Danish Diphthongs

Danish has many diphthongs. English also has many diphthongs, but Danish has diphthongs that do not occur in English. Let us look at them.

Danish has four diphthongs that are not used in English. In these four Danish diphthongs, the second component of the diphthong is the high front rounded back vowel that occurs in the English word now. Four Danish words with diphthongs that do not occur in English are døv (deaf), liv (life), ræv (fox) and syv (seven).

In the word døv, the first component of the diphthong is a mid front unrounded vowel. This vowel does not occur in English, but it does in languages such as French and German. The word døv has the same meaning and spelling in Norwegian, but in Norwegian it does not have a diphthong.

The word liv has the same meaning and spelling in Norwegian and Swedish, but in Norwegian and Swedish it does not have a diphthong. The first component is a high front unrounded vowel. The first and second components of the diphthong share the same tongue height.

In the word ræv, the first component of the diphthong is a mid front unrounded vowel. The Norwegian equivalent is rev and does not have a diphthong. The letter æ was once used in English.

The word syv is also used in Norwegian, but in Norwegian it does not have a diphthong. The first component is a high front rounded vowel. This vowel does not occur in English, but it occurs in languages such as French and German.

Danish and English both have a large number of diphthongs. However, a number of Danish diphthongs do not occur in English. In fact, Danish has four diphthongs that do not occur in other Germanic languages.

Verbs with the Prefix -mis

Many English verbs are formed with the prefix -mis. When it is attached to verbs, it changes the meaning to include incorrectness or an action that is badly done. The prefix can also be attached to nouns. 

The following verbs are formed with the prefix -mis:

misbehave

mishear

misjudge

mismanage

mispronounce

misread

misspeak

misspell

misunderstand

miswrite

The prefix can combine with the verbs read, speak and write, but not with listen. However, it can combine with hear to form the word mishear. Many nouns can also be formed with the prefix such as mismanagement and misunderstanding. The prefix -mis is used to create many words in English.

High Central Unrounded Vowel of European Portuguese

The phonology of European Portuguese is very different from that of Brazilian. One noticeable difference is the high central unrounded vowel. It occurs in European Portuguese but not in Brazilian. The high central unrounded vowel only occurs in unstressed syllables. However, it can be deleted.

Speakers of European Portuguese use the high central unrounded vowel in words such as noite (night), presidente (president) and sete (seven). In the word colesterol (cholesterol), the high central unrounded vowel occurs in the second and third syllables. However, in all of these words, the high central vowel can also be deleted.

In Brazilian Portuguese, the high central unrounded vowel does not occur. In words such as noite, presidente and sete, most speakers of Brazilian Portuguese use the high front unrounded vowel [i]. In the word colesterol, speakers of European Portuguese often pronounce it with only two syllables. In Brazilian Portuguese, however, it is always pronounced with four syllables.

One feature of European Portuguese which is different from Brazilian Portuguese is the high central unrounded vowel. It occurs in many unstressed syllables and can even be deleted. The use of the high central unrounded vowel and the frequency of vowel deletion serve to distinguish the European variety of Portuguese from the Brazilian.

Pronunciation of Word-Final d in Norwegian

In many Norwegian words, the word-final d is not pronounced. This is also the case with many words in Danish, a language that is closely related to Norwegian. In Swedish, however, the final d is pronounced in these words. In one particular Norwegian dialect, however, a dialect that is spoken in western Norway and includes the city of Ålesund, the word-final d is pronounced.

Norwegian words with a word-final silent d include bord (table) fjord (fiord) hard (hard) hund (dog), jord (earth), hånd (hand), land (country), ord (word) sand (sand), and strand (beach). Only a few dialects of western Norway pronounce the word-final d. The pronunciation of the word-final d reflects an earlier pronunciation.

In many Norwegian words, the final d is silent. This is the case with words such as hund (dog), land  (country) and ord (word). These words are identical in Danish and Swedish. In Danish, the final d is silent, but in Swedish it is not. A few dialects of western Norway pronounce the word-final d and thus use the same pronunciation as in Swedish.

Meaning of September, October, November and December

September, October, November and December are the ninth, tenth, eleventh and twelfth months of the year. However, they are formed from the Latin words for seven, eight, nine and ten. The reason is that the original calendar only had ten months. In the original calendar, the final month of the year, December, was the tenth month.

The months of January and February were later added to the calendar. The result was that the number of months increased from ten to twelve. However, the names of the ninth, tenth, eleventh and twelfth months did not change.

January and February are the first two months, but if they were the last two, September to December would remain months seven to ten of the year. However, January and February are the first two months of the year, so the names of September, October, November and December are inaccurate. Their names reflect that they were once the seventh, eighth, ninth and tenth months of the calendar.

Analysis of Days of the Week in Romanian

Romanian is a Romance language. The days of the week in Romanian are similar to those of other Romance languages. The days of the week in Romanian are the following:

luni

marți

miercuri

joi

vineri

sâmbătă

duminică

The days for Monday to Friday all end with the same letter. However, in the word marți (Tuesday), the final letter palatalizes the preceding consonant, the voiceless alveolar affricate. The result is that marți is only one syllable.

The first letter of joi (Thursday) is the voiced alveopalatal fricative. The word sâmbătă has two vowels which do not occur in other languages. The letter â represents the high central unrounded vowel. It is rare among Indo-European languages but also occurs in Russian. The letter ă represents the schwa. In Romanian it occurs in both stressed and unstressed syllables.

An analysis of the days of the week in Romanian illustrates that they are similar to the days of the week in other Romance languages. The word-final i of marți serves to palatalize the preceding consonant. Romanian has two vowels which do not occur in other Romance languages, vowels which are present in the word sâmbătă (Saturday). The Romanian days of the week indicate that Romanian is truly a Romance language.

Use of Alveolar Nasal and Palatal Nasal in Spanish and Portuguese

The palatal nasal is used in both Spanish and Portuguese. In Spanish it is the letter ñ and in Portuguese it is nh. In many varieties of Brazilian Portuguese, the palatal nasal is realized as the nasal palatal approximant. Many Spanish words with the alveolar nasal have the palatal nasal in Portuguese, and many Spanish words with the palatal nasal have the alveolar nasal in Portuguese.

Here is a list of words to illustrate the alternation:

año ano (year)

dueño dono (owner)

otoño outono (autumn)

pequeño pequeno (small)

señal sinal (signal)

camino caminho (way)

dinero dinheiro (money)

reina rainha (queen)

vecino vizinho (neighbour)

vino vinho (wine)

Spanish and Portuguese often use the alveolar nasal and the palatal nasal in the same words. This is the case with montaña/montanha (mountain) and cono/cone (cone). However, in certain cases, the palatal nasal of Spanish corresponds to the alveolar nasal in Portuguese, and in other cases the alveolar nasal of Spanish corresponds to the palatal nasal of Portuguese. The two sounds share the same manner of articulation, but they differ in their place of articulation.