Thursday 31 May 2012

Northernmost

credit: Szilagyi Lenke
The northernmost point from which a reader had/has access to my blog lies somewhere in or around Finnsnes in Norway. The town lies at a latitude of 69 degrees north.


Saturday 26 May 2012

Night's phonetics

credit: CUP

I checked out from the library Rachael-Anne Knight's book Phonetics, published in 2012 by CUP. Judging from a very cursory flip through the book, I think, it should rather have been called English Phonetics.

credit: www.rachaelanne.net
The author has been senior lecturer in phonetics at the City University London since 2007.








Here's the
Table of Contents

1. The difference between speech and writing
2. Consonant voicing
3. Consonant place of articulation
4. Consonant manner of articulation
5. The IPA chart and mid-sagittal sections for consonants
6. Vowels
7. Airstream mechanisms
8. Syllables and stress
9. Allophonic variations of voice
10. Allophonic variations of place
11. Allophonic variations of manner
12. Allophonic variations of vowels
13. Allophonic transcription and parametric diagrams
14. Speech sound variation
15. Weak forms and elision
16. Liaison
17. Assimilation
18. Broad transcription
19. Intonation
20. Functions of intonation

More on the book in a future blog post.

Friday 25 May 2012

Regina Ellis vs. Sweet

Linking up once again with Jack Windsor Lewis's blog (no. 404), I've put together a table which allows a comparison of the weakform words collected and transcribed by Ellis in EEP, vol. 4, and by Henry Sweet in his Elementarbuch des gesprochenen Englisch (Oxford, Leipzig) of 1885. 




Ellis (1874),
p. 1166f.
Sweet (1885).
p. 23ff.
1.       
a
e, ah, ɐ
ə
2.       
am

əm, m
3.       
an

ən
4.       
and
ɐnd, ɐn, n, nh
ən (+C), ənd (+V), n (e.g. bread and butter), m (e.g. cup and saucer)
5.       
are

ə(r)
6.       
as
ɐz, z
əz
7.       
at

ət
8.       
be
bi, bi, bɐ
bɩ̆j, bɩ̆
9.       
been

bɩ̆jn, bɩ̆n
10.   
by
no chanɡe
bəi, bɩ̆
11.   
can
k’n, kn
kən, kn
12.   
cannot
no chanɡe

13.   
do
du, du, dɐ
də, d
14.   
does

dəz
15.   
for
fʌ, fʌr, fɐ, fɐr
fŏ(r), fə(r)
16.   
from
frɐm
frəm
17.   
had

həd, əd, d
18.   
have
Hɐv, ɐv, v
həv, əv, v
19.   
has

həz, əz, z, s
20.   
he
Hi, Hi, i, i
hɩ̆j, ɩ̆j
21.   
her
ɐ, ɐr
hə(r)
22.   
him

hɩ̆m, ɩ̆m
23.   
his
iz
hɩ̆z, ɩ̆z
24.   
I
change is not ‘received’

25.   
into
intu, intɐ

26.   
it
no chanɡe

27.   
madam
mæm, mem, mim, məm, mɐm, m’m, m

28.   
me
mi, mi, mɐ
mɩ̆j, mɩ̆
29.   
must

məst, məs
30.   
my
mi (always in myself, my lord)

31.   
nor

nŏ(r), nə(r)
32.   
not

nt (only in verbal forms)
33.   
of
əv, ɐv, ɐ
ŏv, əv, ə
34.   
on
no chanɡe
ŏn
35.   
one
change is not ‘received’

36.   
or
ʌ, ʌr, ɐ, ɐr
ŏ(r), ə(r)
37.   
our
no chanɡe

38.   
Saint, St.

snt (+V), sn (+C)
39.   
shall
shl, shlh

40.   
she
shi, shi, sh”i
ʃɩ̆j, ʃɩ̆
41.   
should
sh’d, shd
ʃəd
42.   
sir

43.   
some

səm
44.   
such

səʧ
45.   
than

ðən
46.   
that
dhɐt, dh’t

47.   
the
dhi, dhy, dhȷ, dh, dhe, dhɐ, dhə
ðɩ̆, ðə
48.   
their
dhɐ
ðə(r)
49.   
them
dhym, dhɐm
ðəm, əm
50.   
there
dhɐ
ðə(r)
51.   
there is

ðəz
52.   
they
dhe, dhe

53.   
they are

ðɛə(r)
54.   
till

tɩ̆l, tl
55.   
to
tu, tu, tɐ
tŭ (+V), tə (+C)
56.   
us
ɐs
əs, s (as in lets)
57.   
was

wəz
58.   
we
wi, wi
wɩ̆j, wɩ̆
59.   
were
wu, wɐr
wə(r)
60.   
which
whtsh, witsh

61.   
who
Hu, Hu, u

62.   
will
wɐl, wl, l
əl, l
63.   
with
wi

64.   
would
w’d
wəd, əd, d
65.   
you
ȷu, ȷu, ȷɐ
jŭw, jŭ, jə
66.   
your
ȷɐ, ȷɐr
jŏ(r), jə(r)


Sweet lists 20 weakform words that do not appear in Ellis’s collection. The number of common items is 31 (if one includes on as a weakform word, otherwise 30).