Gaucho Dialect of Brazil

The Gaucho dialect is spoken in the southernmost state of Brazil, Rio Grande do Sul. Younger speakers tend to speak a variety of Portuguese which largest resembles the Portuguese of Sao Paulo. However, the pronunciation of the Gaucho dialect differs from other Brazilian dialects in many ways.

The /d/ and /t/ are not palatalized in the Gaucho dialect. Words such as dia (day) and tia (aunt) are pronounced with plosives rather than affricates. However, many speakers of the Gaucho dialects sometimes palatalize.

Unstressed /e/ and /o/ are not raised. They preserve the same value in stressed and unstressed syllables. This is different from other varieties of Brazilian Portuguese.

The /r/ is trilled both word-initially and word-finally. In intervocalic position, i.e. caro (expensive/, the /r/ is flapped. In other dialects of Brazil, the trill is less common.

The lateral does not vocalize in word-final position. It is pronounced as a velarized lateral. This is the same sound as in Portugal.

The Gaucho dialect has a distinct phonology. The lateral does not vocalize word-finally, unstressed /e/ and /o/ do not raise, and the /d/ and /t/ do not palatalize before the high front vowel /i/. The Gaucho dialect of Brazil has a number of features which make it easy to identify.

Ambisyllabicity

Ambisyllabicity is useful in syllabification. In certain cases, it is not clear how words should be divided into syllables. By applying the principle of syllabification, syllabification becomes easy.

With words such as highway, it is clear that the compound is composed of the syllables high and way. However, with a word such as seven, the syllabication is not so clear. It can be se + ven or sev + en. If we follow the Maximum Onset Principle, the answer is se + ven. The problem, though, is that this places a lax vowel in an open syllable. The structure sev + en seems possible, especially if the final syllabic consists of a syllabic nasal.

According to the principle of ambisyllabicity, the first consonant of the onset also serves as the coda of the preceding syllable when this consonant is in an unstressed syllable. The labiodental fricative of seven is in an unstressed syllable. This allows the principle of ambisyllabicity. Thus, the /v/ belongs to both the coda of the first syllable and the onset of the second.

The alveolar flap is an example of an ambisyllablic consonant. It must occur between two syllables in which the first is stressed and the second unstressed. Since it never occurs word-initially, it seems natural to refer to the alveolar tap as an ambisyllabic consonant.

The principle of ambisyllabicity allows consonants to belong to both the syllable onset and coda. This is useful for the syllabication of words. The alveolar flap of English must occur between syllables and can thus be oonsidered an ambisyllabic consonant.

Wings of Birds

This is my latest poem. It has five stanzas with four verses each. The first two and last two verses rhyme.

Wings of Birds

How can the wings of birds take them so high?
How much time do birds need to learn to fly?
What do they prefer between sky and land?
How does cool air compare to hot dry sand?

Can birds fly well in the darkness of night
Or do they prefer to fly in daylight?
How well can they see so high above ground
And is their flight silent or full of sound?

Birds in full flight are creatures of wonder,
Giving viewers below scenes of splendour.
With light wings they produce power and speed,
Younger birds follow while mature ones lead.

Wings of birds are so graceful in mid air,
Glad to be far from predators that scare.
Without effort they glide across vast sky,
Through distant cloud flocks of small planes sweep by.

Wings of birds are both delicate and strong,
Designed to keep them in vast sky for long.
With their wings they achieve high speed in flight,
Birds are epitomies of grace and might.

Intonation in Discourse

Intonation plays an important role in the structure of discourse. It is normally used to indicate new information as opposed to given information. New information is information which the speaker assumes the hearer does not possess. This information becomes the focus of the conversation

Imagine an exchange about meat.  A asks B Do you like liver?  B answers I hate liver.  When A asks the question, liver is new information and receives tonic stress. The first syllable of liver receives more stress than any other syllable of the sentence.  However, when B answers, liver has already been established as the topic of the conversation and thus does not need to be highlighted. As a result, tonic stress falls on the word hate.

Intonation also plays an important role in turn-taking. A fall usually indicated a completed turn without the expectation of a reply. A rise, however, gives a strong indication that the speaker intends to continue or that a reply is expected. This is the case with vocatives. If falling intonation is used with Simon, the turn has ended, but if rising intonation is used, the speaker wishes to continue or expects a reply.

One of the roles of intonation in language is to indicate new information. Another is to signal that the speaker wishes to complete his turn, wishes to continue or expects a reply. Intonation is vital in discourse.

Conjoined Elements

The most common coordinating conjunctions of English are and, or and but. They can be used to conjoin many different elements from single lexical items to phrases and sentences. Let us illustrate with the conjunction and.

Conjoined Noun Phrases

Mark and Diana are from New Zealand.

Conjoined Verbs

They ate and drank everything they wanted.

Conjoined Modals

She can and will help you.

Conjoined Adverbs

They entered slowly and nervously.

Conjoined Prepositions

The children ran in and out of the building.

Conjoined Adjectives

He was young and tall.

Combined Adjective Phrases

The client was really tired and really upset.

Conjoined Sentences

Robert watched TV, Simone cooked dinner, and the children did their homework.

The examples illustrate that conjunctions can combine many different elements. The order of the elements that are combined is usually flexible, but in certain cases such as in the phrase you and I, it is fixed. It is clear that conjunctions are a very useful part of language.

Danish Orthography

English orthography is highly irregular. This is also the case with French. Another language with an orthography that is not so phonetic is that of Danish.

In Danish word-initial plosives are always voiceless. The word du (you ) is pronounced with a voiceless alveolar plosive. The words ti (ten) and de (they) both have voiceless plosives. The difference is that the plosive of ti (ten) is aspirated and the plosive of de (they) is not.

The word hvad (what) is pronounced with a silent h. The word-final d can be pronounced, but many speakers do not pronounce it. In the word aldrig (never), the g is silent.

The word det (it) has a silent t. In the word af (of), the f is silent, and in the word suppe (soup) the letters pp are pronounced [b].

In the word jeg (I), the g is silent and the vowel e is actually a diphthong which sounds similar to the diphthong in the English word my. The same diphthong is used in the word mig [me], which also has a silent g. The word de is not pronounced as it is written. It consists of a voiceless plosive and high front vowel and is transcribed [ti].

From the examples, it is clear that Danish orthography is irregular. It has many silent letters, intervocalic voicing and no voiced plosives in word-initial position. Danish spelling is thus not a reliable guide to pronunciation.

Palatalization of Velars in Chilean Spanish

Chilean Spanish is well known for palatalization. This palatalization affects velars which come before the mid front and high front vowels. In addition to the palatal pronunciation of the vowel, a palatal glide is often inserted after the velar.

Here are words with velars that are palatalized in Chilean Spanish:

ejemplo (example)
general (general)
gente (people)
guitarra (guitar)
inteligente (intelligent)
jefe (boss)
juguete (toy)
página (page)
queso (cheese)
quince (fifteen)

Palatalization is a type of assimilation. It is common in many languages. In Chilean Spanish velar sounds before palatal before high and mid front vowels. The addition of the palatal glide after the palatal is optional.