Denasalization in Italian

Many Italian words undergo denasalization. The process occurs in consonant clusters. In English and Romance languages such as Spanish and French, the nasal is preserved. Here are examples:

costante (constant)
costellazione (constellation)
costituzione (constitution)
costruzione (construction)
dimostrazione (demonstration)
ispezione (inspection)
ispirazione (inspiration)
istituto (institute)
istruzione (instruction)
mostro (monster)

Italian denasalization can be observed in syllable-initial consonant clusters which begin with sp and st. However, the process is not categorical. For example, the Italian word for installation is installazione. The Italian word for consideration, considerazione, maintains the nasal but denasalization does not apply because the word has no consonant cluster after the nasal.

Portuguese also has denasalization, but Portuguese denasalization occurs in a different environment. The Portuguese word for institute is instituto, but words such as coroa (crown) and lua (moon) have denasalization in an intervocalic position. In this position Italian does not denasalize. The Italian words for crown and moon are corona and luna.

Denasalization is a common phonological process in Italian. It is also common in Portuguese, but the environment is different. Many Italian words exemplify denasalization. This serves to distinguish Italian from other Romance languages.

Dialects of Portugal

The Portuguese of Portugal has many dialects. The most common distinction is between the north and the south. I will identify a few features that distinguish the dialects of Portugal.

In the north of Portugal, the orthographic v is pronounced [b] in word-initial position. This is also the case in Spanish. For example, the word vinho (wine) is pronounced with a word-initial [b] in the north and a word-initial [v] in the south.

The numbers cinco (five) and seis (six) are pronounced with a dental fricative in the north and south of Portugal. In a region north of Lisbon, however, between the north and south, the first segment is an apical alveolar fricative similar to the first segment of sheep in English.

The word chapéu (hat) is pronounced with an affricate in the north and with a fricative in the south. The affricate is the common pronunciation of the combination ch in English, and the fricative is the common pronunciation of the ch in French.

The combination ou is a diphthong in the north and a monophthong in the south. For example, the words couro (leather) and coro (choir) are distinguished in the north but not in the south. In the south both have a mid back rounded tense vowel.

The combination ei is also a diphthong in the north and a monophthong in the south. The result is that leite (milk) is pronounced with the diphthong [eI] in the north and the monophthong [e] in the south. In the area of Lisbon this combination of letters is pronounced with the diphthong of caixa (box). In this case the first component of the diphthong is a low central vowel.

A number of features serve to distinguish the dialects of Portugal. These include the monophthongization of ou and ei in the south and the substitution of [b] for [v] in the north. In the area of Lisbon, ei is a diphthong, but unlike in the north, the first component of the diphthong is a low vowel and not a mid vowel. As is the case with Brazilian Portuguese, European Portuguese also has a variety of dialects.

Covert Direct Objects

The term transitive refers to verbs which can take a direct object. In fact, most verbs are transitive. However, transitive verbs sometimes occur without an overt direct object. The object is not explicitly articulated but is understood.

In the sentence Laura ate, the presumption is that she ate food. The sentence Norbert is reading presumes that he is reading a book or magazine, not a shopping list. In the sentence Thomas drinks too much, the implication is that Thomas drinks too much alcohol.

Transitive verbs that are closely related semantically often behave differently with respect to their need to express an overt direct object. For example, though the verbs devour and consume are related to eat, they require an overt direct object. One can say Carl ate but Carl devoured his steak and Carl consumed his entire meal.

Verbs can be classified into two categories, transitive and instransitive. Transitive verbs can take a direct object, but intransitive verbs cannot. Transitive verbs can be further divided into overt and covert. Overt transitive verbs require an explicit direct object, but intransitive verbs do not.

Indefinite Article

The term indefinite article is misleading. Many assume that it refers to nothing in particular. However, this is seldom the case.

Consider the sentence There is a spider in the bathroom. In this case, the speaker is referring to a very specific insect. In the sentence I know a lady who always wears colourful hats, the speaker is referring to a particular woman with a particular taste in clothes.

In certain cases, however, the indefinite article does not have a specific reference. This is the case with the sentence I want a good job. The grammatical context reveals if the reference is specific or not.

The following sentences on the left have a specific reference, but the ones on the right do not:

Kevin is dating a nice woman. Kevin is looking for a nice woman.
She is slicing a juicy pineapple. I enjoy a juicy pineapple.
I see a red Ferrari. I want a red Ferrari.
I witnessed a bad accident. I fear a bad accident.

The sentence I am looking for a tie is potentially ambiguous. If the speaker continues with I've found it, the noun phrase a tie has a specific reference. However, if the speaker continues with I found one, the noun phrase has no specific reference.

Despite its name, the indefinite article often has a specific reference. The grammatical context makes it clear whether the reference is specific or not. The definite article is thus not the only one with a specific reference.

Secondary Articulatory Gestures

Secondary articulations have articulations similar to those of vowels. A secondary articulation can be defined as a gesture with a smaller degree of closure that occurs at the same time as a primary gesture. Let us consider four common types of secondary articulation.

Palatalization is the addition of a high front gesture. Russian has a series of palatalized consonants that contrast with their non-palatalized counterparts. Russian palatalization occurs in both syllable-initial and syllable-final position.

Velarization is realized by raising the back of the tongue. In many forms of English, syllable final /l/ is velarized. In Scottish English, the /l/ can be velarized in all positions.

Pharyngealization is realized by narrowing the pharynx. There is little difference between velarized and pharyngealized sounds, and in fact, no language distinguishes between the two. Arabic has pharyngealized sounds.

Labialization is the addition of lip rounding. It differs from the other secondary articulations because it can be combined with them. Nearly all consonants can add lip rounding. Even consonants articulated with the lips such as /p/ and /m/ can be labialized if they are realized with added rounding and protrusion of the lips.

Palatalization, velarization, pharyngealization and labialization are common types of secondary articulation. In palatalization, the front of the tongue is raised and in velarization, the back of the tongue is raised. In pharyngealization, the root of the tongue is retracted and in labialization, the lips are rounded. Secondary articulations are often considered in combination with vowels because their articulations are similar.

Punctual Verbs

Verbs can be divided into many different categories. These categories include transitive, intransitive, regular, irregular and phrasal. Another category of verbs is punctual verbs.

Punctual verbs refer to a single event that by its nature ends quickly. Events such as blink, cough, flash, hit and sneeze can end in less than one second. However, when the events occur in continuous tense, they communicate repeated activity. The sentence the light flashed could mean that the light went on and off just once, but the light was flashing could only mean that it went on and off repeatedly. He is chewing very carefully implies that he has chewed more than once.

Punctual verbs are one of the many categories of verbs. Due to their nature of very brief activity, the continuous tense is needed to make them express an activity of duration. When they are used in simple past, they can refer to one event or to a repeated one. In this case punctual verbs are ambiguous.

Linguistic Terminology

Linguistic terminology can be quite varied. The terminology used is often a matter of personal preference. In certain cases, the terminology tends to vary from one area to another.

The word plosive is common in Britain, but in the United States stop is more common. The /p/ of peach can be described as a voiceless bilabial plosive or a voiceless bilabial stop. The /f/ of friend is a fricative, but the term spirant is also possible. However, it is more common to say voiceless labiodental fricative than voiceless labiodental spirant. 

The process which changes plosives to fricatives is called spirantization. The term fricativization is less common. The German word Wasser means water and is an example of spirantization.

The high vowel of see is also called a close vowel. The term high vowel is common in the United States, and close vowel is common in Britain. The low vowel of cat is called an open vowel in Britain. 

Rounded vowels can also be called labial vowels. Likewise, unrounded vowels are also called illabial. However, the terms rounded and unrounded are more common. The front vowels can be called palatal and the back vowels can be called velar. Today most linguists use the terms front and back.

The terms used in linguistics are not entirely consistent. The terminology is often a little different in Britain and in the United States. In other cases, the term used may be simply a matter of preference, but it is is true that certain terms are more common than others.

The Use of Spanish Accent Marks

Spanish accent marks are used to indicate word stress. They do not affect the quality of the vowel. They are also used to differentiate words which are otherwise identical. Spanish words which end in a vowel and with n and s have penultimate stress. Words that end with a consonant (not n and s) have ultimate stress. Most Spanish words follows these rules.

The following words have penultimate stress:

uno (one)
siete (seven)
mesa (table)
semana (weak)
trenes (trains)

The following words have ultimate stress:

arroz (rice)
ciudad (city)

edad (age)
sabor (flavour)
vocal (vowel)

With words that do not follow the rules for Spanish stress, accent marks are used to indicate the stressed syllable. Here is a list of such words:

aquí (here)
jamón (ham)
sílaba (syllable)
situación (situation)
teléfono (telephone)

Words are also distinguished with the use of accent marks. Here are examples

el/él (the/he)
mas/más (but/more)
si/sí (if/yes)
tu/tú (your/you)

Unlike in other languages, Spanish accent marks do not affect vowel quality. They are used to indicate stress. In certain cases, they are used to distinguish words which are pronounced the same but have different meanings.