English Alveolar Flap Across Word Boundaries

The alveolar flap is common in many dialects of English. Two dialects which use it extensively are American English and Canadian English. The alveolar flap occurs intervocalically between a stressed vowel and unstressed vowel. However, it can also occur word-finally because it occurs across word boundaries.

The alveolar flap can occur in the following examples:

We visited Italy.

There are a lot of nice shops.

It is hot today.

The cat and dog are friends.

I made a cheesecake.

They rode a camel in Egypt.

In isolation the final consonant of visited, lot, it, cat. made and rode is not flapped. However, it can be flapped when the following words begins with a vowel. In the examples flapping occurs across word boundaries.

The alveolar flap occurs not only word-medially as in city but also across word boundaries. It is represented by the orthographic d and t. The flapping occurs when the consonant is linked to the following vowel. If there is a pause before the following vowel, flapping is blocked and thus does not apply.

Neutralization in Portuguese Nasal Vowels

Portuguese has two mid front vowels and two mid back vowels. One is open and the other is closed. However, the distinction is neutralized in nasal vowels.

Here are Portuguese minimal pairs to illustrate the contrast:

céu (sky) seu (yours)

sede (headquarters) sede (thirst)

só (alone) sou (am)

avó (grandmother) avô (grandfather)

The Portuguese words on the left have an open vowel, and the ones on the right have a closed vowel. The only difference is tongue height. However, the word sou (am) is pronounced with a diphthong in many varieties of Portuguese. 

The distinction is neutralized in nasal vowels. The words bem (well) and menta (mint) both have an open vowel. This is also the case with bom (good) and ponte (mint). 

The Portuguese language has two mid front vowels and two mid back vowels. One is open and the other is closed. The two vowels can contrast to create minimal pairs. However, in nasal vowels, the distinction is neutralized.

Article Agreement With Countries In Portuguese

In Portuguese, the definite article is usually used with countries. For countries that have feminine gender, the articles a (singular) and as (plural) are used, and for countries that have masculine gender, the articles o (singular) and os (plural) are used. However, with a number of countries, no article is used.

Here is a list of countries with the definite article and with no article:

A Albânia Albania

A Alemanha Germany

A Argentina Argentina

A China China

A Espanha Spain

As Filipinas Philippines

A Jamaica Jamaica

A Noruega Norway

A Polônia Poland

A Tailândia Thailand

O Brasil Brazil

O Canadá Canada

O Chile Chile 

O Egito Egypt

Os Estados Unidos United States

O Irã Iran

O Japão Japan

O México Mexico

O Peru Peru 

O Vietnã Vietnam

Angola Angola

Bangladesh Bangladesh

Chipre Cyprus

Cingapura Singapore

Cuba Cuba

El Salvador El Salvador

Israel Israel

Malta Malta

Portugal Portugal

Uganda Uganda

It is common to use the definite article with countries in Portuguese. The definite article has four forms: masculine singular, masculine plural, feminine singular and feminine plural. A number of countries, however, have no article.

Hungarian Personal Suffix

The Hungarian personal suffix is -lak/-lek. The first variant is used with verbs that contain front vowels, and the second with verbs that contain back vowels. It is a personal suffix because it is used when the subject pronoun is the first person singular and the object pronoun is the second person singular or the second person plural.

Here are five sentences with the personal suffix:

Hallak. I hear you.

Ismerlek. I know you.

Látlak. I see you.

Szeretlek. I love you.

Várlak. I'm waiting for you.

It is not necessary to use the subject pronoun because -lak/-lek is only used with the first person subject pronoun. The object pronoun can be either the second person singular or plural. If it is necessary to clarify, the accusative pronoun can be added. To say I see you with the second person plural object pronoun, the sentence is Látlak titeket. The subject pronoun can also be added and then the sentence becomes Én látlak titeket. The personal pronouns can also be added for emphasis.

The personal suffix can be used with all verb tenses. Here are examples with the past tense and the future tense:

Kerestelek. I was looking for you.

Láttalak. I saw you.

Keresni foglak. I'll look for you.

Látni foglak. I'll see you.

The Hungarian language has a personal suffix. It attaches to verbs with a first person subject pronoun and second person object pronoun. Entire sentences such as I love you can be expressed in Hungarian with one word.

Six Pronunciations of Arroz

The Spanish word arroz means rice. Though it is a short word, it can be pronounced in many ways. They depend on the dialect of the speaker. Let me give six different pronunications:

most of Spain: trill, voiceless interdental fricative

many parts of Latin America: trill, alveolar fricative

parts of Latin America and southern Spain: trill, deleted alveolar fricative

Puerto Rico: velar fricative, alveolar fricative

Puerto Rico: velar fricative, deleted alveolar fricative

Costa Rica, Paraguay: assibilated trill, alveolar fricative

The use of the voiceless interdental fricative is restricted to Spain. The alveolar trill is common in Spanish, but in Puerto Rico it can be a velar fricative and in Costa Rica and Paraguay it is often assibilated. The different pronunciations of the word arroz indicate that Spanish has many dialects.

Translated Song (Give Me Your Air)

The Spanish singer Alex Ubago has many popular songs. One of his most beautiful is Dame tu aire (Give me your air). Here are the lyrics along with my translation:

Dame tu aire

Hoy te perdí

Una vez más al despertar

Si soñara la realidad

Y viviera lo que se fue

Mi amor,

Míralo, pintando un cuadro sin color

Puedo ver un paisaje gris

Que refleja mi interior

Y en él, y en él

Palomas blancas vuelan raso

Sobre el tejado brilla el sol

Y rien todos, menos yo

Que ahora soy un reo más

Pidiendo a gritos la verdad

Mi vida eres tú

Y si te vas vendrá la oscuridad

Dame tu aire un día más

Para que pueda respirar

Que un rayo de luz me haga brillar

Que muera soledad

Hoy soñaré

Que despierto junto a ti

Y te canto canciones que

Anoche te escribí

Y llegaré por ti

A donde nadie pudo ir

Puedo ver el mejor lugar

De tantos que conocí

Y en él, y en él

Palomas blancas vuelan raso

Sobre el tejado brilla el sol

Y rien todos, menos yo

Que ahora soy un reo más

Pidiendo a gritos la verdad

Mi vida eres tú

Y si te vas vendrá la oscuridad

Dame tu aire un día más

Para que pueda respirar

Que un rayo de luz me haga brillar

Que muera soledad

Que ahora soy un reo más

Pidiendo a gritos la verdad

Mi vida eres tú

Me cegará la oscuridad

Dame tu aire un día más

Para que pueda respirar

Que un rayo de luz me haga brillar

Que muera soledad

Give Me Your Air

Today I lost you

One more time waking up

If I dreamt reality

And lived what went away

My love, look at it, painting a painting without colour

I can see a grey landscape

That reflects my interior

And in it, and in it

White doves fly low

On the roof shines the sun

And everyone laughs except me

That now I am one more prisoner

Crying out for the truth

My life is you

And if you go away the darkness will come

Give me your air one more day

So I can breathe

Let a ray of life make me shine

Let loneliness die

Today I'll dream

That I wake up next to you

And I sing songs to you

That I wrote last night

And I'll arrive for you

Where no one could go

I can see the best place

Of many that I knew 

And in it, and in it

White doves fly low

On the roof shines the sun

And everyone laughs except me

That now I am one more prisoner

Crying out for the truth

My life is you

And if you go away the darkness will come

Give me your air one more day

So I can breathe

Let a ray of life make me shine

Let loneliness die

That now I am one more prisoner

Crying out for the truth

My life is you

And if you go away the darkness will blind me

Give me your air one more day

So I can breathe

Let a ray of life make me shine

Let loneliness die

Inchoative and Durative Aspect in French

The phrase in five minutes is ambiguous. If the meaning is that the activity will last five minutes, it has durative aspect. However, if the meaning is that the activity will start in five minutes, it has inchoative aspect. The same phrase is not ambiguous in French.

In French the phrase in five minutes can be expressed in two ways. If the meaning refers to duration, the phrase is en cinq minutes. However, if the phrase refers to the moment the activity will start, the phrase is dans cinq minutes.

The sentence I will eat my lunch in five minutes is not ambiguous in French. If the sentence expresses that one will finish in a period of five minutes, the sentence is Je mangerai mon déjeuner en cinq minutes. However, if the meaning is that one will start to eat lunch in five minutes, the sentence is Je mangerai mon déjeuner dans cinq minutes.

In French phrases such as in five minutes can be expressed with two different prepositions. The preposition dans is used for inchoative aspect, and en is used for durative aspect. This is different from English, which uses the same preposition for both.

Personal Infinitive of Portuguese

The personal infinitive is a unique feature of Portuguese. It is not found in French, Italian or Spanish. However, it is also found in Galician, a closely related language.

With the first person plural, the personal infinitive suffix is -nos and with the third person plural, it is -em. The suffix attaches to the infinitive. Here are examples of how it is used:

Para chegarmos cedo, devemos ir agora. (To arrive early, we should go now.)

É importante nós falarmos com você hoje. (It is important for us to speak with you today.)

Para saberem mais, eles podem comprar o livro. (To know more, they can buy the book.)

É difícil eles encontrarem. (It's hard to find them.)

The Portuguese personal infinitive is a conjugated version of the infinitive. The suffix -mos is used with the first person plural, and the suffix -em is used with the third person plural. The suffix of the personal infinitive indicates the subject.

Adjectives With Two Comparative and Superlative Forms

English adjectives can form the comparative and superlative in one of two forms. One form is with the suffixes -er and -est. The other form is with the words more and the most before the adjective. However, with a few adjectives, both forms are possible.

Disyllabic adjectives with the -ly suffix can form the comparative and superlatives with both forms. For example, the adjective deadly has the forms deadlier/more deadly and the deadliest/the most deadly. The form that one uses is a matter of preference.

The following adjectives can form the comparative and superlative with both forms:

chilly

curly

deadly

friendly

kindly

likely

lively

lonely

oily

smelly

English adjectives usually form the comparative and superlative with only one form. However, a number of disyllabic adjectives with the suffix -ly can combine with both comparative and superlative forms. They are thus an exception.