Zero Copula In Hungarian

In Hungarian the zero copula is restricted to the third person in present tense. The copula must be overtly expressed in other persons. Here are examples:

A kert szép. (The garden is beautiful)
A kertek szépek. (The gardens are beautiful)

In certain cases the verb must be expressed. They are in expressions of time, location and in interrogatives. Here are examples:

Hat óra van. (It's six o'clock)
A turisták a kertben vannak. (The tourists are in the garden)
Hol van a szálloda? (Where is the hotel?)

The zero copula is used in Hungarian, but it is restricted. It must be in present tense with the third person sngular and plural. However, with expressions of time, location and interrogatives, the zero copula does not apply. The zero copula is also used in Assamese, Japanese and Russian.

The Huron Carol

The Huron Carol is the oldest and most famous Canadian Christmas carol. It was written by Jean de Brebeuf, a Jesuit missionary among the Hurons of Canada. He wrote the lyrics in the native language of the Huron people. The well-known English lyrics were written by Jesse Edgar Middleton.

Instead of the original nativity story, the English lyrics use imagery familiar to the natives of Canada. For example, Jesus is born in a lodge of broken bark and wrapped in a robe of rabbit skin. He is surrounded by hunters instead of shepherds, is visited by chiefs from afar and is given fox and beaver pelts.

The carol begins as follows:

'Twas in the moon of winter-time
When all the birds had fled,
That mighty Gitchi Manitou
Sent angel choirs instead.

The English version uses Gitchi Manitou, the traditional Huron name, for God. This is not used in the original version. The Huron Carol also has a French version.

The Huron Carol is a popular hymn in many Canadian churches. It has a melody which is ideal for instruments with a limited range such as the flute. Canada's most famous Christmas carol helped to introduce Christianity to the natives of Canada.

Schwa and Vocalic /r/ in German

German has two similar vowels. One is the schwa and the other the vocalic /r/. The two vowels are sometimes called the light schwa and the dark schwa. The light schwa also occurs in English. The vocalic /r/ is lower and more retracted than the schwa.

Minimal pairs can be formed with the schwa and the vocalic /r/. For example, the word bitte means please and bitter means bitter. The German schwa is very common and occurs in words such as Auge (eye) and Banane (banana). The vocalic /r/ occurs in Bruder (brother) and Schwester (sister).

German has two /r/ sounds. One is the consonantal /r/ in words such as rot (red). The vocalic /r/ occurs in the syllable nucleus in words such as Lehrer (teacher). The vocalic /r/ is lower and more retracted than the schwa of English.

Markedness of Antonyms

Markedness is useful for the analysis of binary oppositions. The marked form is less common than the unmarked one. The unmarked form is the basic form and thus the default. Many marked adjectives have prefixes such as impossible, irregular and unlikely.

The unmarked form is the one which is usually used in communication. For example, the following questions use unmarked forms:

How big is the house?
How full is the container?
How good is your Italian?
How long is the bridge?
How much is it?
How heavy is the box?
How old are you?
How sure are you that they are coming?
How tall are you?
How wide is the road?

If the marked form is used, it contains a presupposition. For example, the question How bad is your Italian? presupposes that the hearer is bad at Italian. The question How small is the house? presupposes that the house is small.

In word pairs such as big/small and young/old, the word with higher value is unmarked. Other word pairs have positive and negative characteristics such as bad/good and lucky/unlucky. With these types of word pairs, the word with a positive value is unmarked.

The concept of markedness is often used in linguistics. Marked forms are irregular and less common than unmarked ones. The unmarked forms can thus be considered basic.

English Vowel Change Before Palatals and Alveopalatals

Many English speakers pronounce words such as cure and sure with the same vowel as in nurse. This occurs in both rhotic and non-rhotic varieties of English. The sound change only occurs before palatals and alveopalatals. In words such as poor and tour, this sound change does not occur. However, many speakers pronounce these words with the vowel in four and more.

The following words can be pronounced with the vowel of nurse:

bureau
cure
curious
during
fury
jury
mature
mural
pure
sure

In East Anglia, the cure-nurse merger results in identical pronunciations for word pairs such as cured/curd, fury/furry and pure/per. Two sound changes apply: one is the vowel change from a back vowel to a central vowel, and the other is yod-dropping. In North America, yod-dropping does not occur after palatals and alveopalatals.

Many vowels changes occur before post-vocalic /r/. Most English speakers pronounce the words first, nurse and word with the same vowel. Many speakers also use this vowel after palatals and alveopalatals. In East Anglia this vowel change applies with yod-dropping, but in North America no yod-dropping occurs. 

Comparison of Bilabial Plosives of Spanish and Italian

Many Spanish words with the voiced bilablial plosive have the voiceless one in Italian. The voiceless plosive became voiced in Spanish. However, Italian preserved the voiceless bilablial plosive. Here are examples:

abierto aperto (open)
cabo capo (cape)
cabra capra (goat)
escoba scopa (broom)
jabón sapone (soap)
liebre lepre (hare)
lobo lupo (wolf)
obra opera (work)
pueblo popolo (people)
sobre sopra (over)

French also preserved the voiceless bilabial plosive of Latin in the words cap (cape), loup (wolf) and peuple (people). The voiced bilabial plosive of Spanish occurs between two sonorants. This is thus an example of voicing assimilation.

Voiceless Velar Fricative of English

The voiceless velar fricative was one of the sounds of Old English. It was spelled gh. Though the letters remain in English spelling, they are now usually not pronounced or pronounced /f/. The English letters gh often correspond to the letters ch in German and Dutch.

In words such as eight and night the gh is silent. However, in words such as cough and laugh, the letters are pronounced /f/. This sound change occurs word-finally.

The German ch represents a voiceless velar fricative or palatal fricative after front vowels and vocalic /r/. Here are examples:

daugher Tochter
eight Acht
freight Fracht
high Hoch
light Licht
neighbour Nachbar
night Nacht
sight Sicht
through durch
weight Gewicht

In Dutch, a language closely related to German, the letters ch are always pronounced as a velar fricative. The Dutch words for neighbour and through are buurman and door. They are not part of the following list:

daughter dochter
eight acht
freight vracht
high hoog
light licht
night nacht
sight zicht
weight gewicht

The Dutch word hoog is spelled with a g, but this is pronounced as a velar fricative. The English gh was spelled h in Old English. Many researchers believe that it changed from a voiceless velar fricative to a voiced or partly voiced velar fricative, which explains the spelling gh.

In words such as ghetto, ghost and spaghetti, the gh was never pronounced as a velar fricative. These words have different origins. Here the gh is pronounced /g/.

English words with the spelling gh were once pronounced with the voiceless velar fricative. This sound is used in both German and Dutch. In these languages, many words with ch correspond to English words with gh.

Cot-Caught Merger in Newfoundland English

The cot-caught merger is nearly universal in Canada. However, in Newfoundland English, the merger is not universal. A few speakers maintain a contrast.

In Newfoundland English, the vowel of cot is either a central or back unrounded vowel. It has a more advanced articulation than in other varieties of Canadian English. The vowel of caught is more retracted or longer for those speakers who do not have the merger. The majority of speakers, however, have the merger and pronounce both words with a central unrounded vowel.

The more advanced articulation of the low vowel in Newfoundland English resembles that of the cities in the USA that have undergone the Northern Cities Shift. The advanced articulation distinguishes Newfoundland English from standard Canadian English. For those speakers who do not have the cot-caught merger, the distinction of cot and caught is realized with either a more retracted vowel or a longer vowel in the word caught.

Alveolar Plosive Elision

Alveolar plosive elision is very common in English. The alveolar plosives are unstable. The following conditions are necessary for alveolar plosive elision: the alveolar plosive must be in the syllable coda, it must be preceded by a consonant which agrees in voicing, and the following consonant must not be a glottal fricative.

Here are examples of alveolar plosive elision:

confused student
exactly 
finished manuscript
first performance
iced tea
handmade
just finished
last night
locked door
used car

Alveolar plosive elision is a type of lenition. It occurs in the syllable coda, the least perceptually salient part of the syllable. It is especially common in casual speech.

R-deletion and Schwa Insertion

In non-rhotic varieties of English, the /r/ is deleted after a vowel. However, many non-rhotic varieties of English such as Received Pronunciation also insert a schwa. This only occurs after the high front, mid front and high back lax vowels.

In words such as car and fork, English dialects such as Received Pronunciation delete the /r/ and lengthen the vowel. This is known as compensatory lengthening. However, in words with high tense vowels such as here and tour, the /r/ is deleted, the vowel becomes lax, and a schwa is inserted. With words such as there, the vowel is lax, and as a result, vowel laxing does not apply.

The schwa is inserted after three vowels which are close to the schwa with respect to tongue height and tongue backness. The lax vowels are closer to the schwa than the tense vowels. In addition, they do not lengthen. It appears that the insertion of the schwa replaces the deleted /r/.

Here is an analysis of the words here, there and tour in dialects of English with schwa insertion:

UR /hir/
r-deletion hi
schwa insertion hiɘ                 
vowel laxing hIɘ
PR [hIɘ]

UR /ðɛr/
 r-deletion ðɛ
schwa insertion ðɛɘ
vowel laxing
PR [ðɛɘ]

UR /tur/
r-deletion tu
schwa insertion tuɘ
vowel laxing tʊɘ
PR [tʊɘ]

The rules of r-deletion and schwa insertion need to be ordered. R-deletion is necessary because it is the trigger for schwa insertion. It is also necessary to apply schwa insertion before vowel laxing because lax vowels do not occur word-finally.

Non-rhotic varieties of English have compensatory lengthening after the loss of post-vocalic /r/. However, many non-rhotic varieties have schwa insertion after the high front, mid front and high back vowels. These vowels are close to the schwa in both vowel height and backness. In addition to schwa insertion, the tense vowels become lax. The lax vowels are closer to the schwa in both backness and height than are the tense vowels.

Ditransitive Verbs With Two Phrasal Structures

A small set of English verbs can be followed by two objects. One is the direct object and the other the indirect object. These verbs are called ditransitive because the verb phrase consists of two objects.

In many cases two phrasal structures are possible. One consists of two noun phrases with an indirect object and direct object, the double object construction, and the other is a noun phrase and a prepositional phrase in which the noun phrase is the direct object. This is known as the oblique dative. For example, the verb give allows both structures. We can say I gave Mary the chocolate and also I gave the chocolate to Mary. However, with certain verbs only one phrasal structure is possible.

A number of verbs only allow the double object construction. Here are examples:

I wished her luck.
Peter spared Paul the details.
The boss denied him a raise.
The government will charge businesses a new tax.
The judge granted him a retrial.

Another group of verbs only allows the oblique dative, which consists of a noun phrase and a prepositional phrase. Here are examples:

Barbara whispered the answer to Richard.
Lisa returned the bicycle to Grace.
The billionaire donated one million dollars to the museum.
The robber surrendered the gun to the police.
The shop delivered the earrings to my wife.

The reason for the variation in phrasal structures can be explained by history. In Old English, indirect object pronouns always preceded the direct object and indirect object nouns usually did. In 1066, the Norman French invaded England, and the linguistic contact affected the use of the ditransitive verb.

French expresses the indirect object with a prepositional phrase. Most of the verbs that only accept indirect objects with a prepositional phrase entered the English language after the Normal invasion. The include verbs such as donate, explain and report. However, most of the verbs that can occur with two noun phrases date back to Old English such as give, send and write. An exception is the verb say. Though it dates back to Old English, it has always required a prepositional phrase, i.e., I said bye to Henry. 

Most ditransitive verbs in English can occur in two phrasal structures. Most verbs which date back to Old English allow the double object construction and the oblique dative, but a few only allow one. Those verbs which only allow the double object construction have a structure which was common in Old English, and those which require the prepositional phrase have the same structure as in French. However, most English verbs allow both phrasal structures.

Compensatory Lengthening Before Historical Post-vocalic /r/ in English

Compensatory lengthening refers to the lengthening of a vowel sound because of the loss of a consonant. The consonant is often in the syllable coda. In non-rhotic varieties of English, compensatory lengthening occurs before the loss of historical post-vocalic /r/.

The following words have compensatory lengthening in non-rhotic varieties of English:

bird
car
fork
four 
girl
north
park
star
world
your

In words with the mid front, high front and high back vowels, many non-rhotic varieties have a schwa following the vowel. The combination of the vowel and schwa can be analyzed as a diphthong. Here are examples:

beer
care
here
there
tour

The schwa also occurs following diphthongs. This is also common in rhotic varieties of English. However, an alternative analysis is that a syllabic /r/ follows the diphthong in rhotic varieties. The schwa occurs in the following words:

choir
fire
hour 
tire
tower

An example of compensatory lengthening in English is long vowels before the loss of historical post-vocalic /r/. Before mid and high front vowels and high back vowels, many non-rhotic varieties also have a schwa. This is also true before diphthongs. Though long vowels occur before the loss of historical post-vocalic /r/, they are not phonemic. They never contrast with short vowels in the same environment.

Distribution of Alveopalatal and Palatovelar Fricatives of Swedish

Swedish has a fricative which is unique among the languages of the world. It has many realizations, but it has a postalveolar articulation and is usually labialized. One articulatory description of the sound is palatovelar fricative. Many speakers also have another fricative which can be a retroflex alveopalatal fricative, alveopalatal fricative or palatal fricative. For those speakers who have two sounds, one can be classified as front and the other as back.

Many Swedish speakers use both the front and back fricatives. The front fricative is used at the end of a word and before a consonant. Here are examples:

schnitzel (schnitzel)
Schweiz (Switzerland)

dusch (shower)
garage (garage)

The back fricative is used at the beginning of a syllable. Here are examples:

sked (spoon)
position (position)

With words that have the front fricative in word-final position, the same fricative is used in words with inflectional morphemes. For examples, the words duschar (showers) and garagen (the garage) maintain the front fricative.

In the southernmost part of Sweden, only the back fricative is used in all words. However, in other areas such as northern Sweden, parts of western Sweden and Finland, only the front fricative is used. The majority of Swedes, however, use both the front and back fricatives.

The front fricative used to be the most common fricative in Swedish. It is still the only one used in Finland. However, the back fricative is now more common in Swedish. This is an example of language change in progress.

Intervocalic Geminate Voicing in Danish

Danish has intervocalic geminate voicing. Though voicing does not occur in careful speech, it is common for many speakers. Intervocalic geminate voicing occurs in the following words:

ikke (not)
katte (cats)
loppe (flea)
otte (eight)
sukker (sugar)
suppe (soup)

Intervocalic geminate voicing is the result of two rules: degemination and voicing. The rules do not need to be ordered. Voicing can precede degemination. With alveolar plosives, flapping is optional. Here is the phonological analysis of ikke, suppe and otte:

UR /Ik:ɘ/
degemination Ikɘ
voicing Igɘ
PR [Igɘ]

UR /sup:ɘ/
degemination supɘ
voicing subɘ
PR [subɘ]

UR /ot:ɘ/
degemination otɘ
voicing odɘ
PR [odɘ]
(flapping oɾɘ)
(PR [oɾɘ] )

Intervocalic geminate voicing distinguishes Danish from the other Germanic languages. In Norwegian, the geminates of words such as ikke, sukker and suppe do not voice. Danish intervocalic voicing can be analyzed as lenition.

Nasal Vowels in Portuguese

One of the phonological characteristics of Portuguese is nasal vowels. Another language which shares this feature is French. Spanish, however, does not have nasal vowels. Here is a list of Portuguese words with nasal vowels on the left and the Spanish equivalents on the right:

ação acción (action)
ações acciones (actions)
mão mano (hand)
mundo mundo (world)
ponte puente (bridge)
razão razón (reason)
sim sí (yes)
som sonido (sound)
tempo tiempo (time)
um uno (one)

Portuguese has nasal vowels. This is a feature of Portuguese which makes it distinct from Spanish.  The nasals /m/ and /n/ are deleted in the syllable coda and assimilated to the preceding vowel. This can also be analyzed as coalescence.

American/British Food Terms

American and British food terms are often quite different. In certain cases the same word can have different meanings. Here is a list with the American word on the left and the British on the right:

all-purpose flour plain flour
beet beetroot
corn maize
cornstarch corn flour
cupcake fairycake
dessert pudding
eggplant aubergine
fish sticks fish fingers
golden raisin sultana
ground minced (ground beef/minced beef)
heavy cream double cream
jello jelly
light cream single cream
molasses treacle
powdered sugar icing sugar
self-raising flour self-rising flour
popsicle ice lolly
skim milk skimmed milk
wholewheat wholemeal
zucchini courgette

The word pudding refers not only to a type of dessert but also to dessert in British English. The words aubergine and courgette are from French. As the list illustrates, American English and British English have many different words for food.

Vowel Shortening and Lengthening in Hungarian

Many Hungarian words exhibit vowel shortening and lengthening. This is especially common with inflected nouns and adjectives. Here is a list of Hungarian nouns in the singular and plural to illustrate:

Vowel Shortening

fiú fiuk (boy/boys)
híd hidak (bridge/bridges)
kéz kezek (hand/hands)
nyúl nyulak (rabbit/rabbits)
tehén tehenek (cow/cows)

Vowel Lengthening

alma almák (apple/apples)
cseresznye cseresznyék (cherry/cherries)
fa fák (tree/trees)
körte körték (pear/pears)
macska macskák (cat/cats)

Vowel shortening and lengthening are common processes in Hungarian. However, no rule can adequately predict which nouns will exhibit vowel shortening and lengthening. In many cases, the vowel is the same as in szék/székek (chair/chairs) and busz/buszok (bus/buses). As a result, speakers simply need to know which words undergo the rules of vowel shortening and lengthening.

Analysis of English Phrases With Contractions

English uses many contractions. They are especially common in informal speech. The contraction 's can mean both is and has. Let us analyze two phrases with this contraction.

The sentence My wife's cooking is short for My wife is cooking. Here is the phonological analysis of the sentence:

UR /waIf Iz/
Vowel Deletion waif + z
Devoicing waif + s
PR [waifs]   

Another sentence with the contraction wife's is My wife's bought a new purse. Here is the phonological analysis of the sentence:

UR /waif hæz/
Consonant Deletion waif + æz
Vowel Weakening waif + əz
Vowel Deletion waif + z
Devoicing waif + s
PR [waifs]

The phonetic representations are identical in both cases, but to derive the contracted form which means wife is, two rules are needed. However, to derive the contracted form which means wife has, four rules are needed. Vowel deletion must precede devoicing. The reason is that vowel deletion creates the environment for devoicing. This is an example of a feeding order.

The English contract 's is a contraction of the verbs is and has. Phonological rules are needed to explain the sound changes which occur as a result of contraction. The rules which apply in both cases are vowel deletion and devoicing.

Variable Vowel Height Harmony in Brazilian Portuguese

Brazilian Portuguese has a variable vowel height harmony rule. The mid vowels /e/ and /o/ can be raised to /i/ and /u/ in pretonic syllables. This occurs when the tonic syllable has the vowel /i/ or /u/. Vowel raising is optional.

The following words have pretonic vowels which can be raised in Brazilian Portuguese:

/o/ --> /u/

bonito (nice}
coruja (owl)
costume (custom)
formiga (ant)
melodia (melody)

/e/ --> /i/ 

menino (boy)
pedido (request)
pepino (cucumber)
preciso (precise)
seguro (safe)

Post-tonic vowels are raised by many speakers of Brazilian Portuguese. For them the rule is categorical. In the case of pretonic syllables, however, vowel raising is variable.

Coda Consonant Deletion in Andalusian Spanish

Coda consonant deletion is common in Andalusian Spanish. The process is especially common in informal situations. Two consonants which are especially prone to coda consonant deletion are the alveolar fricative and the alveolar trill.

In the following words coda consonant deletion is often realized:

carne (meat)
costa (coast)
fresco (fresh)
gobierno (government)
horno (oven)
isla (island)
perla (pearl)
puentes (bridges)
puerta (door)
seis (six)

The alveolar fricative of words such as fresco and seis can also be realized as a glottal fricative. This process is known as glottalization. Though the word isla may appear to consist of a complex onset in the second syllable, this analysis does not apply to Spanish because the consonant sequence /sl/ never occurs word-initially in Spanish. For example, the word slogan is eslogan in Spanish. Furthermore, if this consonant sequence were in the onset, deletion and glottalization of the alveolar fricative would not be applicable.

One of the characteristics of Andalusian Spanish is consonant coda deletion. The coda is the least perceptually salient part of the syllable and thus the likeliest to undergo deletion. The feature of consonant coda deletion occurs not only in Andalusian Spanish but also in other varieties.

Alternations with Voiced and Voiceless Fricatives in English

Many English pairs of words have an alternation of voiced and voiceless fricatives. In many cases the words have the same form but belong to different categories. The words with voiceless fricatives are nouns, and those with voiced fricatives are verbs. Here are examples:

advice advise
bath bathe
choice choose
excuse excuse
grief grieve
house house
mouth mouth
relief relieve
strife strive
use use

In the examples the fricatives are the alveolar, the interdental and the labiodental. Two pairs exhibit a vowel alternation: bath/bathe and choice/choose. The vowel before the voiced fricative has a longer duration than the vowel before the voiceless one.

A number of English words can be grouped into pairs with voiced and voiceless fricatives. The fricatives are +anterior. The words with voiced fricatives are the result of stem-final fricative voicing.

Morphophonological Rules

Morphophonogical rules combine morphological and phonolgical processes. They focus primarily on the sound processes which take place in morphemes to form words. In morphophonological rule notation double slashes, //, are used.

The underlying form of the English plural suffix is /z/. This is the morphophoneme in words such as beds, days and tables. The other two allomorphs are /s/ as in cats and /əz/  as in roses. However, in many varieties of English such as Received Pronunciation, the plural suffix of roses is in fact /Iz/. The allomorph /z/ is considered underlying on the basis of wider distribution. It follows vowels and voiced consonants with the exception of sibilants. The allomorph /s/ follows voiceless consonants with the exception of sibilants and the allomorph /əz / only follows sibilants.

The plural boots can be represented with phonetic, phonological and morphophonological representations. They are as follows:

[buts] phonetic representation
/buts/ phonemic representation
//butz// morphophonological representation

With /z/ selected as the morphophoneme of the plural suffix, two other rules are needed to derive the other forms. They are an epenthesis rule and a devoicing rule. Here we can observe the interaction of the two rules with the plurals beds, boots and wishes:

UR /bɛd+z/

epenthesis --
devoicing --
PR [bɛdz]

UR /but+z/

epenthesis --
devoicing  buts
PR [buts]

UR /wIʃ+z/

epenthesis wIʃəz
devoicing --
PR [wIʃəz]

Epenthesis only applies between two sibilants and is thus blocked in [buts]. Devoicing only applies between a voiced and a voiceless consonant and is thus blocked in [wIʃəz]. The rules of ephenthesis and devoicing must be ordered. The reason is that if devoicing were the first rule, the plural suffix would devoice. Thus the phonetic realization of [wIʃəz] would end with the suffix variant of [buts].

Plural forms such as knives and leaves are unique because they have two voiced fricatives. This is not the case in the form cats, which has two voiceless fricatives. The phonetic representation is derived from the underlying representation with progressive devoicing: the voiceless plosive of cat devoices the underlying plural suffix /z/.

In forms such as knives and leaves, though, progressive devoicing does not take place. Here the final consonant of knife and leaf becomes voiced when it is combined with the plural allomorph /z/. An additional rule can be created, stem-final fricative voicing, to account for these forms. This only applies to morphemes which end with a voiceless labiodental fricative. Here is the analysis of leaves:

UR lif+z

epenthesis --
devoicing --
stem-final fricative voicing //livz//
PR [livz]

The double slashes indicate that this is a morphophonological rule and not a categorical one. It does not apply to forms such cliffs and chiefs nor to leaf's as in The leaf's changing colour. In certain cases, stem-final fricative voicing is optional as in roof/rooves and wharfs/wharves.

The interaction of morphological and phonological processes can be captured with morphophonological rules. In English these can be illustrated with rules for plural suffixation and  stem-final fricative devoicing. Morphophonological rules are distinct from phonological rules because they apply specifically to morphemes.

Fricative Voicing in English Plurals

A number of English plurals exhibit fricative voicing in the stem. The fricatives are the alveolar fricative, the interdental fricative and the labiodental fricative. In the case of the interdental fricative, voicing is common in British English but not in American English.

The plurals baths and paths have a voiced interdental fricative in British English. In American English, however, the interdental fricative is voiceless. Since fricatives agree in voicing, British English has two voiced fricatives in these words, and American English has two voiceless ones.

Voicing also occurs in the plurals blouses and houses. The alveolar fricative of blouse and house becomes voiced in the plural forms.

In the following words, the labiodental fricative is voiced:

calves
halves
knives
leaves
lives
loaves
shelves
thieves
wives
wolves

In Old English the e of the plural was pronounced. The word wife was originally pronounced with two syllables. The /f/ voiced because it was between two voiced segments. This is an example of  voicing assimilation.

Certain plurals have optional voicing. Examples include elfs/elves, hoofs/hooves, roofs/rooves, scarfs, scarves, and wharfs/wharves. However, in certain plurals, no voicing can occur. Plurals which belong to this category include chiefs, cliffs and safes.

In Danish, Norwegian and Swedish voicing of the labiodental fricative is more extensive than it is in English. This is because in the North Germanic languages it applies not only to the plural but also to the singular form. For example, knife/knives is kniv/knivar in Swedish, kniv/kniver in Norwegian and kniv/knive in Danish.

Many English plurals have stem-final fricative voicing. This is the result of voicing assimilation which occurred in Old English. The voicing rule is not categorical because a number of English plurals do not exhibit fricative voicing.

Sound Correspondence Between English and Swedish

English and Swedish are both Germanic languages with many similarities. One of the similarities is a sound correspondence of the fricatives /f/ and /v/. The voiceless labiodental fricative of English is often voiced in Swedish. Here are examples:

calf kalv
deaf döv
half halv
knife kniv
life liv
of av
self själv
stiff styv
thief tjuv
wolf ulv

The English words have a voiced fricative in the plural forms such as calves, knives and wolves. The word of, though spelt with an f, is pronounced with a voiced fricative. In the words calf and half, the lateral is pronounced in Swedish but not in English.

The Swedish words are almost identical in Danish and Norwegian. Here are the Danish and Norwegian words for comparison:

calf kalv kalv
deaf døv døv
half halv halv
knife kniv kniv
life liv liv
of af av
self selv selv
stiff stiv stiv
thief tyv tyv
wolf ulv ulv

The words for calf, half, knife, life and wolf are the same in Danish, Norwegian and Swedish. The word of is the same in Norwegian and Swedish but different in Danish. There is no word that is different in all three languages.

One of the many sound correspondences which English and Swedish share is that of the fricatives /f/ and /v/. This sound correspondence is also evident between English and the North Germanic languages of Danish and Norwegian. The examples illustrate that the word-final /f/ of English is often a /v/ in Swedish. The word of is an exception because it has a word-final /v/ in both languages.

Pronunciation of e in French

In standard French the letter e is often silent. This is especially true when it is word-final as in monde (world). In certain cases, the e is retained and in others it is deleted. Retention or deletion depends on the rapidity of speech, stylistic emphasis and the consonants which precede and follow the e.

The e is dropped when it is preceded by a single consonant:

épicerie (grocery)
lentement (slowly)
rapidement (quickly)

The e is retained if two consonants precede it:

appartement (apartment)
exactement (exactly)
gouvernement (government)

With certain sequences of words which occur frequently, deletion is common but not necessary. The e e is often deleted in le, me and ne.

Il me comprend. (He understands me)
Je le sais. (I know it)
Je ne sais pas. (I don't know)

The letter e can only be deleted in unstressed position. When pronounced, it is a mid front rounded vowel, but in Belgian and Canadian French, it is realized as a schwa. The e is retained when deletion results in three consecutive consonants. This can be analzyed as a syllable structure process.

Analysis of More/Most

The words more and most can be analyzed as adverbs or adjectives. Monosyllabic words usually form the comparative and superlative forms with the suffixes -er and -est, but polysyllabic words usually consist of more/most and the adjective. In this case they can be analyzed as adverbs. However, the words more/most can also be adjectives with the meaning of quantity.

The two possible analyses of the words more and most can lead to ambiguity. Consider the following sentence: I want more beautiful clothes. The sentence may mean that the speaker wants a greater quantity of beautiful clothes, or it may mean that the speaker wants clothes that are more beautiful. Context is needed to disambiguate.

a) I want more beautiful clothes. These ones are nothing special.
b) I want more beautiful clothes. Double the next shipment.

With the added context, it is clear that (a) has the meaning of the comparative suffix -er such as in prettier and (b) has the meaning of greater quantity.

With monosyllabic adjectives that combine with the suffixes -er and -est, this ambiguity does not exist. Consider the following sentences:

a) I want larger clothes.
b) I want more large clothes.

In these two sentences it is very clear that (a) refers to greater size and (b) to greater quantity. With the monosyllabic adjective large, no ambiguity occurs.

Let us consider two sentences with the word most.

(a) I want to make the most expensive dresses. The ones we currently make are too cheap.
(b) I want to make the most expensive dresses. I want to be number one in sales.

Context is needed to clarify the meaning. The first sentence has the meaning of highest in price, and the second the meaning of greatest quantity.

With monosyllabic adjectives which combine with the superlative suffix -est, this ambiguity does not exist. Consider the following sentences:

a) They own the newest properties.
b) They own the most new properties.

Here no further context is needed to clarify the meaning. In (a) it is clear that the meaning refers to age, and in (b) the meaning refers to the number of properties.

A number of words can belong to more than one grammatical category. This is the case with more and most, which can be both adverbs and adjectives. Ambiguity can occur with polysyllabic adjectives which form the comparative and superlative with more and most.

Two Pronunciations of The

The word the has two pronunciations. It is pronounced with a schwa before words that begin with a consonant, and with a high front vowel before words that begin with a vowel. This can be considered a syllable structure process.

The English schwa occurs in many words such as salmon, carrot and lettuce. In these words the schwa occurs between consonants. In the phrases the cat and the dog, the schwa occurs before consonants. However, in the phrases the apple and the orange, the schwa comes before a vowel. To avoid the sequence of a schwa and vowel, the schwa becomes a high front vowel.

The definite article has two pronunciations. One occurs before consonants and the other before vowels. The pronunciation  before consonants occurs in isolation and is unconditioned. It can thus be considered underlying.

Poem by Sara Teasdale

Sara Teasdale wrote the poem There Will Come Soft Rains. It was written in 1920, shortly after the end of World War 1. Here is the poem:

There Will Come Soft Rains

There will come soft rains and the smell of the ground,
And swallows circling with their shimmering sound;

And frogs in the pools singing at night,
And wild plum trees in tremulous white,

Robins will wear their feathery fire
Whistling their whims on a low fence-wire;

And not one will know of the war, not one
Will care at last when it is done.

Not one would mind, neither bird nor tree
If mankind perished utterly;

And Spring herself, when she woke at dawn,
Would scarcely know that we were gone.

Sara Teasdale's poem consists of twelve verses written in six rhyming couplets. It has many references to nature such as soft rains, plum trees, robins and swallows. The poem tells the reader that even if mankind is destroyed in war, nature will always triumph.

Different Vocabulary of Spanish Dialects

Spanish has many dialects. Even in Spain, a number of different dialects are spoken. The Spanish of Madrid is Castilian, and the Spanish of Seville is Andalusian. One area in which the dialects often differ greatly is vocabulary. This can be illustrated with the word straw. Here are eleven different words for the drinking straw:

absorbente (Cuba)
bombilla (Bolivia, Chile)
calimete (Dominican Republic)
cañita (Peru)
carrizo (Panama)
pajilla (Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua)
pajita ( Argentina, Chile, Spain, Uruguay)
pitillo (Chile, Venezuela)
popote (Mexico)
sorbete (Argentina, Ecuador, Peru)
sorbeto (Puerto Rico)

The word pajilla is used in five countries and pajita is used in four. The words pajilla/pajita and sorbete/sorbeto are similar. The list illustrates the different vocabulary of Spanish dialects.

Names of Rivers in Different Languages

A number of rivers have names that vary from one language to another. Here are the names of ten rivers in English, French, German, Spanish and Italian:

Amazon
Amazone
Amazonas
Amazonas
Amazzoni

Danube
Danube
Donau
Danubio
Danubio

Douro
Douro
Duero
Duero
Douro

Loire
Loire
Loire
Loira
Loira

Nile
Nil
Nil
Nilo
Nilo

Rhine
Rhin
Rhein
Rin
Reno

Rhone
Rhône
Rhone
Ródano
Rodano

Seine
Seine
Seine
Sena
Senna

Tagus
Tage
Tajo
Tajo
Tago

Thames
Tamise
Themse
Támesis
Tamigi

The names of rivers can vary from one language to another, but the names are usually quite similar. The Loire is the same in English, French and German, and only a little different in Spanish and Italian. English and French share the same name for the Danube, and Spanish and Italian also share the name. German. on the other hand, has a different name. The list exemplifies the different names of rivers in five languages.

Ambiguity with Genitives

Genitives occur in various forms. They are determiners (her desk), proper nouns (John's car) and full noun phrases (the child's toy). Many examples of ambiguity are possible with genitives. Let us look at a few examples.

The sentence Erik's new novel is on the table is ambiguous. Did Erik write the novel or is the novel one which Erik wrote? Is it a novel which Erik wrote and is owned by another person? Is it a novel which Erik wrote and which Erik owns? The answer of course depends on the context of the real world.

Jane heard about Margaret's betrayal is also ambiguous. If Margaret betrayed someone, this is a subject genitive. However, if someone betrayed Margaret, this is an object genitive. The sentence can be disambiguated if more information can be added. The following sentences are clear:

Jane heard about Margaret's betrayal of her younger sister.
Jane heard about Margaret's betrayal by her boss.

The sentence I love Peter' s photograph is also ambiguous. The genitive may be possessive (Peter owns the photograph), a subject genitive (Peter took the photograph) or an object genitive (Someone photographed Peter). Context of the real word is needed to make the meaning clear.

Genitive constructions are very common. In addition to possessive genitives, subject and object genitives are also common. Many examples of ambiguity can be found in genitive constructions.

Poem (One More Year)

I want to post my last poem. It was written to my wife to commemorate our wedding anniversary. I hope you enjoy it.

One More Year

Life can go fast
With you by my side,
One more year has passed
Since the day you were my bride.

With you I see my hopes and fears,
Moments experienced together,
Sorrow and joy in our tears,
As we journey through life further.

With you our world becomes wonderful,
Filled with fragrance and colour.
With you I feel so grateful,
We have so much to discover.

Though barriers can slow our journey,
We can conquer every problem and fear.
You are my love, my strength, my energy.
Thank you for treasures of one more year.

The poem consists of four stanzas with four verses each. The odd and even verses of each stanza rhyme with one another. In the poem One More Year I compare time spent together to treasure.

L-vocalization in Italian

One of the phonological features which differentiates Italian from other Romance languages is l-vocalization. Many languages have l-vocalization in the syllable coda, but Italian exemplifies the process in the syllable onset. The original consonant cluster of Latin became a sequence of a consonant and vowel in Italian. L-vocalization in Italian can be illustrated by comparing the vocabulary of French and Italian. Here are examples:

blanc bianco (white)
clair chiaro (clear)
clef chiave (key)
fleur fiore (flower)
fleuve fiume (river)
plaisir piacere (pleasure)
plat piatto (plate)
pluit pioggia (rain)
plus più (more)
temple tempio (temple)

The examples illustrate that many consonant clusters in French are a consonant and vowel in Italian. This is the result of l-vocalization. The consonant clusters are also preserved in Spanish in words such as blanco (white) and flor (flower). In Portuguese the consonant cluster often has an r as in branco (white) and prato (plate). The feature of l-vocalization is one which serves to distinguish Italian from other Romance languages.

Resignation after 13 Moves

In a game of speed chess, my opponent resigned after only 13 moves. He was Anotherperson99 of the USA, who played white. Here are the moves of the game along with my commentary:

1. d4 Nf6
2. Bf4 d6
3. Nf3 Bf5

White usually plays Nc3 before Nf3. This allows the move e4.

4. e3 Nc6
5. c3 e6

I have more development than white.

6. Nh4 Bg6
7. Nxg6 hxg6

I have doubled pawns, but I have opened the a-file for my rook.

8. Be2 Qd7
9. Nd2 Be7
10. Qb3 0-0-0
11. Bb5 a6
12. Be2 e5

I play e5 in the hope of creating a double attack.

13. dxe5 dxe5

Black's move is a blunder. He should play Bg5.

Now the bishop on f4 and the knight on d2 are under attack. White cannot save both pieces. Unable to avoid the loss of a piece, white decides to resign.

Feminine Gender in Norwegian

The use of feminine gender in Norwegian varies from one dialect to another. In the dialect of Bergen, it is not used at all. In west Oslo, many speakers also never use feminine gender. In these cases, only the common and neuter genders are used. In other dialects, however, feminine gender is often used.

For the vast majority of Norwegians, feminine gender is common in the following words:

bygd (town)
dame (lady)
geit (goat)
hytte (cottage)
jente (girl)
kone (wife)
ku (cow)
myr (marsh)
stue (living room)
øy (island)

The definite article for nouns with feminine gender is -a. For example, the sentence I like the cottage is Jeg liker hytta. For speakers who do not use feminine gender, the suffix is -en. This is the same suffix that is used for nouns with common gender. With this suffix, the sentence I like the cottage is Jeg liker hytten.

Most Norwegians use three genders- common, neuter and feminine. However, the use of feminine gender varies from one dialect to another. In Oslo, it is used far more in the east than in the west.

Genitive Semantic Types

Many associate genitives with possession, but in fact only a fraction of genitive constructions express a possessive relationship. Five genitive types can be identified. They are possessive, subject, object, part/whole and measure.

The following sentences provide examples of possessive genitives:

The child's bicycle was stolen.
Their yacht is beautiful.
Mary's shoes are new.

Subject genitives express a relationship similar to that of a subject and predicate. Here are examples:

William Shakespeare's plays are famous.
The professor's lecture was boring.
The man's explanation was not credible.

In object genitives, the relationship of the genitive to the noun that it modifies is like the relationship of a direct object and its verb. Here are examples:

Carl's promotion made him happy.
She was shocked by her friend's murder.
The city's devastation was unprecedented.

The following sentences provide examples of part/whole genitives:

The roof of the house was damaged by the storm.
The top of the table is new.
The cover of the book is torn.

With genitives of measure, the term of measurement is the noun head. Here are examples:

The circumference of the earth is 40,075 kilometres.
He forgot the weight of the package.
The length of the trial surprised many.

Genitives are often identified with possession. Possessive genitives can be further divided into two types, alienable and inalienable. Besides possession, however, four other types can be expressed. English used to mark all genitive nouns with the inflection suffix -s but after the Norman invasion, Modern English uses both inflection and the preposition of to mark genitive relationships.

Foot-Strut Split in England

The foot-strut split refers to the different vowels in the words foot and strut. In early modern English the vowel of strut changed from rounded to unrounded. The foot-strut split is common in most varieties of English. However, in England many speakers do not have the split.

In southern England, the vowels of foot and strut are different. However, in central and northern England, the words are pronounced with the same vowel. It is the back unrounded vowel of book. The dialects of central and northern England retain an older form of English. The words foot and strut have the same vowel because words such as strut preserve the original foot vowel.

The following words have the foot vowel in the dialects of central and northern England:

but
cup
enough
flood
love
luck
nut
one
plum
us

Most dialects of English have the foot-strut split. In central and northern England, however, the split does not occur. Though the split is common in Ireland, it is neutralized by many Irish speakers. Speakers of central and northern England lack the foot-strut split because they preserve the original foot vowel.

Bahamian English

Bahamian English is a variety of English spoken in the Bahamas. Despite the proximity of Bahamas to the United States, the accent is non-rhotic and shares a number of features which are different from those of American English. As with other forms of Caribbean English, the dialect has been influenced by African languages and has its own creole.

In Bahamian English, the interdental fricatives of words such as the and through are often replaced with alveolar plosives. This process is known as th-stopping. The /v/ of words such as village is often pronounced as a /w/ and the /h/ is often dropped. The final vowel of words such as happy is often pronounced with a lax vowel. As in parts of the United States, the pin-pen merger occurs.

Bahamian English is a variety of Caribbean English. Phonological features of the dialect include h-dropping and th-stopping. The dialect has the pin-pen merger and is non-rhotic.

Belarusian

Belarusian is a Slavic language, which along with Russian, is official in Belarus. Though Belarusian is an official language of Belarus, the majority of Belarusians speak Russian as their first language.  Belarusian is closely related to other East Slavic languages, especially Ukrainian.

Though Belarusian and Russian are similar, the two languages differ significantly in orthography. Belarusian has a phonetic orthography that closely represents the surface phonology, and Russian orthography represents the underlying phonology. This can be seen in akanye, the merger of unstressed /a/ and /o/, which exists in both Belarusian and Russian. Belarusian always spells the merged sound as /a/, but Russian uses either /a/ or /o/, depending on the underlying phoneme.

Belarusian, Ukrainian, Russian and Polish share a high degree of mutual intelligibility. The Belarusian language has 80% mutual intelligibility with Ukrainian, 75% with Russian and 41% with Polish.  Belarusian is thus most closely related to Ukrainian.

The Belarusian language has two main dialects, the northeastern and the southwestern. The northeastern dialect is characterized by a soft /r/ and strong akanye, and the southwestern dialect by a hard /r/ and moderate akanye.

Belarusian and Russian are both official languages of Belarus. Though Belarusian and Russian are similar to one another. Belarusian is closest to Ukrainian. Belarusian and Ukrainian both share akanye, the merger of unstressed /a/ and /o/, a feature which does not occur in Ukrainian.

Experiencer Subjects

Experiencer subjects are always animate. The subject is usually human. The experiencer is connected to a sensory perception or psychological state. In other words, the experience occurs through the senses or cognition. The verbs that occur with experiencer subjects relate to consciousness.

The five senses allow for an agent subject and an experiencer subject. When the agent subject engages in a sensory activity, the agent actively employs the sense. The experiencer, however, is not an active participant in the sensory perception. The agent looks and listens on purpose, but the experiencer sees and hears involuntarily.

When Peter tastes vegetable soup, he does so by putting his spoon in the bowl and then to his lips. However, when he tastes mould on bread, his taste buds register a sensation. The taste of mould is unexpected.

The following sentences have agent subjects followed by experiencer subjects:

Jack looked at the report
Jack saw some blood.

Alex listened to her explanation.
Alex overheard an argument.

Marcia smelled the tulips.
Marcia smelled smoke.

Tony tasted the brandy.
Tony could taste vinegar in the sauce.

Norma felt the sweater.
Norma felt some pain.

Without context, the sentence Petra smelled the perfume is ambiguous. The subject can be an agent or an experiencer. Context is needed to clarify the precise meaning.

The five senses are sight, hearing, taste, smell and touch. They are connected to sensory verbs such as see, smell, listen, feel and taste. The subjects used in connection with sensory verbs can be both agent subjects and experiencer subjects.

Tense and Aspect in Discourse

In natural circumstances, sentences do not occur in isolation but follow one another in discourse. Tense and aspect work together to form connections between phrases and sentences. Often a series of past tense verbs represent activities that occur in the order in which they are mentioned. In other words, the actions are temporally sequenced. This is especially true when the actions are coordinated with the conjunction and.

Here are examples

Paul tripped and fell down the stairs.
Linda sipped some herbal tea and put her cup on the table.
Alice opened the car door and got in.

In the examples, the second phrase logically follows the first. The reverse order would be strange. The sentence Linda put her cup on the table and sipped some herbal tea is possible but unlikely.  However, in cases with no predictable order of actions, we encounter the same phenomenon. Here are examples:

Mark ate lunch and took a nap.
Susan smiled and took the girl's hand.
Leonard laughed and walked to the hotel.

Although the two events in each sentence could easily occur in the reverse order, the reader assumes the order of the events is the order in which they are told. John stopped the car and got out is very different from John got out and stopped the car. There can be significant time gaps between ordered events, i.e., He got married and had six children.

When the actions of phrases continue over a long period of time, they can be interpreted as interconnected: We ate pizza and drank beer all evening; The teenagers sang and danced at the concert; I coughed and sneezed all morning. In these cases the phrases are not temporally ordered.

In discourse sentences follow one another. Tense and aspect often combine to form connections. A series of past tense verbs are often temporally sequenced, and this is especially true when the conjunction and combines the actions.

Icelandic Days of the Week

Many of the Icelandic days of the week are not as similar to English days as those of other Germanic languages. Here are the days from Monday to Sunday:

mánudagur
þriðjudagur
miðvikudagur
fimmtudagur
föstudagur
laugardagur
sunnudagur

The literal meaning of Monday is moon day. Tuesday is third day, Wednesday is midweek day and Thursday is fifth day. Friday is fasting day, Saturday is bathing day and Sunday is sun day.

The Icelandic days for Monday and Sunday are similar to those of English. However, the names of the other days are less similar. Tuesday and Thursday are literally third day and fifth day.

Slavic Languages

The Slavic languages are Indo-European languages that are spoken in Central Europe, Eastern Europe, the Balkans and Russia. They descended from Proto-Slavic. The Slavic languages can be classified into three language groups.

The three groups are East, West and South. The East Group includes Belarusian, Russian and Ukrainian. The West Group includes Czech, Slovak and Polish and the South Group includes Bulgarian, Macedonian, Serbian, Croatian, Bosnian and Slovenian.

The East Slavic languages are written in the Cyrillic alphabet, but the West Slavic languages are written in the Roman. In the case of the South Slavic languages, the situation is more complex. Slovenian and Croatian are written in the Roman alphabet, but Bulgarian and Macedonian are written in the Cyrillic. Serbian and Bosnian are written in both alphabets, but Serbian is officially written in Cyrillic.

The Slavic languages are known for their extensive series of palatal consonants. Russian and Belarusian have a high central vowel which does not exist in the other Slavic languages. Polish preserves two nasal vowels which the other Slavic languages do not. Unlike the other Slavic languages, Ukrainian does not devoice word-final obstruents.

Stress varies among the Slavic languages. In Russian and Ukrainian, it can occur on any syllable. In Polish, it tends to fall on the penultimate syllable and in Czech and Slovak the stress is on the first syllable of the word.

The Slavic languages share more characteristics than many other language families. The most widely-spoken of the Slavic languages is Russian. The Slavic languages tend to have many consonant clusters and relatively few vowels. They are spoken in a large area which extends from Central Europe and the Balkans to the easternmost part of Russia.

Vowel Reduction

Vowel reduction is very common in many languages. It refers to changes in the acoustic quality of vowels. These changes include duration, loudness, sonority and vowel quality. Many reduced vowels occur in unstressed position.

Vowel reduction often involves centralization of the vowel. In vowel centralization, tongue movement is reduced. The most common reduced vowel is the schwa. This vowel can be heard in the unstressed positions of the English words ago, bullet and carrot.

In addition to English, vowel reduction is common in many other languages. They include German, Dutch, Norwegian, Catalan, Russian and Portuguese. However, vowel reduction is far more common in European Portuguese than in Brazilian.

Russian is a language with significant vowel reduction. For example, the word ostrov (island) is pronounced ['ostraf]. Stress is word-initial, so the first vowel is not reduced but the unstressed vowel is. The word-final consonant is devoiced. The plural ostrova (islands) is pronounced [astrava']. The stress is word-final, so the initial vowel is now reduced to [a]. In Russian the vowel [o] can only occur in stressed position.

The process of vowel reduction occurs in many languages. English also has many examples of vowel reduction. In unstressed position, the schwa is very common in English and in many other languages.

Italian Dialects

Italian has many dialects. Though standard Italian is widely used, many regions have dialects that differ significantly from the standard variety. They can differ so much from the standard language that many Italians do not understand them.

The main dialects of Italian include Milanese, Venetian, Tuscan, Neapolitan, Romanesco and Sicilian. Milanese is spoken in northwestern Italy and Venetian in northeastern Italy. Tuscan is spoken in northern Italy and is the basis of the standard language. Neapolitan is spoken in the south and Romanesco is spoken in central Italy, particularly in Rome. Sicilian is very different from standard Italian and is spoken on the southern island of Sicily.

Standard Italian is based on the dialect of Tuscany. However, the Italian language has many regional dialects. Widely-spoken varieties include Venetian, Neapolitan, Romanesco and Sicilian.

V2 movement in English

Unlike other Germanic languages, V2 movement is not common in English. However, it was once common. It is now used in certain cases.

The following sentences have V2 movement:

Here comes the bus.
Now is time to say good-bye.
Never will he agree.
Behind the park is the school.
Down came the rain.

The examples begin with adverbs and a preposition. With most adverbs, V2 movement is not allowed as in the sentence Sometimes they can't come. The examples preserve a structure which was common in Old English and Middle English. They can be considered vestiges of V2 movement in English.

R-Coloured Vowels in Quebec French

Quebec French is known for many phonologcal features. They include affrication of the plosives /d/ and /t/ before high front vowels, vowel laxing and diphthongization. However, another feature produced by many speakers is r-coloured vowels.

R-coloured vowels are common in English and Mandarin. However, they can also be heard in the French of Quebec. The words un (one) and brun (brown) have a nasal vowel. In Quebec French, this nasal vowel is often followed by a retroflex which has the quality of an r-coloured vowel.

The r-coloured vowel can also appear in words such as jour (day) peur (fear) and pur (pure). In these words, the r-coloured vowel occurs word-finally. The production of the r-coloured vowel is more common in Montreal than in other parts of the province.

Many phonological features distinguish Quebec French from other varieties. One feature is the r-coloured vowels of many speakers. They are most common in Montreal.

Dutch and German Word Order

Dutch word order has many similarities to that of German. Both languages have V2 order and TMP. However, in certain respects Dutch word order is different.

The sentence I want to sleep now has the same word order in both Dutch and German:

Dutch Ik wil nu slapen
German Ich will jetzt schlafen

We can change the word order to create the sentence Now I want to sleep. This also has the same word order in Dutch and German:

Dutch Nu wil ik slapen
German Jetzt will ich schlafen

Both Dutch and German have V2 movement. This means that the verb must occupy second position in the sentence. In the sentence Now I want to sleep, the verb follows the adverb.

German and Dutch both follow TMP. This means Time Manner Place. For example, the sentence I'm flying to Paris tomorrow with KLM, English uses the order Place Time Manner. Compare the order to that of Dutch and German:

Dutch Ik vlieg morgen met KLM naar Parijs. 
German Ich vliege morgen mit KLM nach Paris.

In subordinate clauses Dutch and German word order often differ. The sentence He hopes that she has found it has two possible word orders in Dutch, but only one in German. In German the verb must come at the end of the subordinate clause, but in Dutch the past participle can follow the verb. Dutch allows two word orders, but the one which ends with the past participle is the most common.

Dutch Hij hoopt dat zij het gevonden heeft./ Hij hoopt dat zij het heeft gevonden. 
German Er hofft, daß sie es gefunden hat. 

The question Is it true that she is not here? has two possible orders in Dutch, but only one in German.

Dutch Is het waar dat zij is niet hier?/ Is het waar dat zij niet hier is?
German Ist es wahr, daß sie nicht hier ist?

The sentence He isn't coming because he must work today differs in Dutch and German. 

Dutch Hij komt niet, omdat hij vandaag moet werken.
German Er kommt nicht, weil er heute arbeiten muß.

In Dutch the infinitive follows the verb, but in German the infinitive precedes it. All subordinate clauses in German must end with the verb. The adverb today precedes the verb phrase of the subordinate clause in both languages.

Dutch word order is similar to German in many respects. The two languages have V2 movement and TMP. English lacks V2 movement and has PTM. However, Dutch word order in subordinate clauses is often different. In German, verbs must always come at the end of the subordinate clause. This is not the case in Dutch.

Spanish /d/ and Italian /t/

Many Spanish words with a /d/ have a /t/ in Italian. The Spanish /d/ is the result of lenition and occurs intervocalically or between a vowel and a sonorant. Here are examples:

abogado avvocato (lawyer)
certificado certificato (certificate)
dedo dito (finger)
estado stato (state)
helado gelato (ice cream)
lado lato (side)
piedra pietra (stone)
poder potere (power)
rueda ruota (wheel)
vida vita (life)

The consonants /p/ and /k/ also lenite in Spanish. Examples include cabra/capra (goat) and amigo/amico (friend). Lenition also occurs in Portuguese. The Portuguese words for goat and friend are the same as in Spanish.

In contrast to Italian, the /t/ of Latin often becomes a /d/ in Spanish. This is also the case for the consonants /p/ and /k/. The process is known as lenition and also occurs in Portuguese. This process can also be analyzed as assimilation because voiceless segments become voiced between two voiced sounds.

Affrication in Canadian French

In Canadian French, affrication occurs with the plosives /d/ and /t/. However, they must be preceded by a high front vowel. This process does not apply to Acadian French, but is common in the rest of Canada.

The following words have affrication of the /d/ and /t/:

tulipe (tulip)
produit (product)
dix (ten)
duc (duke)
petit (small)
aujourd'hui (today)
peinture (painting)
tu (you)
distance (distance)
titre (title)

Affrication of the alveolar plosives /d/ and /t/ is typical of Canadian French. It only occurs before high front vowels. Another name for affrication is assibilation. This phonological process is a subclass of assimilation.

Pronunciation of Canadian French and European French

The pronunciation of Canadian French varies significantly from that of European French. Canadian French has a more complex phonology. As in European French, Canadian French also has regional varieties.

Canadian French has lax vowels. In words such as huit (eight) and jupe (skirt), Canadian French uses lax vowels. Lax vowels are not used in European French.

In certain words, Canadian French uses a low back vowel. Examples include chat (cat) and cela (that). In these cases the vowel is word-final. In European French the vowel is low central.

Before high front vowels, the consonants /d/ and /t/ are affricated in Canadian French. Examples include petit (small), tu (you), directeur (director) and dur (hard).

Canadian French also has diphthongs in many words. For example, the words haut (high) and four (oven) have diphthongs. In European French, they have monophthongs.

Consonant cluster simplification is common in Canadian French, especially with the liquids. For example, in the words table (table) and quatre (four) the /l/ and /r/ are often deleted.

Unlike European French, which has three nasal vowels, Canadian French has four. In words such as un (one) and brun (brown), European French has a mid front lax unrounded nasal vowel. In Canadian French, the vowel is mid front lax rounded.

Another difference can be found in words such as je chanterai (I will sing) and je chanterais (I would sing). In European French the final vowel of both words is pronounced the same. In Canadian French, however, the final vowel of je chanterais is longer than the final vowel of je chanterai.

Canadian French has a very different pronunciation from that of European French. The differences include the use of lax vowels, diphthongs and affricates. In addition, Canadian French has one more nasal vowel, which no longer exists in European French.

Variable Pronunciation of Words

A number of words have variable pronunciations. The pronunciation can vary depending on the context. Let us look at a few examples.

The Spanish word dos means two. The initial segment is a plosive. However, in certain contexts it can be a fricative. For example, Ella me dió dos libros means She gave me two books. The preceding word has a word-final vowel. This creates an intervocalic environment for the initial segment of dos. The result is that it is pronounced as an interdental fricative.

The word made ends with a plosive. However, in the sentence She made a cake, it is natural for Canadians and Americans to produce an alveolar flap. The reason is that the segment is between two vowels and the first one is stressed.

In Swedish (also in Norwegian) the combination of an r and an s in the same syllable produces a retroflex sibilant fricative. However, this sound never occurs word-initially. It is possible, though, across word boundaries. For example, in the sentence Jag har så många böcker (I have so many books), the word-final segment of har and word-initial segment of så can coalesce into a retroflex sibilant fricative.

In Received Pronunciation and other dialects of English, the lateral is velarized syllable-finally but not syllable-initially. The word sell has velarization, but in the sentence I want to sell it the word sell lacks velarization because the lateral is resyllabified to become the first segment of the final syllable in the sentence.

The definite article the is pronounced with a schwa in isolation and before consonants, but with a high front unrounded vowel before vowels. Compare the phrases the banana and the  apple. This avoids the sequence of schwa and vowel, a sequence which is not allowed in English. This can be analyzed as a syllable structure process.

The pronunciation of words can vary depending on the environment. Many words are pronounced differently in isolation and in phrases. Many sound changes occur with word-initial and word-final segments.

Hungarian Inessive and Superessive with Demonyms

In Hungarian foreign demonyms combine with the inessive, but Hungarian demonyms combine with the inessive and the superessive. The inessive and the superessive are both postpositions and express the meaning in. For foreign demonyms, the suffix variants are -ban and -ben, but with Hungarian demonyms, the superessive variants -en, -n. -on and -ön are also used.

Here is a list of foreign demonyns with the inessive in Hungarian:

in Beijing Beijingben
in Berlin Berlinben
in Cairo Kairóban
in London Londonban
in Moscow Moszkvában
in Munich Münchenben
in New York New Yorkban
in Paris Párizsban
in Shanghai Shanghaiban
in Tokyo Tokióban
in Toronto Torontóban

Now we have a list of Hungarian demonyms with the inessive and the superessive:

in Budapest Budapesten
in Debrecen Debrecenben
in Esztergom Esztergomban
in Fertőd Fertődön
in Kecskemét Kecskeméten
in Miskolc Miskolcon
in Nyíregyháza Nyíregyházán
in Sopron Sopronban
in Szeged Szegeden
in Szombathely Szombathelyen
in Visegrád Visegrádon

Hungarian uses a greater number of suffix variants with Hungarian denonyms than with foreign ones. The suffix variant -ban is used with back vowels and -ben is used with front vowels. In the case of Hungarian demonyms, the superessive variants are also used. The suffix variant -ön follows front rounded vowels, -on follows back vowels and -en follows front unrounded vowels.

Lax Vowels in Canadian French

The phonology of Canadian French includes lax vowels. The high vowels /i/, /u/ and /y/ also have lax counterparts. This is in contrast to European French, which does not have lax vowels. In Canadian French only high vowels are lax.

The lax vowels of Canadian French occur in closed syllables. However, they never come before voiced fricatives. The reason is that voiced fricatives lengthen the preceding vowel. As a result, they block the vowel laxing rule.

The following words have lax vowels in Canadian French:

fils (son)
musique (music)
ville (city)
vite (quickly)

coupe (cup)
doute (doubt)
moule (mussel)
route (route)

jupe (skirt)
lune (moon)
lutte (struggle)
minute (minute)

Unlike European French, Canadian French has lax vowels. The lax vowels are always high and occur in closed syllables. The lax vowels of Canadian French are one of the features which serves to distinguish Canadian French from European French.

Nasal Vowels

Nasal vowels are vowels that are produced with a lowered velum. This allows air flow to escape through the nose and mouth simultaneously. Oral vowels are produced without nasalization. Nasalized vowels are vowels that are influenced by adjacent nasal consonants.

The English word sand has a nasalized vowel. The vowel is influenced by the following nasal which occurs in the same syllable. However, in the case of nasal vowels, no audible nasal consonant follows the vowel.

Nasal vowels are usually a little lower than oral vowels. This is the case with the French words beau (beautiful) and bon (good). The vowel of beau has a higher tongue position than the vowel of bon.

Languages with nasal vowels include Breton, French, Polish, Portuguese and Yoruba. Nasal vowels are not so common. Every language with nasal vowels has oral vowels, but many languages with oral vowels lack nasal vowels. Nasal vowels can thus be considered marked.

Hungarian Word Order in Affirmative and Negative Sentences

Hungarian word order is relatively flexible. However, in the affirmative, the verb often follows the compliment and in the negative often precedes it.  This results in two different patterns.

The Hungarian sentence Orvos vagyok means I am a doctor. Hungarian is a pro-drop language, so the pronoun does not need to be expressed. In the sentence Orvos vagyok, the verb vagyok occurs in sentence-final position. The negative I am not a doctor is Nem vagyok orvos. Here the verb is not sentence-final.

The sentence Budapesten lakom means I live in Budapest. The negative I don't live in Budapest is Nem lakom Budapesten. In the affirmative the verb is sentence-final, but in the negative, it is not. Hungarian uses a postposition to express in Budapest, and this is written as one word.

With sentences such as Orvos vagyok and Nem vagyok orvos, the verb appears in two different positions. It is clear that the negative particle nem must occur before the verb. If the affirmative sentence is analyzed as underlying, the negative is derived by raising the verb.

The same patterns occur in Budapesten lakom and Nem lakom Budapesten. Verb-raising makes the negation more prominent in the sentence. It is clear that the negative particle nem and the be-verb from a constituent.

Hungarian has two different word orders for the verb in affirmative and negative sentences. The affirmative can be considered underlying because it is the most basic sentence. The negative word order is thus derived as a result of verb-raising.

French Simple Past

In French the simple past is usually only used in formal speeches and writing. For other situations, it is common to use the present perfect. This is different from English. The sentence I visited my sister is J'ai visité ma soeur. In formal French, however, it can be translated as Je visitai ma soeur.

The conjugation of the simple past has two regular patterns. One is for infinitives which end in -er and the other for infinitives which end in -ir and -re. Here are examples with the three infinitive endings:

parler (to speak)

je parlai (I spoke)
tu parlas (you spoke)
il/elle parla (he/she spoke)
nous parlâmes (we spoke)
vous parlâtes (you spoke)
ils/elles parlèrent (they spoke)

finir (to finish)

je finis (I finished)
tu finis (you finished)
il/elle finit (he/she finished)
nous finîmes (we finished)
vous finîtes (you finished)
ils/elles finirent (they finished)

perdre (to lose)

je perdis (I lost)
tu perdis (you lost)
il/elle perdit (he/she lost)
nous perdîmes (we lost)
vous perdîtes (you lost)
ils/elles perdirent (they lost)

The verbs être (to be) and avoir (to have) are irregular. Here are the conjugations:

être (to be)

je fus (I was)
tu fus (you were)
il/elle fut (he/she was)
nous fûmes (we were)
vous fûtes (you were)
ils/elles furent (they were)

avoir (to have)

j'eus (I had)
tu eus (you had)
il/elle eut (he/she had)
nous eûmes (we had)
vous eûtes (you had)
ils/elles eurent (they had)

In conversational French the present perfect is used instead of the simple past. However, the simple past is common in formal speeches and writing. The simple past has two regular conjugation patterns. One is for infinitives which end in -er and the other for infinitives which end in -ir and -re.

Prime Numbers

Prime numbers are whole numbers which cannot be produced by multiplying whole numbers. They are always greater than 1. A number which can be produced by multiplying whole numbers is called a composite number. The number 4 is an example of a composite number. It can be produced by multiplying 2x2.

Here is a list of all the prime numbers up to 100:

2, 3, 5, 7, 11, 13, 17, 19, 23, 29, 31, 37, 41, 43, 47, 53, 59, 61, 67, 71, 73, 79, 83, 89, 97.

The number 2 is the smallest prime number. It cannot be produced by multiplying whole numbers. The numbers 4 and 1/2 can be muliplied to produce 2, but 1/2 is not a whole number. It is a fraction.

With the exception of the number 2, all the prime numbers are odd numbers. Even numbers such as 4 and 10 can be produced by multiplying 2 and another whole number. Numbers which can be produced by multiplying whole numbers are called composite numbers.