Palatal Plosive of Canarian Spanish

The Spanish of the Canary Islands is distinct from that of the rest of Spain. Unlike in most of Spain, the voiceless interdental fricative in words such as cinco (five) is not used. Also, the alveopalatal affricate of standard Spanish is replaced with the palatal plosive.

In words such as champú (shampoo), chimenea (chimney) and chocolate (chocolate), most Spanish speakers use the voiceless alveopalatal affricate. It is the combination of a homorganic fricative and plosive. The same sound exists in English and many other languages. In certain dialects the words begin not with the voiceless alveopalatal affricate but rather with the voiceless alveopalatal fricative. The same sound exists in English and is used in words such as shell, ship and shoulder. 

However, in Canarian Spanish the words are pronounced with the palatal plosive. It is a consonant with a more retracted pronunciation than that of the alveopalatal affricate. It also has a different manner of articulation because it is not the combination of a plosive and fricative but a plosive only.

In Canarian Spanish, the alveopalatal affricate is not used. It is replaced with the alveopalatal plosive. Although the Spanish of the Canary Islands differs from that of Spain in many ways, the use of the voiceless palatal plosive is unique because it does not occur in other varieties of Spanish.

Hungarian Word-Final Vowels

Standard Hungarian has fourteen vowels. They can be long or short. In word-final position, three vowels are rare.

Vowels which rarely appear word-finally in Hungarian are the short mid back vowel, short mid front rounded vowel and short high front rounded vowel. In these positions the long mid back vowel, the long mid front rounded vowel and long high front rounded vowel appear.

Here are examples:

esernyő (umbrella)

eső (rain)

fésű (comb)

folyó (river)

fű (grass)

gyűrű (ring)

hó  (snow)

keserű (bitter)

szőlő (grape)

tó (lake)

Hungarian places restricitons on the vowels which can appear word-finally. Only the long front rounded vowels and the long mid front vowel are common at the end of the word. In these positions the short front rounded vowels and short mid back vowel are rare. With the other vowels, both the short and long ones can appear word-finally.

Spanish Coda Consonants

Spanish is very restrictive with coda consonants. In native words, only /ð/, /l/, /n/. /r/ and /s/ are common. The Castilian Spanish dialect also has the voiceless interdental fricative /θ/. Here are ten words with these five coda consonants:

edad (age)

sed (thirst)

miel (honey)

sal (salt)

con (with)

jamón (ham)

flor (flower)

mar (sea)

dos (two)

más (more)

In Castilian Spanish, the words feliz (happy) and juez (judge) have the voiceless interdental fricative. The /s/ can be replaced with /h/ in dialects such as Andalusian and Caribbean. In these cases, the final consonant in words such as dos and más can be [h].

Unlike languages such as English, Spanish does not allow many consonants in the syllable coda. This is true of not only Spanish but other Romance languages such as Italian and Portuguese. In most varieties of Spanish, only five consonants are common in the syllable coda.

Danish Glottal Stop with Numbers

The Danish glottal stop is an important feature of Danish pronunciation. It always occurs with stressed vowels. Let us examine the use of the Danish glottal stop with the numbers from one to ten.

The Danish numbers from one to ten are:

en

to

tre

fire 

fem

seks

syv

otte 

ni 

ti

The glottal stop appears with the numbers en, to, tre, fem, syv, ni and ti. With the exception of fem, the glottal stop appears after the vowel. However, in certain cases, the glottal stop appears after the consonant. This is the case with fem. In this case the glottal stop appears after the nasal. 

The numbers fire, seks and otte are pronounced without the glottal stop. Seven of the ten numbers are pronounced with the glottal stop, and three are not. This indicates that the glottal stop is a common feature of Danish pronunciation.

In certain minimal pairs the absence of presence of the glottal stop determines meaning. One example is hun (she) and hund (dog). The word hund has the glottal stop, and it is realized after the nasal.

Many Danish words are pronounced with the glottal stop. It can occur after both vowels and consonants in stressed syllables. In minimal pairs, the presence or absence of the glottal stop changes the meaning.

Ten Compound Words from Different Languages

Compound words are common not only in English but also in many other languages. They are very useful for forming words. Let us look at ten compound words from different languages.

abrelatas (Spanish) can opener

Handschuh (German) glove

lábújj (Hungarian) toe

maailma (Finnish) world

pindakaas (Dutch) peanut butter

Regenschirm (German) umbrella

smörgåsbord (Swedish) smorgasbord

solros (Swedish) sunflower

sommerfugl (Danish/Norwegian) butterfly

surlendemain (French) day after tomorrow

Now we can analyze the compound words.

abrelatas = abre + latas (open + cans)

Handschuh = Hand + Schuh (hand + shoe)

lábújj = láb + újj (foot + finger)

maailma = maa + ilma (land + air)

pindakaas = pinda + kaas (peanut + cheese)

Regenschirm = Regen + Schirm (rain + shield)

smörgåsbord = smörgås + bord (sandwich + table)

solros = sol + ros (sun + rose)

sommerfugl = sommer + fugl (summer + bird)

surlendemain = sur + lendemain (over + the next day)

Dutch uses the word cheese to refer to peanut butter. Danish and Norwegian use a compound for butterfly, but unlike English which combines butter and fly, they combine the words summer and bird. The word glove is not a compound in English, but it is in German and combines the words hand and shoe. The word smorgasbord is used in English, but it is not a compound in English because it is borrowed from Swedish.

Though compound words are common in many languages, they are often used differently. Compound words in one language are often not compounds in another. In certain cases, languages use compound words to refer to the same object, but the internal composition of the compound words is different. The list illustrates a few compound words in different languages.

Derivational Affixes of English

Derivational affixes can be used to create many words. Unlike inflectional affixes, derivational affixes often change the grammatical category. In linguistics, derivation refers to the creation of a new word.

The affix -dom can attach to king to create the word kingdom. Since both words are nouns, the affix does not create a new grammatical category. However, the two words have distinct meanings. One refers to a person and the other to a place.

The affix -y attaches to nouns and creates adjectives. It is a very productive affix because it creates many words. They include cloudy, dirty, fussy, icy, lucky, rainy, snowy, stormy, sunny and windy.  

Another productive derivational affix is the prefix -un. It does not create a new grammatical category, but it creates a word that is opposite in meaning to the original. Examples include unfriendly, unhappy, unhealthy, unintentional, unkind, uninteresting, unlikely, unreliable, unsure and unusual.

The derivational suffix -ness is also very productive. It attaches to adjectives to create nouns. Examples include darkness, fitness, greatness, happiness, illness, kindness, sadness, shyness, sleepiness and weakness.

Derivational affixes are common in the formation of words in English. They can be prefixes and suffixes and they often change the grammatical category of the word. Derivational affixes can combine with inflectional affixes in the same word. In the word neighbourhoods, the derivational affix-hood is followed by the inflectional affix -s.

Sound Correspondence Between Spanish and Catalan

Catalan is a Romance language with word-final obstruent devoicing. In Catalan, the city Madrid is pronounced with a word-final [t]. A number of Spanish words with a d have a t in Catalan. Here is a list:

ciudad ciutat (city)

comunidad comunitat (community)

edad edat (age)

felicidad felicitat (happiness)

libertad llibertat (liberty)

salud salut (health)

sed set (thirst)

unidad unitat (unity)

universidad universitat (university)

verdad veritat (truth)

The final consonant of the Spanish words is the voiced interdental fricative [ð]. However, the final consonant of the Catalan words is the voiceless dental/alveolar plosive [t]. The contrast does not occur only word-finally. It can also occur word-medially, i.e., ciudad/ciutat, verdad/veritat. The [ð] of Spanish is often [t] in Catalan.

Aspiration In English

English voiceless plosives can be aspirated or unaspirated. They are aspirated when they are the only segment of the syllable onset and they precede a stressed vowel. When they occur after [s], aspiration is blocked.

Aspiration occurs in words such as cat, kite, pot and top. It also occurs in the second syllable of potato. No aspiration occurs in words such as apple, lucky, spot and stop.

English plosives can be divided into two categories, voiced and voiceless. However, voiceless segments can be divided into aspirated and unaspirated. Aspirated plosives only occur when they are the only segment of the syllable onset and they are followed by a stressed vowel. Aspirated and unaspirated plosives thus never occur in the same environment.