Subject and Topic

The terms subject and topic are often used in semantics. Sometimes the subject and topic are the same but not always. Let us illustrate with an example.

The sentence The pencil is on the table consists of a subject (the pencil) and a verb phrase. The verb phrase can further be divided into a verb phrase (is) and a prepositional phrase (on the table). However, the sentence can be used to emphasize different information. If one hears the question What's on the table? it's sufficient to answer The pencil. But if one hears the question Where's the pen? it's sufficient to answer On the table.

In the sentence The pencil is on the table the subject is the pencil. In response to the question What's on the table? the phrase the pencil is also the topic. However, in response to the question Where's the pencil? the topic of the sentence is on the table. In this case the subject and the topic are different.

In English the subject usually occurs at the front of the sentence because English has SVO order. The topic, however, can occur in either subject or object position and is the focus of the conversation. Languages such as Japanese and Korean have separate markers to indicate the subject and topic of the sentence.

Minimal Pairs With the Alveolar Flap

The alveolar flap is common in North American English. It occurs in intervocalic position between an unstressed vowel and a stressed one. In other varieties of English such as Irish, Australian and New Zealand the alveolar flap is also common. For those speakers who have an alveolar flap, the following words are pronounced the same:

Adam atom
coding coating
ladder latter
leader litre
medal metal
odder otter
pedal petal
rider writer
tidal title
tudor tutor

In Canadian English and also in varieties of American English, the pairs rider/writer and tidal/title are not identical. Due to vowel raising in words such as write, speakers who maintain a distinction have a raised vowel in writer but not in rider. In the case of tidal/title, speakers who distinguish the pair have a raised vowel in title. In addition to the raised vowel in writer and title, the vowel in rider and tidal has a longer duration.

Though many speakers pronounce words such as leader/litre and pedal/petal identically, the meaning is usually understood from context. In the sentences I have a tutor and I bought one litre, the meaning is clear. For this reason misunderstandings are rare.

Catenative Verbs

Catenative verbs are verbs that can be directly followed by another verb. The second verb can be an infinitive or gerund. The name catenative derives from the ability of the verbs to form chains as in the sentence We promised to try to practise more.

The following sentences illustrate catenative verbs:

I advise leaving now.
I regret telling him everything.
I love to swim in the ocean.
He didn't dare answer.
They have gone to see an action movie.
They helped pack her bags.
They helped to pack her bags.
We want to please all our clients.
You are allowed to wear casual clothes.
You seem to be tired today.

The verb help can be followed by the bare infinitive or the to-infinitive in the examples. This is different from other verbs such as want in which the to-infinitive must follow rather than the bare infinitive. Catenative verbs can combine with other verbs which are in either gerund or infinitive form.

Foot-Goose Merger

The foot-goose merger refers to a merger of the high back vowels in the words foot and goose. It is found in the English of Scotland and Northern Ireland. In the foot-goose merger, both words are pronounced with a high back rounded tense vowel.

In Northern Ireland and Scotland, many speakers pronounce foot and goose with the same vowel, the vowel of goose. For these speakers, the words Luke and look sound identical and the words food and good rhyme. The distinction between the tense vowel of goose and lax vowel of foot is lost.

The foot-goose merger neutralizes the distinction between the tense and lax high back vowels of English. The marked lax vowel is replaced with the unmarked tense vowel. The foot-goose merger also exists in Singapore English. In Singapore English, however, the vowel is not as advanced as in Scotland and Northern Ireland. The foot-goose merger is one of the many mergers in English.

Romanian

Romanian is a Romance language spoken primarily in Romania and Moldova. Romanian nouns have three genders- masculine, feminine and neutral. Definite articles are suffixed to the end of the noun rather than placed in front. In Spanish the apple is la manzana. In Romania this is marul, which is composed of mar (apple) plus the definite article. Here are the numbers in Romanian from one to ten:

unu
doi
trei
patru
cinci
șase
șapte
opt
nouâ
zece

Unlike in other Romance languages, the word for four begins with a p (Spanish quatro and French quatre) and the word for ten begins with a z (Spanish diez and French dix). Distinguishing features of Romanian include three genders for nouns and postnominal definite articles. However, the numbers illustrate the similarity of Romanian to other Romance languages.

Prune Tart

This Agen prune tart is delicious and doesn't take so long to make. Agen is located in the southwest of France. Here is the recipe:

Pastry

1 cup flour

7 tablespoons butter

1 tablespoon sugar

5 tablespoons water

pinch of salt

Filling

400 grams pitted prunes

1 egg

6 tablespoons icing sugar

1 tablespoon flour

1/2 cup cream

1/2 tablespoon cinnamon

1 tablespoon vanilla sugar

Let the prunes soak in boiling water for half an hour.

Prepare the pastry.

Let it rest for an hour and then roll it to fit the pan.

Grease and flour the pan before adding the pastry.

Preheat the oven to 180 degrees Celsius.

Drain the prunes and add them to the pastry.

Sprnkle two tablespoons of sugar over the prunes.
Bake for twently minutes.

Mix the egg with the icing sugar, 1 tablespoon of flour and the cream.

Add the cinnamon.

If you wish, you can also add a bit of Armagnac.

Pour over the prunes and bake another 25 minutes.

Sprinkle with vanilla sugar.

Enjoy!

False Friends in Spanish and Portuguese

Spanish and Portuguese are closely related. However, they have a number of false friends. Here is a list with the Spanish word on the left and the Portuguese on the right:

cadera (hip) cadeira (chair)
cena (supper) cena (scene)
doce (twelve) doce (sweet)
exquisito (exquisite) esquisito (unusual)
largo (long) largo (wide)
polvo (dust) polvo (octopus)
pronto (soon) pronto (ready)
rato (while) rato (rat)
rojo (red) roxo (purple)
salsa (sauce) salsa (parsley)

As the list illustrates, certain words in Spanish and Portuguese are false friends. The difference in meaning is often great as in the case of polvo- dust in Spanish and octopus in Portuguese. For this reason it is good to be aware of the false friends in the two languages.