Many Spanish words with ch have ct in Latin. In Italian, however, they have tt. The sound change in Spanish exemplifies palatalization. Here is a list of words in Italian and Spanish to illustrate:
biscotto bizcocho (biscuit)
dritto derecho (straight)
latte leche (milk)
lutta lucha (struggle)
notte noche (night)
otto ocho (eight)
petto pecho (chest)
sospettoso sospechoso (suspicious)
stretto estrecho (narrow)
tetto techo (roof)
The words from the list have ct in Latin. To compare, the Latin words for eight, night and roof are noctis, octo and tectum. The Italian words are derived by the process of assimilation and the Spanish words by the process of palatalization.
Many German words begin with the alveopalatal fricative. They are often followed by a consonant. In Dutch, however, these words often begin with an alveolar fricative. Here is a list for comparison with the German word on the left and the Dutch on the right:
Schlaf slaap (sleep)
Schlange slang (snake)
schlecht slecht (bad)
Schloẞ slot (castle)
Schlüssel sleutel (key)
schmal smal (narrow)
Schmied smid (smith)
Schnauze snuit (snout)
schnell snel (fast)
Schnur snoer (string)
German has many words which begin with an alveopalatal fricative and consonant. In Dutch they often begin with an alveolar fricative. This pattern can also be seen in the other Germanic languages. The German word for snow, Schnee, is sneeuw in Dutch, snö in Swedish sne in Danish and snø in Norwegian. However, due to the similarity of German and Dutch, these two languages are exemplary for illustrating palatalization in German.
Though the English liquids /l/ and /r/ share similar properties, they do not share identical environments. They both combine with consonants, but the lateral combines with fewer consonants than the rhotic approximant does. Let us illustrate.
Many minimal pairs can be formed with the two liquids. Examples include lane/rain, alive/arrive and pool/poor. There are also many minimal pairs with consonant clusters such as fly/fry, play/pray, cold/cord and tools/tours. In certain cases, however, the liquids do not combine with the same consonants.
Only the rhotic liquid can combine with alveolar plosives. Examples include drive, train and tree. After a word-initial /st/, only the rhotic liquid is allowed. We can illustrate with words such as straight, straw and street. The rhotic liquid is also the only liquid that can occur after the alveopalatal fricative. This can be illustrated with words such as shrimp, shrine and shrink.
After the alveolar fricative only the lateral liquid can occur. Examples include sleep, slipper and slow. This is the only fricative which can be followed by the lateral but not by the rhotic. The alveolar fricative and the rhotic both share the same place of articulation. This is also the case with the lateral, but the lateral can be analyzed as [-continuant]. If this is the case, it patterns like a plosive, which is common after the alveolar fricative.
Liquids are consonants with a high degree of resonance. The English liquids /l/ and /r/ form many mimimal pairs, but their environments are not identical. Only the rhotic occurs after alveolar plosives and the alveopalatal fricative. However, only the lateral occurs after the alveolar fricative. One difference between the two liquids is that the lateral has a greater degree of closure in the oral cavity and may thus be considered [-continuant].
West Flemish is a Dutch dialect that is spoken in the Belgian province of West Flanders. It is also spoken in parts of the Netherlands and France. Of the Dutch dialects, it is considered one of the dialects which is most different from Standard Dutch.
In Dutch, the g represents either a uvular or velar fricative. However, in West Flemish, it represents a glottal fricative and is pronounced the same as the h.
The following words are pronounced with the glottal fricative in West Flemish:
geel (yellow) heel (quite)
geen (no) heen (away)
geld (money) held (hero)
gier (vulture) hier (here)
goed (good) hat (hoed)
In the pairs geel/heel, geen/heen, geld/held and gier/hier, the first word of each pair is pronounced with a palatal glide following the glottal fricative. This is all that distinguishes the pairs. The palatal glide is only realized before front vowels and is thus not present in the word goed. Certain speakers drop the h in words such as hoed. In these cases, goed and hoed are minimal pairs.
One characteristic of West Flemish is the use of the glottal fricative for words which have a velar or uvular fricative in Standard Dutch. The result is that word pairs such as goed/hoed are pronounced identically in West Flemish but distinctly in Standard Dutch. The velar or uvular fricative of Standard Dutch is not used in West Flemish.
Many dialects of English flap the /d/ and /t/ intervocalically. However, the role of stress is also important. The vowel preceding the plosive is stressed and the following is unstressed. Flapping occurs in words such as city, hospital, medal, water and wedding.
In certain words, however, flapping does not occur. In the following words, flapping is blocked:
accommodate
appetite
cemetery
competent
detail
hesitate
Mediterranean
military
secretary
validate
The reason flapping does not apply in words such as accommodate, appetite, cemetery, competent, detail, hesitate, military and validate is that the preceding vowel is not stressed and the following vowel has secondary stress. However, flapping is not always restricted to the environment between a stressed vowel and an unstressed vowel. In the word responsibility, both vowels in the suffix -ity are unstressed.
In the word Mediterranean, M.M. Withgott claims that it can be divided into two feet, [Medi] [terranean] and that the plosive cannot be flapped in foot initial position. Another claim is that flapping is blocked due to paradigm uniformity, an idea advanced by Donca Steriade. The word Mediterranean has the same unit as subterranean, a word in which no flapping occurs.
M.M. Withgott gives the examples [capital], [capital] [istic] and [mili] [tary], [mili] [taristic]. In the word capital flapping occurs, but not in the word military. According to her analysis, capital consists of one foot and allows flapping, but military consists of two feet and does not allow it. In the word militaristic, the plosive [tistic] is foot initial and thus does not allow flapping.
Donca Steriade has another view. In the word capital, flapping occurs. There is no secondary stress following the plosive. To maintain paradigm uniformity, flapping occurs in capitalistic. In the word military, no flapping occurs. Secondary stress follows the plosive and blocks the flapping rule. In militaristic, no secondary stress follows the plosive, but to maintain paradigm uniformity, flapping is blocked.
Both M.M. Withgott and Donca Steriade have analyzed English words in which flapping does not occur. M.M. Withgott claims that the plosive cannot flap when it is foot-initial. This is known as the Withgott Effect. Donca Steriade claims that flapping does not occur when the base of morphologically related words does not allow it and terms this paradigm uniformity.
Regardless of the view which one favours, it is clear that flapping is only categorical between a stressed vowel and an unstressed one. In other cases, the conditions of the flapping rule are more complex. In these cases, flapping is variable.
The Dutch g is not a velar plosive. It is a fricative. The pronunciation varies from that of a uvular or velar fricative in the north of the Netherlands to that of a fronted velar fricative or palatal fricative in the south. In Belgium it is pronounced as in the south of the Netherlands, a fronted velar fricative or palatal fricative.
The letter g was once pronounced in Dutch as a velar plosive. The change to a fricative is called spirantization. It is an example of lenition or weakening. The Dutch pronunciation of the letter g is different from that of German, French and English.
In the Netherlands the velar or uvular fricative in used in most of the country. The three southern provinces which use the fronted velar or palatal fricative are Zeeland, North Brabant and Limburg. Dutch speakers in northern Belgium use the same sound as in the southern Netherlands.
In Dutch the letter g is pronounced differently in the northern Netherlands than it is in the southern Netherlands and Belgium. The sound used in the north is often called the hard g and the sound used in the south is the soft g. The letter g of Dutch is always a fricative and never a plosive.
Rasmus Seebach is a popular Danish singer. In a tribute to his late father, he sings a song that his father made famous. It is titled Under The Stars In The Sky. Here are the Danish lyrics and my translation:
Under Stjernerne På Himlen
Jeg sætter mig på kanten af din seng
Og du ler til mig.
Verden svinder ind til ingenting
Når jeg ser på dig.
Du ligger lige så musestille
Og virker ubeskriveligt lille
Imellem dine mange sjove dyr.
Men i drømmelegen
Finder vi to vejen
Ud mod nye eventyr.
Under stjernerne på himlen
Sejler du med mig.
Luk nu stille dine øjne,
Så er vi på vej.
Vi sejler over vandet
Og ind i drømmelandet,
Du og jeg.
Og hvis du bliver skræmt af vinden,
Så kysser jeg dig blidt på kinden,
Hvor du end er i fantasien
Vil jeg altid være
Her hos dig, min kære
Læg nu trygt din hånd i min.
Under stjernerne på himlen
Sejler du med mig.
Luk nu stille dine øjne,
Så er vi på vej.
Vi sejler over vandet
Og ind i drømmelandet,
Du og jeg,
Drømmelandet, du og jeg.
Under The Stars In The Sky
I sit on the edge of your bed
And you laugh at me.
The world shrinks into nothing
When I look at you.
You just lie quiet like a mouse
And seem indescribably small
Among your many funny animals.
But in the game of dreams
We both find the way
Out towards new adventures.
Under the stars in the sky
You sail with me.
Now quietly close your eyes,
Then we're on our way.
We sail over the water
And into the land of dreams,
You and I.
And if you get scared of the wind,
Then I'll kiss you gently on the cheek.
Wherever you are in the fantasy
I will always be here with you, my dear.
Now safely place your hand in mine.
Under the stars in the sky
You sail with me.
Now quietly close your eyes,
Then we're on our way.
We sail over the water
And into the land of dreams,
You and I,
The land of dreams, you and I.
Scanian is a Swedish dialect that is spoken in Scania. It is the southernmost province of Sweden. Scanian differs in many ways from Standard Swedish. Aside from differences in vocabulary, the phonology is also different.
In Scanian words such as tre (three) and bro (bridge) have a uvular trill or uvular fricative. This is different from Standard Swedish which uses an alveolar trill, tap or approximant. The uvular trill or approximant is also used in words such as hjärta (heart) and torsk (cod), words which have a retroflex articulation in Standard Swedish.
Many Swedish words with the plosives /k/, /p/ and /t/ become voiced after a long vowel in Scanian. For example, the words kaka (cake), skåp (cupboard) and vit (white) are pronounced with voiced plosives. These voiced plosives also occur in Danish. To compare, the same words are kage, skab and hvid in Danish.
Scanian is also known for the use of diphthongs in words which have monophthongs in Standard Swedish. The words bok (book) fred (peace) kniv (knife) and tå (toe) have monophthongs in Standard Swedish. In Scanian, however, they have diphthongs.
Words such as mig, (me) dig (you) and nej (no) have diphthongs in both Standard Swedish and Scanian. In Scanian, however, the diphthong is different. It is /aI/ rather than /eI/.
The Swedish language has many dialects. One of the most distinct is Scanian, a dialect spoken in the south of Swedish. Its phonology is characterized by many diphthongs, voiced plosives after long vowels and a uvular trill or approximant.
English syllabification is not completely uniform. It can vary from one dictionary to another. Certain analyses follow morphological rather than phonetic principles. Many linguists follow the principle of ambisyllabicity for sounds such as the flap, which only occurs intervocalically in English. Syllabification can also vary among dialects.
Consider the words influence and safely. If we follow the Maximum Onset Principle, they must be syllabified in.flu.ence and sa.fely. However, the word safely consists of the root safe and the affix ly. The result is that many speakers realize the syllable boundary between the root and the suffix. The result is thus safe.ly. Another possible analysis is to place the labiodental fricative in both the first and second syllables.
The word very can be syllabified ver.y and ve.ry. In rhotic dialects, the first analysis is preferable because we can analyze the first syllable as one with an r-coloured vowel. For non-rhotic varietes, however, r-coloured vowels do not exist and the latter analysis is ideal.
With the word caller, varieties of English such as RP use an alveolar lateral without velarization. In this case, the word can be syllabified ca.ller. The lateral is never velarized when it occurs syllable-initially in RP. For this reason, the lateral can be placed in the onset of the second syllable. However, in varieties of English which produce a velarized alveolar lateral in words such as caller, the analysis call.er is preferable. Here the lateral is syllable-final and thus velarized.
Syllabification in English can be represented with various analyses. One approach is to place certain segments such as the intervocalic flap of city in two syllables. Other approaches consider differences among dialects in the syllabification of sounds such as laterals, r-coloured vowels and alveolar approximants.
The English writer is well-known for his stories of Winnie the Pooh. However, he also wrote many poems. One of them is Now We Are Six. Here it is:
Now We Are Six
When I was one,
I had just begun.
When I was two,
I was nearly new.
When I was three,
I was hardly me.
When I was four,
I was not much more.
When I was five,
I was just alive.
But now I am six,
I'm as clever as clever.
So I think I'll be six now
for ever and ever.
The poem consists of one stanza with fourteen verses. In the first ten verses the odd and even verses rhyme with one another. However, in the last four verses, only the even verses rhyme. The poem Now We Are Six expresses the joy of being a child.
