Sound Correspondence Between Spanish and Portuguese

Spanish and Portuguese share many similarities. Many words with an o in Spanish have an ou in Portuguese. The value of the ou in Portuguese can be that of a diphthong, but many Portuguese speakers now produce a monophthong. In the case of the monophthtong, it has a higher tongue position than in Spanish.

Here are ten words which illustrate the pattern in Spanish and Portuguese:

o ou (or)

dorado dourado (golden)

oro ouro (gold)

otro outro (other)

otoño outono (autumn)

poco pouco (little)

robo roubo (robbery)

ropa roupa (clothes)

tesoro tesouro (treasure)

toro touro (bull)

Spanish and Portuguese are closely related languages. Their vocabulary is often very similar to that of Latin. This is reflected in aurum, autumna and paucus, the Latin words for gold, autumn and little.

English Dialects With Stressed Schwa

In Received Pronunciation the word butter has two distinct vowels. The first vowel is a little lower than the second. However, speakers from many parts of Wales, western England and the midlands have identical vowels. They use the schwa in both stressed and unstressed syllables.

For speakers who have stressed schwas, the following words have identical vowels:

cupboard

mother

runner

summer

supper

Identical vowels can also occur in words with more than two syllables. In the word another, the schwa is realized in every syllable. The only difference between the vowels is that the stressed one has longer duration.

In Standard English the schwa is only produced in unstressed syllables. However, a number of speakers in Wales and England also have the schwa in stressed syllables. In words such as but, cup and lunch, they use the schwa.

Poem (Tomorrow)

 I want to share my latest poem. It is a sonnet.

Tomorrow

Tomorrow always brings another day  

With early morning skies and starry nights

To open before us another way

To incredible adventures and sights.

Tomorrow always comes without delay,

Showing further surprises and delights

From beautiful nature on display

To cities with buildings of greater heights.

From each day we begin a new chapter

With new people and places on each page.

Tomorrow opens portals of treasure

As if transporting us from stage to stage.

Tomorrow arrives to meet the future,

Writing countless stories for every age.                                  

Apicoalveolar Sibilant

The apicoalveolar sibilant is also known as the voiceless alveolar retracted sibilant. It is an articulation which is used for the s in the Spanish of northern Spain and in the dialect spoken in Antioquia, Colombia. It is articulated with the tip of the tongue and is a sound that is between the /s/ of sell and the /ʃ/ of shell.

The apicoalveolar sibilant is also used in Basque, Catalan, Galician, Greek and Icelandic as well as in varieties of Dutch, Finnish, Portuguese and Swedish. It has a more retracted articulation that that of the voiceless alveolar fricative. In this respect, it is similar to retroflex fricatives. In the languages of the world, the voiceless alveolar fricative is more common.

Though the apicoalveolar sibilant is not so common, it is used extensively in Greek and Icelandic. It is also used in dialects of many languages such as Dutch and Finnish. The voiceless apicoalveolar sibilant is articulated with less airflow than the voiceless alveolar fricative.

Change in British Spelling

One of the main differences between the spelling of British English and American English is seen in words such as color/colour, favorite/favourite, flavor/flavour and neighbor/neighbour. The British spelling includes one extra letter. However, a number of British words once had this spelling but no longer do.

The following words are now spelt identically in both British English and American English:

ambassador

chancellor

emperor

error

governor

horror

mirror

superior

terror

tremor

These words were once spelt with a u. Here they are with the former spelling:

ambassadour

chancellour

emperour

errour

governour

horrour

mirrour

superiour

terrour

tremour

American English uses or in many words which have our in British English. However, many do not know that many words once had our in British English but no longer do. In this regard, American English can be considered more regular than British.

Types of Smiths

A smith is a person who makes objects from metal. Before industrialization, smiths were very important because they crafted metal objects for farming and weapons of war. Due to the importance of smiths, their occupation became a family name.

There are many kinds of smiths. Here are a few:

blacksmith  (black metals such as iron and steel)

brownsmith (brown metals such as copper and brass)

coinsmith (coins)

coppersmith (copper)

goldsmith (gold)

locksmith (locks)

silversmith (silver)

arrowsmith (arrow heads)

bladesmith (blades of swords and knives)

tinsmith (tin)

When the word smith is used in isolation, it usually refers to a blacksmith. However, smiths work with many different types of metal. They include iron, steel, gold, silver, copper and tin.

Word-Final Affricates of Central Northeastern Brazilian Portuguese

Central Northeastern Brazilian Portuguese is a major dialect of Brazilian Portuguese. It is known for the use of plosives in words such as dia (day) and tia (aunt) rather than alveopalatal affricates. Another difference is that many plurals are pronounced with word-final affricates.

The word corte (court) has a word-final vowel. However, in the plural form cortes (courts), the final -e is not pronounced in Central Northeastern Brazilian Portuguese. The result is [kohts] rather than pronunciations such as [kohtʃis] or [kortʃis] which are common in the rest of Brazil. In Central Northeastern Brazilian Portuguese, cortes is pronounced with a word-final affricate.

The following words are pronounced with a word-final affricate in Central Northeastern Brazilian Portuguese:

chocolates (chocolates)

cidades (cities)

dentes (teeth)

dificuldades (difficulties)

noites (nights)

partes (partes)

sociedades (societies)

tomates (tomatoes)

universidades (universities)

variedades (varieties)

In most Brazilian dialects, plurals which end with -des and -tes are pronounced with a word-final vowel and consonant sequence. In Central Northeastern Brazilian Portuguese, however, they are pronounced with voiced and voiceless alveolar affricates. This is one feature which distinguishes Central Northeastern Brazilian Portuguese from the other dialects of Brazil.