the United States. The merger is not found in Scotland and with the exception of Dublin, not found in Ireland.

The wine-whine merger is common in English. However, speakers of Scottish English lack the merger as well as most speakers of Irish English. In Canada and the United States, most speakers have the merger. Speakers with the wine-whine merger lack the voiceless labiovelar glide. This is an example of simplification.

Welsh English

Welsh English refers to the English of Wales. The dialects are influenced by Welsh and often include words derived from Welsh. Though Wales is a small country, a variety of accents is found in Wales.

In Welsh English the /r/ is often pronounced as an alveolar flap, especially in intervocalic position. Unlike in Scotland, rhoticity is rare. Gemination occurs in words such as money- the /n/ is pronounced long.

In the northeast, ng-coalescence does not take place. The result is that sing is pronounced with four segments. In the north the /l/ is strongly velarized, but in the southeast velarization is less common. The English of northern Wales has been influenced by the English of Liverpool, and the English of the south has been infuenced by the West Country.

Wales has a number of accents. They reflect the influence of the Welsh language. The English spoken in the north and south of the country are distinctive.

Idiolect

An idiolect is an individual's distinct use of language. This refers not only to vocabulary but also grammar and pronunciation. Unlike a dialect, which is shared by a group of people, an idiolect is limited to one person.

No two individuals speak and write exactly the same way. Differences can be noted in the choice of vocabulary, word order and sentence structure. With respect to pronunciation, front vowels may have a more advanced or retracted pronunciation, the frequency of an individual's voice may be higher or lower, the intensity or loudness of an utterance may be distinctive and the tempo can also vary.

An idiolect is the particular speech pattern of an individual. The term idiolect was created by linguist Bernard Block. Every speaker has his or her own idiolect.

Baked Fish

One delicious way to cook fish is to bake it in the oven. Here is an easy French recipe for fish:

2 pollock fillets

2 tomatoes

1 onion

olive oil

salt 

pepper

dill

Chop the onions and tomatoes.

Preheat the oven to 200 degrees Celsius.

Put the fillets in a baking dish.

Add olive oil, salt, pepper and dill.

Now add the chopped onion and tomatoes.

Add a little more olive oil.

Bake for 20 minutes.