Search results for 'tag:Articles tag:Intonations' matching tags 'Articles' and 'Intonations'

Re: The reform of linguistics

Forbes — Tue, 16 May 2006 14:44:13 GMT

Imagine a language in which:

âThe man hit the table with a stickâ is

âCopoloteko tipadela tisadure asutariki bu.â

In this sentence

co = a classifier indicating that we are talking about something animate

polo = man

te = a nominative case marker

ko = the speaker wishes to emphasise the word âmanâ

ti = a classifier indicating that we are talking about something inanimate

pade = table

la = accusative marker

ti = as above

sadu = stick

re = an instrumental case marker

a = a prefix indicating that the event took place in the recent past

suta = hit

ri = a suffix indicating that the subject of the sentence is animate

ki = a suffix indicating that the object of the sentence is inanimate

bu = a particle showing respect to the person addressed

If we substitute a completely different set of phonemes throughout, so that for example âcopolotekoâ becomes âdasazaviwuâ, the morphology and syntax have not been changed. We can go a step further and make all the syllables closed so that we have âdansaszarvitwunâ, or again go further still and introduce some consonant clusters to produce âdranspaszarvlistwunâ. In each case the phonology of the language is different, but the morphology and syntax are identical.

Now of course changes in the phonology of a language go hand in hand with changes in its morphology: a classic case is where case endings for nouns are weakened and eventually dropped. But what you seem to be saying, and please correct me if I am wrong, is that you can predict the morphology and syntax of a language from its phonology. In particular, you seem to be suggesting that if a language has a small inventory of phonemes and a simple phonology (that is all syllables must be of the form V or CV or CVC where the final C is restricted to, say, /m/ /n/ and /Å/) the language must be analytic, isolating, monosyllabic and have significant tonality.

If we take Spanish, it is a language with a comparatively simple phonology. It has only five vowels and the total number of phonemes is about the same as in Mandarin Chinese. The range of consonant clusters is restricted to initial C1C2 where C2 has to be /l/ or /r/. Syllables may only end in a vowel or /Ã°/, /l/, /n/, /r/, /s/ and /Î¸/ and even then the /Ã°/, /r/, and /s/ are weak and even disappear in some speakers/varieties with /Î¸/ becoming /s/. Whilst Spanish is less synthetic than Latin, from which it derives, it is not isolating, certainly not monosyllabic and does not have significant tonality, at least not at the lexical level, though the difference between statements and questions is often marked only by intonation. Thus we have Spanish and Chinese with broadly similar phonologies (except of course that the phoneme inventories are different) but which are otherwise completely different from each other. It may also be noted that whilst French has a far greater number of phonemes and a more complex phonology than Spanish, Spanish and French have a similar morphology and syntax (at least compared to other non-Romance languages).

Unless I have completely misunderstood what you are saying, what seems to be the sum of your argument is that simple phonology equals simple language equals simple mind, which is a contention I cannot possibly accept.

Re: Correct this handout.

Clive — Fri, 24 Mar 2006 23:12:24 GMT

Hi Believer,

Hypothetical Situation: I am thinking of holding a seminar and have to hand out a sheet that lists the things to be covered in the seminar. It's really an 'agenda'.

1. What should be the title of this hand-out?

2. I have written some hypothetical topics to be covered in a format that might be appropriate or not be appropriate. Correct or change the content or format if you will.

_____________________________________________________________

(No title: Please place on for me) I have no idea. Your three items do not seem to be related to each other. Ask yourself what the purpose of the seminar is, and then make a title out of that.

Monday, March 25, 200_, 1pm to 4pm.

Welcome. Our topics today are:

1pm to 2pm: Learning to sing a typical Chinese song, paying special attention to sounding natural and to its intonations and rhythm.

2pm to 3pm: Form groups of five for an unstructured conversation session on subjects currently in the news.

4pm to 5pm: Read and discuss a newspaper article.

I hope you will enjoy yourselves (so the purpose of the seminar is to have fun?) and hope to see you here tomorrow at the same time.

Fred Noname (and add your job title, if this seminar is related to your work)

Perhaps you should add to this the agenda for the next day?

Correct this handout.

Believer — Fri, 24 Mar 2006 10:36:41 GMT

Hypothetical Situation: I am thinking of holding a seminar and has to hand out a sheet that lists the things to be convered in the seminar.

1. What should be the title of this hand-out?

2. I have written some hypothetical topics to be covered in a format that might be appropriate or not be appropriate. Correct or change the content or format if you will.

_____________________________________________________________

(No title: Please place on for me)

Date: March 25, 200_

By: Mr. Noname

Welcome to the seminar and the seminar you are attending will last for three hours.

The topics to be covered on each hour are as follows:

First Hour: Learning to sing a typical Chinese song, paying special attention to how it is to be sung as natural-sounding as possible, taking notes of its intonations and rhythm.

(I sometimes have difficulties with using the word "notes" in a verb form, can you kindly go over the usage?)

Second Hour: Form groups of five and will lead a carefree conversation session, talking about things that are happening today and what you expect to happen in the near future.

Third Hour: Read a newspaper article chosen by the speaker and a short discussion on the article will follow.

I hope you will have great hours and hope to see you tomorrow at the same time here.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Some ways to improve your English

The big mistake many people make when learning English is to associate the written words with the spoken ones. They technically are two different worlds.

Since you have a computer, I would suggest you install iTunes (it's free) and subscribe to several podcasts. You will be able to listen to news, sports, scientific articles, etc. So listen and listen and listen to English speaking people. Simply get used to that.

With time you will be able to start repeating phrases that English speakers say. And keep in mind that fluent English has several things combined that makes it so different: intonation, inflection, word connectors, sounds that do not exist in your mother tongue, etc.

You need to get used to listen to people speaking fast, because that's what you will generally encounter. So avoid those slow and word-by-word paused conversations.

After getting a bit used to this, start reading. But it is always much better if you can read something that accompanies an audio file, so that you can check that you sound like a native. In other words, emulate the speaker! You're learning a totally different language.

And again, just like the listening stuff, try to read fast (but do not exaggerate). Reading slow will just tell the person you talk to that you do not speak English well.

I'll think about some little hints in the future and I will post them here.

Cheers!

Re: Medical English

aeon — Sat, 26 Feb 2005 03:59:15 GMT

The grammar is the same, although the passive voice is more frequently (perhaps too much so) in technical writing. Find some copies of medical journals and read the articles to get a feel for the tone, even if you don't understand the specialist vocabulary employed. As Mister Micawber said, your students should be able to supply the vocabulary and understand the meanings. You may, however, have a better feel for the correct intonation and stress of the words than your students.