Spanish and Portuguese have a suffix which is used in many words. In Spanish the suffix is -aje and in Portuguese it is -agem. The following list illustrates the use of the suffix:
aprendizaje aprendizagem (learning)
aterrizaje aterrizagem (landing)
coraje coragem (courage)
homenaje homenagem (homage)
lenguaje linguagem (language)
maquillaje maquiagem (makeup)
mensaje mensagem (message)
paisaje paisagem (landscape)
personaje personagem (character)
viaje viagem (trip)
The suffix is used in many words and is thus very productive. Words such as aterrizaje/atterizagem and viaje/viagem .have verbal forms. The infinitives are aterrizar and viajar. All the words with the suffix are nouns.
In English stress is variable. In a noun phrase such as blue car, the main stress is on the noun car. However, in the question Is your car the blue car or the red car? the main stress is on blue and on red. The reason is that the word car is repeated.
In the phrase vegetable soup or green salad, the nouns soup and salad are stressed. This is in contrast to the phrase vegetable soup or chicken soup. This phrase repeats the noun soup. The result is that the nouns vegetable and chicken are stressed.
The loss of stress can also be illustrated with sports scores. With scores such as Vancouver 4 Toronto 2 and Montreal 3 Los Angeles 1, the main stress is on the final number. This is not the case with tied scores. With scores such as Vancouver 2 Toronto 2 and Montreal 1 Los Angeles 1, the main stress is on the city which precedes the final number. The reason is that the final number is repeated and is thus not stressed.
English words which repeat information lose stress. The result is that the stress shifts to the preceding word. This contrasts with many other languages.
Modal verbs can be classified into two types, deontic and epistemic. Deontic modality expresses obligation and permission, and epistemic modality expresses possibility and prediction. Context is often needed to determine if deontic or epistemic modality is expressed.
In the sentence You must be good to get into Oxford University, two interpretations are possible. Deontic modality is connected to necessity. To get into Oxford University, it is necessary to be a good student. However, epistemic modality states that it is evident that the person is a good student because he/she has already entered Oxford University.
The same modal can be used to convery different types of modality. In the sentence He must be tired, the speaker is sure that the person is tired. It is an example of epistemic modality. In the sentence He must go to prison, the speaker believes it is necessary for the person to go to prison. It is an example of deontic modality. The modal verb must conveys both deontic and epistemic modality.
Modal verbs can express deontic and epistemic modality. Deontic modality can express different degress of obligation and permission. The modal must expresses a higher degree of obligation than should. Epistemic modality can express different degrees of possibility. The modal must expresses a higher degree of possibility than might.
In English the high-front vowel [i] is often palatalized before another vowel. The high-front vowel and the palatal approximant are both [+high]. The palatal approximant is [-syllabic] and thus reduces the number of syllables in the world.
The palatalization of the high-front vowel is optional. It is most common in rapid and casual speech. However, it can also take place in formal speech.
The following words can be pronounced with palatalization of the high-front vowel:
Australia
furious
glorious
luxurious
media
The replacement of the high front vowel with the palatal approximant is an example of palatalization. It occurs immediately before another vowel and is always unstressed. The palatalization process that converts the high front vowel to the palatal approximant is common in English.
The Norwegian singer Hanne-Mette Gunnarsrud has many beautiful songs. One of her best is Bydga Mi (My Village). Here are the lyrics along with my translation:
Bygda Mi
Det er mange gode minner jeg har med meg
Fra de aller beste åra i mitt liv.
Den bekymringsløse vakre ungdomstida
Er ett første valg i minnenes arkiv.
Men jeg søkte mer enn bygda kunne gi meg,
Var nysgjerrig på, hva livet kunne gi.
Jeg forlot deg like etter russetida
Og jeg trodde at vårt forhold var forbi.
Hva skjedde med kiosken nede på hjørnet?
Vi var samlet der hver dag.
Den gamle skolen står der tom og øde.
Hvor var jeg da bygda døde?
Vi var ikke der når penger måtte spares
Vi var ikke der når valgene ble tatt.
Ingen stemmer for bevaring av det gamle,
Det var fremskrittet som overskygget alt.
Hva skjedde med kiosken nede på hjørnet?
Vi var samlet der hver dag.
Den gamle skolen står der tom og øde.
Hvor var jeg da bygda døde?
Men en indre stemme ropte meg tilbake,
Og den sa at det var her jeg hørte til.
Materielle ting er enkle å forsake
Når man endelig forstår hva skebnen vil.
Hva skjedde med kiosken nede på hjørnet?
Vi var samlet der hver dag.
Den gamle skolen står der tom og øde.
Hvor var jeg da bygda døde?
Hvor var jeg da bygda døde?
My Village
There are many good memories I have with me
From the very best years in my life.
The carefree beautiful time of youth
Is one of the first choices in the memory archive.
The -ous suffix attaches to many nouns. It is a derivative affix which converts nouns to adjectives. In many cases the stress of the adjective changes.
Here are then words with the suffix -ous:
adventure adventurous
envy envious
fame famous
glory glorious
grace gracious
miracle miraculous
ridicule ridiculous
study studious
victory victorious
wonder wondrous
In three words (miraculous/ridiculous/victorious) the stress changes. The stress always comes before the suffix. The word glorious can be pronounced with two or three syllables. If the word has two syllables, the vowel before the suffix becomes a palatal approximant. Palatalization changes the final consonant of grace to an alveopalatal fricative in gracious.
In the words miraculous and studious there is a vowel change. The second syllable of miraculous has a low front vowel. In the noun miracle it is a schwa. The word study has an upper mid central unrounded vowel, but in studious it is a high back rounded vowel.
The English suffix -ious is used in many English words. It is attached to nouns to derive adjectives. In many cases, changes in vowel quality and stress accompany affixation.
Many English speakers insert a schwa before liquids. The liquid is always syllable-final. Schwa insertion is especially common between diphthongs and liquids.
Schwa insertion is very common in words such as boil, choir, fire, flower, trail and vowel. In non-rhotic varieties of English, the words with word-final r end with the schwa vowel. In certain varieties of English such as the English of the southern USA, schwa insertion is also common in words such as door, feel, pool and tour.
The rule of schwa insertion before liquids applies in many dialects of English. It is especially common with diphthongs. Though the schwa never occurs immediately before another vowel, it can occur immediately after another vowel. The rule is optional and can thus be called variable.
The names of countries in Hungarian are often quite different from those of other languages. A number of the names of countries in Hungarian end with the word ország. It means country in Hungarian.
The names of most countries in Hungarian do not end with the word ország. To illustrate, the names of Argentina, Australia, Canada, China, Denmark, Egypt, England, Japan, Mexico and Switzerland are Argentina, Ausztrália, Kanada, Kina, Dánia, Egyiptom, Anglia, Japán, Mexikó and Svájc.
Eighteen countries have names which end with ország. Here is the list:
Csehország Czech Republic
Észak-Írország Northern Ireland
Észtország Estonia
Finnország Finland
Franciaország France
Görögország Greece
Horvátország Croatia
Írország Ireland
Lengyelország Poland
Lettország Latvia
Magyarország Hungary
Németország Germany
Olaszország Italy
Oroszország Russia
Örményország Armenia
Spanyolország Spain
Svédország Sweden
Törökország Turkey
Most of the countries with the word ország are part of Europe. Russia and Turkey are Eurasian countries, and though Armenia and Georgia are geographically part of Asia, Armenians and Georgians consider themselves Europeans. The word ország is also added to the Hungarian word for Hungary, Magyarország .
