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TEXT A



LINE 1: Guyana is the only English-speaking country in South America. This former British colony

LINE 2: became independent in 1966. The country boasts a remarkably rich ecology. Its tropical

LINE 3: rainforests, which attract many tourists, are filled with distinctive plantlife teemed with exotic

LINE 4: birds, insects and mammals. Unfortunately, Guyana also has the continent's poorest

LINE 5: economy. It suffers from political troubles and economic mismanagement. Many observers

LINE 6: believe that it faces an uncertain future.

LINE 7: The Guyanese population is largely descended from African slaves and agricultural workers

LINE 8: from India. The former were imported by the Dutch to work on sugar plantations, while the

LINE 9: latter were shipped in by the British after slavery was abolished. Persistent rivalry between

LINE 10: these two ethnic groups has created an unstable society. The social tensions are reflected

LINE 11: in hostility between the two main political parties, which are ethnically based.

LINE 12: An economic crisis struck the country in the 1990s. Most industries were state-owned and

LINE 13: badly managed. Their earnings sank while fuel costs rose. Living standards dipped

LINE 14: dramatically. The government subsequently sold many industries. It must solve new

LINE 15: problems now, however. The rainforest is facing environmental threats. The drugs trade is

LINE 16: fuelling violent crime. The sugar industry, which is Guyana's main employer and a major

LINE 17: source of foreign income, is in trouble. The EU has declared that Guyana will lose

LINE 18: preferential treatments for its sugar exports. Experts fear that the industry could collapse as

LINE 19: a result. Poverty levels remain high. Many Guyanese people now seek their fortunes outside

LINE 20: the country. Emigration has risen steeply in the last few years.


PHONETICS & PHONOLOGY :
1. Use Text A above. In the text find one word that meets each of the descriptions listed below (a)-(g). Write the word in ‘normal’ orthography. Underline where in the word the sound in question is found, and write down the phonetic symbol that corresponds to that sound. You can see in an example of how to deal with the task in (1a).

a) A word that begins with a voiceless velar stop:

EXAMPLE:
country (line 1); [k]


ASSIGNMENT:



b) Find a word that begins with a voiceless post-alveolar fricative

ANSWER 1:


I found two words in the text A above: "sugar" (line 8, 16, 18); and "shipped" (line 9) [ʃ] /ʃ/ /'ʃʊgə/ (Received Pronunciation (RP) regarded as the standard accent of Standard English in the United Kingdom) , /'ʃʊgᵊr/ (General American (GA), meaning the most neutral accent of the English spoken in the United States) , /ʃɪpt/

[Postalveolar is] a consonant articulated by placing the tongue slightly behind [post] the alveoli [alveolar], thus its name "postalveolar", also spelled as "post-alveolar".

Above: Example of voiceless post-alveolar fricative /ʃ/



The phoneme [ʃ] in the words "sugar" and "shipped" are articulated by a significant constriction resulting from the proximity between the front part of the tongue and the back part of the alveolar ridge, and without vibration of the vocal chords.

FEATURES / DETAILS:


Its place or point of articulation
is palato-alveolar,
which means it is articulated with the blade of the tongue behind the alveolar ridge, and the front of the tongue bunched up at the palate.

Its manner of articulation.
It is generally produced by channeling air flow along a groove in the back of the tongue up to the place of articulation, at which point it is focused against the sharp edge of the nearly clenched teeth, causing high-frequency turbulence.

Its phonation
is voiced, which means the vocal cords vibrate during the articulation.
However, in some languages, such as Swiss German, it can just mean that this consonant is pronounced shorter and weaker than its voiceless counterpart, while its voicedness or lack thereof is not relevant. In such cases it's more accurate to call such sounds lenis or lax.

It is an oral consonant,
which means air is allowed to escape through the mouth only.

It is a central consonant,
which means it is produced by directing the airstream along the center of the tongue, rather than to the sides.

The airstream mechanism is pulmonic,
which means it is articulated by pushing air solely with the lungs and diaphragm, as in most sounds.

USE in MODERN ENGLISH:


Present-Day English has several digraphs which can be used to form the sound /ʃ/. The most basic form is the spelling "sh" as shown in my ANSWER 1 above.

However, there are others spellings. The digraph ch is used as /ʃ/ in words the English language has loan from French (such as CHef and CHampagne). In the noun ending -tion (such as creaTION, negaTIon, inspiraTION, educaTION, integraTIon). Related to that is the digraph -ti- in several words (such as iniTIative, iniTIation, iniTIal). The last one is often the spelling "ss" or simple [s] (such as tissue, fissure, or sure). If we compare it with Norwegian, this sound is produced by the combination sk before j, i, or y or sj. Some dialects might vary on this [I lack the sufficient Norwegian dialects knowledge].

ASSIGNMENT:


c) Find a word that ends with a voiced alveolar nasal

ABOUT ALVEOLAR:


The biggest group of consonants when looking at place of articulation is alveolar sounds. These are articulated by placing the tip or the blade of the tongue against the rugged area behind the upper teeth, the alveoli. (Midtgård, 2005:15)

ANSWER 2:


I found one word in the text A above: "African" (line 7); [n] /n/ , /'æf rɪ kən/

Above: Example of voiced alveolar nasal /n/



The phoneme [n] in the word "African" is articulated by a total obstruction of airflow resulting from contact between the front part of the tongue and the alveolar ridge, with the soft palate separated from the pharyngeal wall to allow airflow into the nasal cavity, and with vibration of the vocal chords.

FEATURES / DETAILS


Its place or point of articulation
is alveolar,
which means it is articulated with either the tip or the blade of the tongue against the alveolar ridge, termed respectively apical and laminal.

Its manner of articulation
is stop or plosive,
which means it is produced by obstructing airflow in the vocal tract.

Its phonation type
is voiced,
which means the vocal cords are vibrating during the articulation.

It is a nasal consonant,
which means air is allowed to escape through the nose.

It is a central consonant,
which means it is produced by allowing the airstream to flow over the middle of the tongue, rather than the sides.

The airstream mechanism is pulmonic egressive (from the lungs),
which means it is articulated by pushing air out of the lungs and through the vocal tract, rather than from the glottis or the mouth. The majority of sounds in most languages, such as vowels, are both pulmonic and egressive. Note: The three types of egressive sounds are pulmonic egressive (from the lungs), glottalic egressive (from the glottis), and lingual egressive (from the tongue).

USE in MODERN ENGLISH:


The alveolar nasal is the sound denoted in English by the letter 'n', for example in the words nine or plan. Some dialects of English, including most American English dialects, also have syllabic /n/, as in the word lemon.

Note that the letter 'n' does not always denote the sound /n/. The digraph 'ng' is usually pronounced either [ŋ] (velar nasal), as in hang, or [ŋg], as in finger. In most words where 'n' is followed by a 'k', it is also velarised to [ŋk], as in stink.

ASSIGNMENT


d) Find a word that begins with a voiced alveolar lateral

ANSWER 3:


I found 6 words in the text A above: "largely" (line 7), "latter" (line 9), "Living" (line 13), "lose" (line 17), "levels" (line 19), "last" (line 20) [l] /l/ , /'lɑ:dʒ lɪ/ (RP) , /'lɑ:rdʒ lɪ/ (GA)

(This phoneme [l] has two allophones in English, these are [l] and [ɬ] respectively. The allophone of the word(s) that begin(s) with a voiced alveolar lateral in Text A above is the so-called clear /l/, NOT the so-called dark /l/)

Above: Example of voiced alveolar lateral /l/



The phoneme [l] in the words of my answer 3 above is articulated by an obstruction of airflow in the central part of the oral cavity resulting from contact between the front part of the tongue and the alveolar ridge such that air is able to exit from one side of the mouth with the soft palate touching the pharyngeal wall, and with vibration of the vocal chords.

ASSIGNMENT


e) Find a word that begins with a voiced dental fricative

ANSWER 4:


I found words in the text A above that begin with a voiced dental fricative [ð].
I found 4 words in the text A above that begin with a voiced dental fricative: "the" (lines 1, 2, 7, 8-11, 13-16, 20) , "this" (line 1) , "their" (line 13) , "that" (lines 6, 17) [ð] /ð/ , /'ðæt/ , /'ðət/

I found also 1 word in the text A above that begins with a dental fricative, spelt "thr", but this is never voiced: "threat" (line 15) [θ] /θ/ , /'θret/ . I included both dental fricatives under my answer 4 because the dental fricatives come as a pair, one Fortis (Latin for "strong"), the other Lenis (Latin for "weak") (Midtgård, 2005:20).

USE in MODERN ENGLISH:


Present-Day English uses the combination th to indicate both interdental fricatives. Some dialects replace the interdentals with dental stops/plosives (for example Irish English), labio-dental fricatives (Cockney and Philadelphian English), or alveolar fricatives (Pennsylvanian Dutch English). Although not the definite rule, most words in English which are written with an intervocalic th are voiced, such as "bath" /bæθ/ (voiceless) vs. "bathe" /beð/ (voiced). There are many words in Modern English with initial voiced interdental fricatives, such as "the" /ðə/, "though" /ðow/, "then" /ðɛn/, "there" /ðɛɹ/, "that" /ðæt/ etc. A minimal pair for the voiced and voiceless forms of the interdental fricatives are "thy" /ðaj/ (voiced), and "thigh" /θaj/ voiceless.

FEATURES / DETAILS


Its manner of articulation
is fricative,
which means it is produced by constricting air flow through a narrow channel at the place of articulation, causing turbulence. It does not have the grooved tongue and directed airflow, or the high frequencies, of a sibilant.

Its place or point of articulation
is dental,
which means it is articulated with the tongue at either the upper or lower teeth, or both. (Most stops/plosives and liquids described as dental are actually denti-alveolar.)

Its phonation
is voiced,
which means the vocal cords vibrate during the articulation.

It is an oral consonant,
which means air is allowed to escape through the mouth only.

It is a central consonant,
which means it is produced by directing the airstream along the center of the tongue, rather than to the sides.

The airstream mechanism is pulmonic,
which means it is articulated by pushing air solely with the lungs and diaphragm, as in most sounds.

ASSIGNMENT


f) Find a word that ends is a voiced velar nasal

ABOUT VELAR:


If we move further back in the mouth, we get to the soft palate, or velum in Latin. Consonants articulated by raising the back of the tongue against the velum are called velar consonants. (Midtgård, 2005:15)

ANSWER 5:


I found 2 words in the text A above: "speaking" (line 1) , "Living" (line 13) [ŋ] /ŋ/ , /ˌspi:k ɪŋ/ ; /'lɪv ɪŋ/

Above: Example of voiced velar nasal /ŋ/



The phoneme [ŋ] in the words of my answer 5 above is articulated by a total obstruction of airflow resulting from contact between the tongue postdorsum and the soft palate, with the soft palate separated from the pharyngeal wall to allow airflow into the nasal cavity, and with vibration of the vocal chords.

FEATURES / DETAILS


Its manner of articulation
is occlusive,
which means it is produced by obstructing airflow in the vocal tract. Since the consonant is also nasal, the blocked airflow is redirected through the nose.

Its place of articulation
is velar,
which means it is articulated with the back of the tongue at the soft palate.

Its phonation
is voiced,
which means the vocal cords vibrate during the articulation.

It is a nasal consonant,
which means air is allowed to escape through the nose, either exclusively (nasal stops/plosives) or in addition to through the mouth.

The airstream mechanism is pulmonic,
which means it is articulated by pushing air solely with the lungs and diaphragm, as in most sounds.

ASSIGNMENT



g) Find a word that begins with a close front vowel

ANSWER 6:


There are a close front unrounded vowel [i] and a close front rounded vowel [y]. In the text A above I found the following words that begin with a close front unrounded vowel:
Words in the text A above that begin with a close front unrounded vowel, also known as high front unrounded vowel are these: "English" (line 1) , "is" (lines 1, 7, 15, 16, 17) , "India" (line 8) , "in" (lines 1, 2) , "its" (lines 2, 18) , "insects" (line 4) , "it" (lines 5, 6) , "economy" (line 5) , "economic" (line 12) , "exotic" (line 3) "imported" (line 8) , "industries" (lines 12, 14) , "industry" (lines 16, 18) , "income" (line 17) [i] /ɪ/ , /'ɪŋ glɪʃ/ /'ɪŋ lɪʃ/

Note: I found a word that begins with a close front rounded vowel "years" (line 20) [y] /j/ which is, if I am not mistaken, a voiced palatal approximant /'jɪᵊrz/ (GA) or /'jɪᵊz/ (RP).

Above: Example of a close front vowel /ɪ/



The phoneme [i] in the words of my answer 6 above is articulated with the tongue dorsum advanced and close to the front part of the palatal arch, the lips stretched (unrounded), the soft palate touching the pharyngeal wall and vibration of the vocal chords. The mouth is almost fully closed.

FEATURES / DETAILS (Close front unrounded vowel)


Its vowel height is close, also known as high,
which means the tongue is positioned as close as possible to the roof of the mouth without creating a constriction that would be classified as a consonant.

Its vowel backness is front,
which means the tongue is positioned as far forward as possible in the mouth without creating a constriction that would be classified as a consonant.

It is unrounded,
which means that the lips are not rounded.

FEATURES / DETAILS (Close front rounded vowel)


Its vowel height is close, also known as high,
which means the tongue is positioned as close as possible to the roof of the mouth without creating a constriction that would be classified as a consonant.

Its vowel backness is front,
which means the tongue is positioned as far forward as possible in the mouth without creating a constriction that would be classified as a consonant.

Its roundedness is compressed,
which means that the margins of the lips are tense and drawn together in such a way that the inner surfaces are not exposed.

ASSIGNMENT


h) Find a word that ends with a voiced alveolar fricative

ANSWER 7:


I found 1 word in the text A above that ends with a voiced alveolar fricative: "south" (line 1) [z] /θ/ /saʊθ/

The phoneme [z] in the words of my answer 7 above is articulated by a significant constriction resulting from the proximity between the front part of the tongue and the alveolar ridge, with the soft palate touching the pharyngeal wall, and with vibration of the vocal chords.

Above: Example of voiced alveolar fricative /θ/



FEATURES / DETAILS


Its manner of articulation
is sibilant fricative,
which means it is generally produced by channeling air flow along a groove in the back of the tongue up to the place of articulation, at which point it is focused against the sharp edge of the nearly clenched teeth, causing high-frequency turbulence.

There are at least three specific variants of [z]:
1) Laminal alveolar,
meaning that it is articulated with the tongue blade at the alveolar ridge just behind the gums, with the tongue tip resting behind the lower front teeth or their roots. It can also be retracted, meaning that it's articulated behind, rather than at the alveolar ridge, making it sound closer to [ʒ] or laminal [ʐ].

2) Dentalized laminal alveolar (commonly called "dental"),
meaning that it is articulated with the tongue blade very close to the upper front teeth, with the tongue tip resting behind lower front teeth. The hissing effect in this variety of /z/ is very strong.

3) Apical alveolar,
meaning that it is articulated with the tongue tip at the alveolar ridge. It can also be retracted, meaning that it's articulated behind, rather than at the alveolar ridge, making it sound closer to [ʒ] or laminal [ʐ].

Its phonation
is voiced,
which means the vocal cords vibrate during the articulation.
It is an oral consonant,
which means air is allowed to escape through the mouth only.
It is a central consonant,
which means it is produced by directing the airstream along the center of the tongue, rather than to the sides.
The airstream mechanism is pulmonic,
which means it is articulated by pushing air solely with the lungs and diaphragm, as in most sounds.

2. ASSIGNMENT


The pairs of IPA symbol sequences in (I)-(IV) below represent the pronunciation of four English words. One of each pair gives a typical RP pronunciation; the other gives a typical GA pronunciation. Each pair shows one or two differences between GA and RP.

For each pair:

a) identify the word (write it in normal orthography)
b) identify which pronunciation belongs to GA (General American) and which belongs to RP (Received Pronunciation)
c) describe the pronunciation difference(s) using the appropriate phonetic terminology.

(I) a. [pɑːk] b. [pɑːrk]







ANSWERING 2, I, A:


a) identifying the phonetic transcriptions above: "park" , b) [pɑːk] is a typical RP and [pɑːrk] is a typical GA. c) English accents in RP or GA, are either rhotic or non-rhotic. A rhotic accent (GA) is one where [r] can be heard in all the places where there is the following sequences rV, VrV, and Vr, where "V" is any vowels, and a non-rhotic accent (RP) can only have rV and VrV.

So in a non-rhotic accent, RP, this phoneme [r] only occurs if the next sound is a vowel. It is limited to prevocalic positions - this means that there is no [r] at the end of a word, as in "car", or before a consonant, as in "park" as shown above. In phonetic terminology /r/ is a postalveolar approximant. A postalveolar approximant is produced by the tip of the tongue being raised towards the area just behind the teeth ridge, leaving a narrow open space along the ridge.

While in a rhotic accent, GA, the [r] is heard in "park" because [r] does not need a following vowel, /r/ /pɑːrk/ as shown above. In phonetic terminology /r/ is a retroflex consonant, which means that the [r] is articulated by placing the tip of the tongue curved backwards toward the hard palate, also known as palatoalveolar area (Midtgård, 2005:21,28).

(II) a. ['brʌð ə] b. ['brʌðɚ]







ANSWERING 2, II, A:


a) identifying the phonetic transcriptions above: "brother" , b) /'brʌð ə/ is a typical RP and /'brʌð ɚ/ is GA, eventhough I would have transcribed a typical GA "brother" without the r-colored vowel or rhotic vowel as indicated by the hook diacritic ( ˞) placed to the right of the regular symbol for the vowel as shown above /ɚ/. My phonetic transcription would be with a raised vowel [e]: /'brʌð ᵊr/, but both would be of course correct, mine is an optional transcription. c) The reason why the phoneme [r] is pronounced in both RP and GA at the beginning of "brother" is explained in the previous section (ANSWER 2, I, A). Rhotic accent and non-rhotic accent applies here as well (Midtgård, 2005:21,28). After the phoneme [r] follows a short open central vowel [o], which is pronounced by the middle of the tongue being slightly raised in an open to half-open position. This means that the lips are neutral or spread /ʌ/. Then follows the spelling "th" which is a voiced dental fricative [ð] /ð/.

(III) a. [pɑːt] b. [pɒt]







ANSWERING 2, III, A:


a) identifying the phonetic transcriptions above: "pot" , b) /pɑːt/ is a typical GA and /pɒt/ is a typical RP. c) British is Lax while American is Tense. c) The pronunciation differences between RP and GA is that we have a word above "pot" which has an open back vowel "o". The open back vowel in RP is a Lax vowel, which means that it is a strong short vowel, short pronunciation /ɒ/, while the open back vowel in GA is a Tense vowel, which means that it is a strong long vowel /ɑː/ , it has a more variable length than a Lax vowel.

The (short) open back vowel in RP /ɒ/ is pronounced by the back of the tongue being raised slightly from its fully open position. There is some constriction in the velum. The lips are spread to neutral. The RP strong short vowel /ɒ/ does not exist in GA, which consistently uses the strong long vowel /ɑː/ in all instances where this sound occurs. The (long) open back vowel in GA is pronounced by the middle part of the tongue being slightly raised from a fully open position. The lips are spread. The vowel is considerably lengthened in front of lenis (Latin for "weak") consonants "t" [t].

(IV) a. [nuː] b. [njuː]







ANSWERING 2, IV, A:


a) identifying the phonetic transcriptions above: "new" , b) /nuː/ is a typical GA and /njuː/ is a typical RP. c) The word "new" has a long close back vowel [u] which is pronounced by the back of the tongue being raised towards the velum so as to form a narrow opening. The lips are loosely rounded /uː/. The pronunciation differences between RP and GA is that in GA "new" is pronounced in a stressed syllable. In GA "new" we have the elision of "e" /j/ before [uː]. The dropping of /j/ is considered standard in GA after "n" [n] /n/ because the GA rule is that we drop the [j] after alveolar consonants [t], [d], [n], [l]. Alveolar consonants are produce with the tongue close to the alveolar ridge.

3. ASSIGNMENT



Reflect briefly upon the purpose of the IPA: Why is it a useful tool for language learners? Also, say a few words about the relationship between spelling and pronunciation in English. Would you say the relationship is different in Norwegian?

ANSWERING 3


After reading and learning about the International Phonetic Alphabet, or IPA transcription you will be able to better read pronunciation guides everywhere. So, it is a usefull tool. It is for serious English language learners.

That system is handy because there are lots of learners/linguists all over the world who are used to languages with entirely different spelling conventions, and that transcription guide provides us with a standard English pronunciation, especially for learners of ESL.

Perhaps the most problematic when it comes to spelling and pronunciation, in English, is the used of the letter [R] [ɹ] , [ɾ] , [ʐ] , [ɻ] , [ɽ] , [ʀ] , [ʁ] , [χ], [h], [ɦ], [x], [ɣ], [ɹ] , [r]. I am expecting in the near future a horizontal [R] as well.

The standard Norwegian pronunciation (Bokmål and Nynorsk) has a more close relatinship to spelling. There are however some rules here and there wich are difficult to fully understand. These changes in languages are to be expected when we talk about living languages.

4. ASSIGNMENT: MORPHOLOGY


For each of the words in the sentence (a) below, identify every morpheme used to make up that word. Specify for every morpheme 1) whether it is free or bound and 2) whether it is a root, a suffix, a prefix or an enclitic. 3) For all suffixes, state whether they are inflectional or derivational.
a. This idea's totally reshaped humanity's views about creation.

ANSWERING 4 on Morphology


that deals with morphemes (morphemes, being the minimal units of linguistic form and meaning), and how they make up words.

The sentence a) 1) identifying every combination of sound that have a meaning, in other words, every morpheme used to make up that word.

The determiner, pronoun "this" is a function morpheme. If a root does not occur by itself in a meaningful way, it is referred to as a bound morpheme. "This", being a grammatical unit never occurs by itself. In many respects "this" is similar to a free root (it carries the principle portion of meaning of the words in which it functions, when followed by an explicit or an implicit noun ["This idea"; "Which idea?" "This one!"]), but If "this" stands alone, it does not give any meaning.

The determiner "this" is heavily tied to a grammatical function (in this case, to a noun), expressing syntactic relationships between units in a sentence.

Every morpheme is either a base or an affix. An affix can be either a prefix or a suffix.

Affixes are morphemes that come at the beginning (prefixes) or at the ending (suffixes) of a base morpheme.

A free morpheme is a grammatical unit that can occur by itself, meaning that if it can constitute a lexeme by itself, then it is free (Græsli, 2005:50; Hartmann and Stork 1972:88).

Isn't this a suffix?
"idea's" is a contraction, "idea" is a free morpheme (noun: a suggestion or plan for doing something), and ['s] is also a morpheme, an enclitic morpheme, a bound morpheme, and it is an inflectional morpheme. An inflectional morpheme creates a change in the function of the word. Example: the ['s] in "idea" indicates possesion. "Idea" is the base morpheme, and ['s] is a contracted suffix or auxiliary contraction. ['s] is the contraction form of the auxiliary verb "to have" conjugated in present tense indicative.

The morpheme "idea" is typically content morpheme. Content morpheme are also known as open-class morphemes because they belong to categories that are open to become new words (compound words).

An affix usually is a morpheme that cannot stand alone, although there are exceptions, in our case, below, the morpheme (suffix) -ly cannot stand alone. If -ly stands alone it does not give meaning. The same is true for the contracted suffix ['s] as shown above, if it stands alone it does not give meaning, unless it returns to its original form ("to have" in present tense) "has" then it can stand alone "the idea has...".

The adverb "totally", meaning completely, is built from the free morpheme "total", noun ("the amount we get when several smaller amounts are added together") or adjective ([when it is placed before a noun] including everything, as in "a total change") respectively.

"the idea has totally..."

This primarly suffix (-ly) as we have seen above does not change the meaning of the root; the only change that take place is a semantic change, it is to say, the meaning of the root or stem (Græsli, 2005:50,60; Hartmann and Stork 1972:226; Crystal 1980:340; Mish 1991:1179).

The word "reshaped" is built from the free morpheme "shape" and two bound morphemes "re", and "ed". The meaning of the transitive verb is 'to decide or influence the form of something, especially a belief or idea, or someone's character'; "re" means "back" or "again"; and "-ed" provides the grammatical information 'past tense of verb".

"the idea has totally reshaped..."

The word "humanity's" the possessive marker 's (reduced form of "its" or "theirs") has a clitic form. It is an enclitic possesive because it occurs at the end of the free morpheme "humanity", which is an uncountable noun, meaning "the understanding of people in general towards other people") (Græsli, 2005:51,52; Zwicky 1977:5).

"the idea has totally reshaped humanity's..."

The word "views" is a plural noun. It is compound of a free morpheme "view" and a bound morpheme, namely [s]. We can contrast the behavior of the morpheme [s] with that of the possessive ['s] in "humanity's". These two morphemes are pronounced in exactly the same variable way, dependent on the sounds that precede them: [humanity's] /iz/ , [views] /s/. Neither the plural [s] nor the possessive ['s] can be used by itself. So from this point of view, the possessive acts [humanity's] like a part of the noun, just as the plural does [views].

"the idea has totally reshaped the views of humanity..."

The word "about" is a preposition ["on the subject of"] and is a function morpheme, since it serves to tie elements together grammatically ("the idea ABOUT Creationism", here it ties nouns together). Function morphemes are also called "closed-class" morphemes, because they belong to categories that are closed to new inventions.

The word "creation" is built from a free morpheme: "create" the stem, root, or base, and a bound morpheme, an add-on, the affix "-tion" and since it follows the stem is suffix.

This idea's totally reshaped humanity's views about creation.

"the": determiner; grammatical or functional morpheme.
"idea": both countable and uncountable noun; free, lexical morpheme, it has a meaning that can be understood fully when it stands alone.
-'s: genitive suffix, possessive marker; bound, grammatical or functional morpheme, inflectional morpheme, this means that this morpheme can only be a suffix.
-ly: suffix making the noun/adjective "total" into an adverb; bound, grammatical or functional, derivational morpheme, which means that this type of morpheme changes the meaning of the word. Derivational morphemes often create new words.
re-: prefix meaning "again"; bound, lexical, derivational morpheme, it changed the meaning of the word.
-ed: tense suffix; bound, grammatical or functional, inflectional morpheme, it can only be a suffix.
"view": noun; free, lexical morpheme; part of a plural.
"s": plural marker/modification; bound, nor inflectional morpheme or derivational morpheme.
"about": preposition, grammatical or function morpheme.
"creation": noun; free, lexical morpheme, meaning a "belief that the Universe was made by a supreme force, rather than it developed over time".

"The idea has totally reshaped the views of humanity about creation."

5. ASSIGNMENT: Morphological trees


Provide morphological trees of the following words. (The words are taken from Text A above.)
a) independent
b) treatments
c) dramatically

ANSWERING 5, providing morphological trees.



independent

The constituent morphemes of a word can be organized into a branching or hierarchical structure, sometimes called a tree structure. Consider the word "independent". It contains three morphemes:

in-
depend-
-ent

1. prefix "in-"
2. verb stem "depend"
3. suffix "-ent"

Allow me to ask rethorical questions: What is the structure? Is it first "depend" + "-ent" to make "dependent", then combined with "in-" to make "independent"? or is it first "in-" + "depend" to make "independ", then combined with "-ent" to make "independent"? Since "independ" doesn't exist in English, while "dependent" does ["relying on someone or something else for support"], we prefer the first structure, which corresponds to the tree shown below.

First we divide the word into morphemes

in depend ent

We decide which morpheme the root is

in depend ent

"depend" is the root:

in depend ent

We decide what word class the root belongs to and write an abbreviation.

V = Verb
A= Adjective
N = Noun

V
in depend ent
'Depend' is a verb

We decide which morpheme is attached next. Note that 'dependent' exist, but not 'independ'.

In this case we choose the morpheme to the right as explained above.

We link the two morphemes and decide what word class the new word belongs to.

dependent

'dependent' is an adjective.

We link the last morpheme and decide what word class the new word belongs to.

independent

'independent' is an adjective. Now your tree diagram is complete.

treatments

dramatically

Phonetics - Independent - English Pronunciation - Official Website - BenjaminMadeira

Phonological tree: "independent" - Work/Photo: Benjamin Madeira



Phonetics - Treatments - English Pronunciation - Official Website - BenjaminMadeira

Phonological tree: "treatments" - Work/Photo: Benjamin Madeira



Phonetics - Dramatically - English Pronunciation - Official Website - BenjaminMadeira

Phonological tree: "dramatically" - Work/Photo: Benjamin Madeira



REFERENCES:


Crystal, David. 1980. A first dictionary of linguistics and phonetics. Boulder, CO: Westview.

Græsli, Bjørn Helge, Tone, 2005, Textcourse, NTNU

Hartmann, R.R.K., and F.C. Stork. 1972. Dictionary of language and linguistics. London: Applied Science.

Midtgård, Tone, 2005, Textcourse, NTNU

Mish, Frederick (editor). 1991. Webster's ninth new collegiate dictionary. Springfield, MA: Merriam-Webster.

Wells, J.C., 2000 Longman Pronunciation Dictionary. Longman. (Pearson Education Limited.) Zwicky, Arnold M. 1977.On clitics. Bloomington, IN: Indiana University Linguistics Club.






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