Variation in German Final Obstruent Devoicing

Final obstruent devoicing is common in the German of northern Germany and is considered standard. The result is that words such as Rad (wheel) and Rat (advice) are pronounced the same. However, in varieties of southern Germany, Austria and Switzerland, many speakers do not devoice final obstruents.

In the words Archiv (archive), Sand (sand), Tag (day) and Kalb (calf), the final consonants are voiceless in standard German. In regional varieties of southern Germany, Austria and Switzerland, however, they are voiced. This is a significant difference between the German of northern Germany and southern Germany.

Final obstruent devoicing is common in many languages. It occurs in languages such as Catalan, Mongolian, Russian, Polish and Dutch. It also occurs in German. However, in regional varieties of German, final obstruent devoicing does not occur.

Words Often Pronounced with H-Dropping

Many English dialects have h-dropping. One example is Cockney. However, even in standard English, five words are often pronounced with h-dropping. They are he, her, him, have and had.

The word he is often dropped in sentences such as I'm not sure if he is coming. Speakers often drop the word her in sentences such as I don't know her. In the sentence I can give it to him, the h is also often dropped.

The auxiliary verb have can also be pronounced with h-dropping. An example is the sentence She should have told me. In addition to h-dropping, the vowel is reduced and produced as a schwa. Further reduction is also possible. In the sentence I've finished, only the final consonant of the auxiliary verb is pronounced. 

Another auxiliary verb which can be pronounced with h-dropping is had. An example is the sentence If my sister had finished early, she would have joined us. In addition to h-dropping, the vowel is reduced and pronounced as a schwa. Further reduction is also possible. In the sentence If I'd started sooner, I would have already finished only the final consonant of the auxiliary verb is pronounced.

H-dropping is the phenomenon which drops the consonant from words. It is one of the distinctive characteristics of Cockney English. Though it is not associated with standard English, it is nevertheless common in five words of conversational English.

Spanish Feminine Nouns with the Masculine Article

In Spanish the definite article is el before singular masculine nouns and la before singular feminine nouns. However, in certain cases, el is used before singular feminine nouns. This is only for feminine nouns which begin with the vowel sound /a/.

Ten feminine nouns which are preceded by el are the following:

agua (water)

águila (eagle)

alba (dawn)

alma (soul)

ancla (anchor)

arpa (harp)

aula (classroom)

ave (bird)

hacha (axe)

hambre (hunger)

Though these feminine nouns combine with el, adjectives which precede the nouns are always feminine. Examples include esta agua (this water) and nuestra aula (our classroom). Feminine nouns which are not stressed on the initial syllable are preceded by la. The word amapola (poppy) is stressed on the third syllable. As a result, the poppy is la amapola.

Spanish singular feminine nouns are preceded by the definite article la. However, feminine singular nouns which are stressed on the initial syllable and begin with the vowel sound /a/ are preceded by the definite article el. However, though they are preceded by el, the adjectives used to modify them are always feminine.

Italian Words in Music

Italian words are common in music notation. They were first used by Italian composers of the seventeenth century. However, they have since spread to the rest of the world.

Here is a list of Italian words used in music:

adagio (slow)

allegro (fast)

crescendo (gradually louder)

diminuendo (gradually slower)

dolce (sweet)

forte (loud)

moderato (moderate)

piano (soft)

presto (very fast)

vivace (fast and lively)

The adjectives also have intensive forms. For example, the word pianissimo means very soft and pianississimo means as soft as possible. Likewise, the word fortissimo means very loud and fortississimo means as loud as possible.

Many of the terms used in music notation are from Italian. The majority of the most important musical composers from the Renaissance to the Baroque period were Italian. This is the reason that Italian is used so extensively in music.

Letters of Different Languages

Many languages use the Roman alphabet. It is used in most European languages, but also in African languages such as Swahili and Asian languages such as Vietnamese. Let us present a few letters that are not used in many languages.

The letter æ was once used in English, but not today. It is used in Danish, Norwegian, Faroese and Icelandic.

Danish, Norwegian and Swedish use the letter å. It represents the mid back vowel.

The letters ð and þ were once used in English. They are used in Icelandic and represent interdental fricatives.

Danish and Norwegian use the letter ø. It represents the mid front rounded vowel.

Hungarian uses the letters ő and ű. They represent long front rounded vowels.

French and Portuguese use the letter ç. It is often called the soft c.

Czech uses the letter ř. It represents the fricative trill, a sound that is unique to Czech.

German uses the letter ß. It represents the alveolar fricative, but in Switzerland and Liechtenstein, it is no longer used and is replaced by ss.

Czech uses the letter ů. It is used to represent the long back rounded vowel.

Though many languages use the Roman alphabet, also known as the Latin alphabet, they often use additional letters. Many are for unique sounds such as the fricative trill, which is only used in Czech. The letters æ, ð and þ were once used in English.

Mixed Conditionals

Mixed conditionals combine two types of conditional patterns. Two common patterns consist of the third conditional in the if clause and the second conditional in the main clause, and the second conditional in the if clause and the third conditional in the main clause. They are used to express a past condition and present result and also to express a present condition and past result. Let us look at examples.

The following sentences combine the third conditional and the second conditional:

If I had won the lottery, I would be very rich now.

If I hadn't quit my piano lessons, I might play the piano really well.

The next two sentences combine the second conditional and the third conditional:

If I were younger, I would have gotten the job.

If I didn't have so much work, I would have gone to the party.

Conditional sentences can be classified into four types: type 0, type 1, type 2 and type 3. However, mixed conditionals are also common. As illustrated in the examples, they often combine the second and third conditionals.

Pronunciation of the Lateral in English Dialects

In Received Pronunciation, the alveolar lateral is velarized in syllable-final position. The velarized lateral is also called dark. In syllable-initial position, it is not velarized and can also be called light. However, not all English dialects follow the pattern of Received Pronunciation.

The dialect of Bristol is in southwestern England. Though it is a southern dialect and most southern dialects follow the pattern of Received Pronunciation, Bristol does not. In Bristol, the lateral is velarized both syllable-initially and syllable-finally.

The dialect of Newcastle is in northwestern England. Though it is a northern dialect and most northern dialects velarize the lateral in all positions, Newcastle does not. In Newcastle, the lateral is not velarized syllable-initially or syllable-finally.

English dialects vary in the pronunciation of the alveolar lateral. Most southern dialects velarize it in the syllable coda, and most northern dialects velarize the lateral in both the syllable onset and the syllable coda. In the dialect of Bristol, however, the lateral is velarized as in most northern dialects, and in the dialect of Newcastle, the lateral is never velarized, a feature that is also typical of many Irish dialects. The pronunciation of the lateral varies in the dialects of England.