Tartuffe

Tartuffe is a play by Jean-Baptiste Poquelin, known by his stage name Molière. He is regarded as one of the greatest writers not only in the French language but also in world literature. The play Tartuffe was first performed in 1664.

Two important characters of the play are Orgon, the head of the house and Tartuffe, his houseguest. Other important characters are Elmire, Orgon's wife, Valère, a young man who is interested in Orgon's daughter Mariane, and Madame Pernelle, the mother of Orgon. Other characters are Damis, Tartuffe's son and Dorine, the family maid.

Orgon and his mother are deceived by Tartuffe, a hypocrite who does not fool the rest of the family. They are alarmed when Orgon announces that Tartuffe will marry Mariane, though she is already engaged to Valère. Mariane is very upset, but she realizes that Tartuffe has great influence over her father.

In an effort to show Orgon how bad Tartuffe really is, the family plans to trap Tartuffe into confessing his desire for Elmire. Since he claims to be a very pious man, Tartuffe should have no such feelings for Orgon's wife. The family hopes that after a confession, Orgon will evict him from the house. 

Tartuffe tries to seduce Elmire, but their conversation is interrupted when Damis can no longer control his anger and jumps out of his hiding place to denounce Tartuffe. At first, Tartuffe is shocked. However, when Orgon enters the room and Damis tells his father what happened, Tartuffe acts innocent and accuses himself of being the worst sinner. Orgon is convinced that his son is lying and banishes him from the house.

Tartuffe has so much influence over Orgon that he even convinces him to teach his son a lesson. His suggestion is that Tartuffe should spend more time with Elmire than ever before. Orgon agrees and as a gift to Tartuffe, signs over to him all his possessions.

Determined to expose Tartuffe, Elmire asks Orgon to be a witness to a meeting between her and Tartuffe. Orgon agrees and decides to hide under a table in the room, confident that his wife is wrong. He overhears his wife resisting Tartuffe's advances. Having heard enough, Orgon comes out from under the table and orders Tartuffe out of the house. However, Tartuffe does not intend to leave.

Tartuffe reveals that he has in his hand a box of incriminating letters written by Orgon's friend. Orgon now regrets his decision to tell Tartuffe about the letters. Tartuffe now tells Orgon that he (Orgon) must leave. Tartuffe then leaves but only temporarily.

Orgon's family tries to reach a decision. An official arrives with a message from Tartuffe and the court. The family must leave the house because it now belongs to Tartuffe. Even Madame Pernelle, who up to this point has refused to believe that Tartuffe is not who he claims to be, is convinced of his deception.

As soon as the official leaves, Valère arrives with the news that Tartuffe has denounced Orgon for assisting a traitor by keeping the incriminating letters and will soon be arrested. Before Orgon can escape, Tartuffe enters with an officer, but to Tartuffe's surprise, the officer arrests Tartuffe instead. The officer explains that the king has heard of the injustices committed in the house and ordered Tartuffe's arrest. It is revealed that Tartuffe has a long criminal history and has often changed his name to avoid arrest. As a reward for Orgon's good services, the king forgives Orgon for keeping the letters and reverses the deed that gave Tartuffe the house and possessions. Orgon then announces the future wedding of Valère and Mariane.

In the play Tartuffe, the traitor is Tartuffe and not Orgon. The main theme of the play is hypocrisy. Tartuffe is nothing like the man he claims to be because he does not practise what he preaches. Through the play, Molière illustrates that appearances can be deceiving. 

Velar and Palatal Fricatives of South Jutlandic

South Jutlandic is one of the most famous Danish dialects. It is spoken in the southernmost part of Jutland and also in parts of northern Germany. Unlike in Standard Danish, South Jutlandic has palatal and velar fricatives. They are consonants which are also used in German. The following list gives examples:

bagefter bachætte (afterwards)

bog boch (book)

kage kach (cake)

pige pich (girl)

rigtig richte (correct)

sprog sproch (language)

stige stiich (ladder)

syg sych (sick)

særlig særrlich (particular)

tog toch (train)

The velar fricative is used after back vowels and the palatal fricative is used after front vowels. Words such as kach and toch have the velar fricative, and words such as richte and sych have the palatal fricative. South Jutlandic differs significantly from Standard Danish not only in vocabulary but also in phonology.

Word for Popcorn in Spanish Dialects

Spanish has many dialects. These dialects often vary significantly in their vocabulary. The Spanish word for popcorn can be expressed with many words. This is illustrated with the following list:

canchita (Peru)

canguil (Ecuador)

cocaleca (Dominican Republic)

cotufas (Venezuela)

crispetas (Colombia)

palomitas (Argentina, Costa Rica, Mexico, Spain)

pipoca (Bolivia)

pop (Uruguay)

poporopo (Guatemala)

pororó (Paraguay)

The word palomitas is the most common word for popcorn in Spanish. It is used in many countries. However, as the list illustrates, many other words are also used.

Alphabetisms

An extreme form of clipping is the use of the initial letters of syllables or words. The forms TB (tuberculosis) and TV (television) use the initial letters of syllables, and the forms CD (compact disc) and DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid) use the initial letters of words. In the cases in which initialisms are pronounced with the names of the letters of the alphabet, they are called alphabetisms. 

Clipping in which the initials are pronounced as if they were a word are called acronyms. Examples include NASA (National Aeronautics and Space Administration), NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization) and ZIP (Zone Improvement Plan). If they were pronounced with the names of the letters of the alphabet, they would have more syllables.

One of the oldest English alphabetisms, and also the most successful, is OK. It originated as a form of oll korrekt, an intentional misspelling of all correct. OK is now used not only in English but in many other languages.

English has many examples of clipped forms. The clipped forms auto (automobile), fax (facsimile) and zoo (zoological garden) are very common. Alphabetisms, initialisms pronounced with the names of the letters of the alphabet, are also common.

Alveolar Retroflex Approximant in Brazilian Portuguese

Many speakers of Brazilian Portuguese use the alveolar retroflex approximant. It is the same sound which is used in English. However, the alveolar retroflex approximant of Brazilian Portuguese only occurs in the syllable coda.

The alveolar retroflex approximant can occur in the following words:

ar (air)

carne (meat)

norte (north)

porta (door)

sorte (luck)

The alveolar retroflex approximant is used in southern and central Brazil. However, those who do not use the retroflex approximant use the alveolar tap, alveolar trill, glottal fricative, velar fricative or uvular fricative instead. In word-final position, many speakers delete the rhotic consonant.

The retroflex approximant is not used in European Portuguese. It may be that the retroflex originated in the native languages of Brazil. The restriction of the retroflex approximant to the syllable coda can be considered a weakening process, a form of lenition.

Finnish Partitive Case

The partitive case is used extensively in Finnish. It is used to express an indefinite amount, with expressions of quantity, after number and to express an action that is in progress. Let us look at some examples.

The following sentences have partitive case:

Kaksi hevosta nukkuu. (The two horses are sleeping)

Minulla on kahvia. (( have coffee)

Minä juon maitoa. (I am drinking milk)

Meillä  on kaksi koiraa. (We have t\wo dogs)

He puhuvat vain suomea. (They only speak Finnish)

In Finnish the partitive case is used in many expressions. It is often used instead of the accusative case. The partitive case is also used in Estonian, a related Finno-Ugric language.     

                                                                                             

Galician Phonology

The Galician language is similar to Portuguese but also reflects Spanish influence. This is reflected in the phonology of the language. It has features of both Spanish and Portuguese.

Galician has seven vowel phonemes, two mid front vowels and two mid back vowels. This is the same as in Portuguese. Spanish, however, has five vowel phonemes.

Unlike in Portuguese, Galician has the voiceless interdental fricative and the voiceless alveopalatal affricate. They occur in the words feliz (happy) and choiva (rain). Galician also has the apicodental voiceless fricative and non-velarized lateral of Spanish. They occur in the words casa (house) and azul (blue). 

Galician has the palatal lateral and the voiceless alveopalatal fricative, sounds which also occur in Portuguese. However, it lacks the voiced alveopalatal fricative of Portuguese. The palatal lateral and the voiceless alveopalatal fricative occur in alho (garlic) and joelho (knee). In Portuguese, the word joelho has a voiced alveopalatal fricative.

Galician phonology shares characteristics of both Portuguese and Spanish. It has the seven vowel phonemes of Portuguese, the palatal lateral and the voiceless alveopalatal fricative. On the other hand, it also has the apicodental voiceless fricative, the voiceless interdental fricative and the voiceless alveopalatal affricate, consonants which also occur in Spanish.