Weakening and Assimilation

Total Page:16

File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb

Weakening and Assimilation Weakening and Assimilation Jean Mark Gawron Linguistics San Diego State University [email protected] http://www.rohan.sdsu.edu/∼gawron February 4, 2012 Contents 1 Basic types of Weakening 1 2 Consonant Weakening 2 3 Vowel Weakening 5 4 Assimilation 7 4.1 VowelAssimilation ............................... ... 8 4.1.1 Nasalization.................................. 8 4.1.2 Umlaut .................................... 9 4.2 Palatalization.................................. 10 4.3 Assimilationofplace . .. .. .. 11 4.4 AssimilationinMannerof articulation . ......... 12 4.5 TotalAssimilation ............................... 13 1 Basic types of Weakening (a) In this section we look at a phenomenon called weakening. Phonological changes are called weakenings when they are steps on the natural path that leads to deletion. (b) Weakening is something that happens to both consonants and vowels but in different ways. So we’ll look at the two cases separately 1 2 Consonant Weakening t tt t D ∅ T Figure 1: The scale of weakening 2 Degemination tt t t D Frication t T t t Voicing T D Deletion D ∅ Figure 2: Weakening processes 3 Weakening Early Late Gloss Degeminaton (tt > t) mittere, L meter,S ‘put’ ¯¯ ¯ Voicing (t > d) m¯at¯urus, L maduro,OS ‘ripe’ ¯ ¯ Frication (d > D) maduro, OS maduro[D], S ‘ripe’ ¯ ¯ Deletion (d > ∅) maDyr, OF mˆur[myK],F ‘ripe’ Figure 3: Consonant weakening in Romance (L = Latin, OS = Old Spanish, OF = Old French, F = French, S = Spanish) 4 3 Vowel Weakening The main process leading up to vowel deletion is vowel reduction, which generally means centralizing a vowel, which generally means turning it into @, see Figure 4. This usually happens to unstressed vowels. i u e @ a o Figure 4: Vowel reduction There are two sorts of vowel deletion. (a) Apocope: Deletion of final vowel (b) Syncope: Deletion of word internal vowel Simple vowel reduction and syncope are illustrated in (1) and (2). The interaction of vowel reduction, syncope, and apocope is illustrated in Example 3. 5 (1) Apocope Latin French cura¯´ cure[kyK] ‘cure’ ¯orn¯are orner[oKne] ‘decorate’ ¯ (2) Syncope Latin French p¯´erdere perdre[pEKdK@] ‘lose’ ¯ v¯´ivere vivre[vivK@] ‘live’ ¯ (3) Syncope (following reduction) Old English Middle English Early Modern English (Cases) (vowel reduction) (vowel deletion) Nom.pl st¯anas [a] stones [@] stones [∅] ¯ ¯ ¯ Gen.sg st¯anes [e] stones [@] stone’s [∅] ¯ ¯ ¯ Apocope (following reduction) Old English Middle English Early Modern English (vowel reduction) (vowel deletion) nama [a] name [@] name [∅] ¯ ¯ ¯ talu [u] tale [@] tale [∅] ¯ ¯ ¯ 6 4 Assimilation We first discuss two kinds of vowel assimilation, nasalization and umlaut. Then we discuss various kinds of consonant assimilation 7 4.1 Vowel Assimilation 4.1.1 Nasalization In nasalization an oral vowel becomes nasalized due to the influence of a nearby nasal consonant. (4) Nasalization Latin Portuguese French bon- bom[b˜o] bon[b˜O] ‘good’ un- um[˜u] un[ ˜œ] ‘one’ 8 4.1.2 Umlaut In umlaut, a back vowel becomes fronted, but retains its height and its roundness features, thus preserving a distinction in the phonological system. (a) [u] → [y] (b) [o] → [ø] Pre OE I Pre OE II EarlyOE Modern Sg. gos gos gos [gus] ‘goose’ ¯ ¯ ¯ Pl. gosi gøsi gøs [gis] ‘geese’ ¯ ¯ ¯ Sg. mus mus mus [maws] ‘mouse’ ¯ ¯ ¯ Pl. musi mysi mys [majs] ‘mice’ ¯ ¯ ¯ Figure 5: Umlaut [ø is a mid front rounded vowel, y is a high front rounded vowel] 9 4.2 Palatalization ts dz t d k g tS dZ Figure 6: Examples of palatalization (affrication) s S z Z Figure 7: Examples of palatalization (frication) Early Late Gloss centum, L cent[ts],S ‘onehundred’ ¯ ¯ centum, L cento[tS],I ‘onehundred’ ¯ ¯ medius, L mezzo[dz],I ‘half’ ¯ ¯¯ gentem, L gent[dZ], OF ‘people’ ¯ ¯ Figure 8: Palatalization (affrication) in Romance (L = Latin, I=Italian,O F = Old French, S = Spanish) 10 4.3 Assimilation of place A consonant in one position assumes the place feature of a consonant in another. Early Late Gloss semda, OS senda,S ‘path’ ¯ ¯ inpossibilis, OL impossibilis, L ‘impossible’ ¯ ¯ Figure 9: Assimiliation in place in Spanish and Latin (L = Latin, OS = Old Spanish, OF = Old French, F = French, S = Spanish) 11 4.4 Assimilation in Manner of articulation Early Late Gloss slæpde, EOE slæpte, LOE ‘slept’ ¯ ¯ stefn, EOE stemn,L ‘stem’(ofatree) ¯ ¯ Figure 10: Assimiliation in manner of articulation in Old English (EOE = Early Old English, LOE=LAter Old English) 12 4.5 Total Assimilation Early Late Gloss octo [c=k], L otto,I ‘eight’ ¯¯ ¯¯ septem, L settem, I ‘seven’ ¯ ¯¯ dam¯ num, L danno, I ‘damage’ ¯ ¯ ¯¯ Figure 11: Total assimiliation in Italian (L = Latin, I=Italian) 13.
Recommended publications
  • Chapter One Phonetic Change
    CHAPTERONE PHONETICCHANGE The investigation of the nature and the types of changes that affect the sounds of a language is the most highly developed area of the study of language change. The term sound change is used to refer, in the broadest sense, to alterations in the phonetic shape of segments and suprasegmental features that result from the operation of phonological process es. The pho- netic makeup of given morphemes or words or sets of morphemes or words also may undergo change as a by-product of alterations in the grammatical patterns of a language. Sound change is used generally to refer only to those phonetic changes that affect all occurrences of a given sound or class of sounds (like the class of voiceless stops) under specifiable phonetic conditions . It is important to distinguish between the use of the term sound change as it refers tophonetic process es in a historical context , on the one hand, and as it refers to phonetic corre- spondences on the other. By phonetic process es we refer to the replacement of a sound or a sequenceof sounds presenting some articulatory difficulty by another sound or sequence lacking that difficulty . A phonetic correspondence can be said to exist between a sound at one point in the history of a language and the sound that is its direct descendent at any subsequent point in the history of that language. A phonetic correspondence often reflects the results of several phonetic process es that have affected a segment serially . Although phonetic process es are synchronic phenomena, they often have diachronic consequences.
    [Show full text]
  • Syllable Structure Into Spanish, Italian & Neapolitan
    Open syllable drift and the evolution of Classical Latin open and closed syllable structure into Spanish, Italian & Neapolitan John M. Ryan, University of Northern Colorado ([email protected]) Introduction, Purpose, and Method 1. the distribution of open and closed syllables in terms of word position; 2. what factors, both phonological (e.g,, coda deletion, apocope, syncope, Syllable structure is the proverbial skeleton degemination,) and extra-phonological (e.g., raddoppiamento sintattico or template upon which the sounds of a given and other historical morphosyntactic innovations as the emergence of language may combine to make sequences articles), might explain the distribution of the data. and divisions that are licit in that language. 3. whether the data support or weaken the theory of ‘open syllable drift’ Classical Latin (CL) is known to have exhibited proposed by Lausberg (1976) and others to have occurred in late Latin both open and closed syllable structure in word or early Proto Romance. final position, as well as internally. The daughter Figure 1 shows the breakdown of words, syllables and syllable/word ratio languages of Spanish, Italian and Neapolitan, for all four texts of the study: however, have evolved to manifest this dichotomy to differing due to both phonological and extra-phonological realities. Figure 1 Purpose: to conduct a comparative syllabic analysis of The Lord’s Prayer in Classical Latin (CL), modern Spanish, Italian and Neapolitan in order to determine: Data and Discussion 4) Historical processes producing reversal effects on CL open and closed syllable structure 1) Polysyllabic word-final position in The Lord’s Prayer Figure 5 shows five phonological Figure 5 Figure 2 shows that in word-final position, Latin overwhelmingly favors closed processes affecting the evolution of LATIN syllables at 72%, while Spanish only slightly favors open syllables at 55%.
    [Show full text]
  • Vowel Quality and Phonological Projection
    i Vowel Quality and Phonological Pro jection Marc van Oostendorp PhD Thesis Tilburg University September Acknowledgements The following p eople have help ed me prepare and write this dissertation John Alderete Elena Anagnostop oulou Sjef Barbiers Outi BatEl Dorothee Beermann Clemens Bennink Adams Bo domo Geert Bo oij Hans Bro ekhuis Norb ert Corver Martine Dhondt Ruud and Henny Dhondt Jo e Emonds Dicky Gilb ers Janet Grijzenhout Carlos Gussenhoven Gert jan Hakkenb erg Marco Haverkort Lars Hellan Ben Hermans Bart Holle brandse Hannekevan Ho of Angeliek van Hout Ro eland van Hout Harry van der Hulst Riny Huybregts Rene Kager HansPeter Kolb Emiel Krah mer David Leblanc Winnie Lechner Klarien van der Linde John Mc Carthy Dominique Nouveau Rolf Noyer Jaap and Hannyvan Oosten dorp Paola Monachesi Krisztina Polgardi Alan Prince Curt Rice Henk van Riemsdijk Iggy Ro ca Sam Rosenthall Grazyna Rowicka Lisa Selkirk Chris Sijtsma Craig Thiersch MiekeTrommelen Rub en van der Vijver Janneke Visser Riet Vos Jero en van de Weijer Wim Zonneveld Iwant to thank them all They have made the past four years for what it was the most interesting and happiest p erio d in mylife until now ii Contents Intro duction The Headedness of Syllables The Headedness Hyp othesis HH Theoretical Background Syllable Structure Feature geometry Sp ecication and Undersp ecicati on Skeletal tier Mo del of the grammar Optimality Theory Data Organisation of the thesis Chapter Chapter
    [Show full text]
  • Phonological Processes
    Phonological Processes Phonological processes are patterns of articulation that are developmentally appropriate in children learning to speak up until the ages listed below. PHONOLOGICAL PROCESS DESCRIPTION AGE ACQUIRED Initial Consonant Deletion Omitting first consonant (hat → at) Consonant Cluster Deletion Omitting both consonants of a consonant cluster (stop → op) 2 yrs. Reduplication Repeating syllables (water → wawa) Final Consonant Deletion Omitting a singleton consonant at the end of a word (nose → no) Unstressed Syllable Deletion Omitting a weak syllable (banana → nana) 3 yrs. Affrication Substituting an affricate for a nonaffricate (sheep → cheep) Stopping /f/ Substituting a stop for /f/ (fish → tish) Assimilation Changing a phoneme so it takes on a characteristic of another sound (bed → beb, yellow → lellow) 3 - 4 yrs. Velar Fronting Substituting a front sound for a back sound (cat → tat, gum → dum) Backing Substituting a back sound for a front sound (tap → cap) 4 - 5 yrs. Deaffrication Substituting an affricate with a continuant or stop (chip → sip) 4 yrs. Consonant Cluster Reduction (without /s/) Omitting one or more consonants in a sequence of consonants (grape → gape) Depalatalization of Final Singles Substituting a nonpalatal for a palatal sound at the end of a word (dish → dit) 4 - 6 yrs. Stopping of /s/ Substituting a stop sound for /s/ (sap → tap) 3 ½ - 5 yrs. Depalatalization of Initial Singles Substituting a nonpalatal for a palatal sound at the beginning of a word (shy → ty) Consonant Cluster Reduction (with /s/) Omitting one or more consonants in a sequence of consonants (step → tep) Alveolarization Substituting an alveolar for a nonalveolar sound (chew → too) 5 yrs.
    [Show full text]
  • Nasal Assimilation in Quranic Recitation Table of Contents
    EmanQuotah Linguistics Senior Paper Hadass Sheffer, Advisor Swarthmore College December 9, 1994 Nasal Assimilation in Quranic Recitation Table of Contents Introduction 1 TheQuran 3 Recitation and Tajwi:d 7 Nasal Assimilation in Quranic Recitation 10 Arabic geminates 12 Nasal assimilation rules 15 Blocking of assimilation by pauses 24 Conclusion 26 Bibliography Grateful acknowledgements to my father, my mother and my brothers, and to Hadass Sheffer and Donna Jo Napoli. Introduction This paper is concerned with the analysis of certain rules governing nasality and nasal assimilation during recitation of the holy Quran. I These rules are a subset of tajwi:d, a set of rules governing the correct prescribed recitation and pronunciation of the Islamic scriptures. The first part of the paper will describe the historical and cultural importance of the Quran and tajwi:d, with the proposition that a tension or conflict between the necessity for clarity and enunciation and the desire for beautification of the divine words of God is the driving force behind tajwi:d's importance. Though the rules are functional rather than "natural," these prescriptive rules can be integrated into a study lexical phonology and feature geometry, as discussed in the second section, since prescriptive rules must work within those rules set by the language's grammar. Muslims consider the Quran a divine and holy text, untampered with and unchangeable by humankind. Western scholars have attempted to identify it as the writings of the Prophet Muhammad, a humanly written text like any other. Viewing the holy Quran in this way ignores the religious, social and linguistic implications of its perceived unchangeability, and does disservice to the beliefs of many Muslims.
    [Show full text]
  • Lecture 5 Sound Change
    An articulatory theory of sound change An articulatory theory of sound change Hypothesis: Most common initial motivation for sound change is the automation of production. Tokens reduced online, are perceived as reduced and represented in the exemplar cluster as reduced. Therefore we expect sound changes to reflect a decrease in gestural magnitude and an increase in gestural overlap. What are some ways to test the articulatory model? The theory makes predictions about what is a possible sound change. These predictions could be tested on a cross-linguistic database. Sound changes that take place in the languages of the world are very similar (Blevins 2004, Bateman 2000, Hajek 1997, Greenberg et al. 1978). We should consider both common and rare changes and try to explain both. Common and rare changes might have different characteristics. Among the properties we could look for are types of phonetic motivation, types of lexical diffusion, gradualness, conditioning environment and resulting segments. Common vs. rare sound change? We need a database that allows us to test hypotheses concerning what types of changes are common and what types are not. A database of sound changes? Most sound changes have occurred in undocumented periods so that we have no record of them. Even in cases with written records, the phonetic interpretation may be unclear. Only a small number of languages have historic records. So any sample of known sound changes would be biased towards those languages. A database of sound changes? Sound changes are known only for some languages of the world: Languages with written histories. Sound changes can be reconstructed by comparing related languages.
    [Show full text]
  • Assimilation, Reduction and Elision Reflected in the Selected Song Lyrics of Avenged Sevenfold
    Dwi Nita Febriyanti Assimilation, Reduction and Elision Reflected in the Selected Song Lyrics of Avenged Sevenfold Dwi Nita Febriyanti [email protected] English Language Studies, Sanata Dharma University Abstract This paper discusses the phenomena of phonological rules, especially assimilation, reduction and elision processes. In this paper, the writer conducted phonological study which attempts to find the phenomena of those processes in song lyrics. In taking the data, the writer transcribed the lyrics of the songs, along with checking them to the internet source, then observed the lyrics to find the phenomena of assimilation, reduction, and elision. After that, she classified the observed phenomena in the lyrics based on the phonological processes. From the data analysis, the results showed that there were three processes found both in the first and second songs: assimilation, reduction and elision. The difference is that in the first song, it has four kinds of assimilation, while from the second song only has three kinds of assimilation. Keywords: assimilation, reduction, elision Introduction brothers and sisters’ discussion or even in songs, for which songs are considered as the As English spoken by the native media for the composer to share his feelings. speakers, it sometimes undergoes simplification to ease the native speakers in Assimilation usually happens in the expressing their feelings. That is why, it is double consonants. This is a phenomenon common for them to speak English in high which shows the influence of one sound to speed along with their emotions. As the another to become more similar. While for result, they make a ‘shortcut’ to get ease of the reduction process, it can happen to the their pronunciation.
    [Show full text]
  • Apocope in Heritage Italian
    languages Article Apocope in Heritage Italian Anissa Baird 1, Angela Cristiano 2 and Naomi Nagy 1,* 1 Department of Linguistics, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON M5S 3G3, Canada; [email protected] 2 Department of Classical Philology and Italian Studies, Università di Bologna, 40126 Bologna, Italy; [email protected] * Correspondence: [email protected] Abstract: Apocope (deletion of word-final vowels) and word-final vowel reduction are hallmarks of southern Italian varieties. To investigate whether heritage speakers reproduce the complex variable patterns of these processes, we analyze spontaneous speech of three generations of heritage Calabrian Italian speakers and a homeland comparator sample. All occurrences (N = 2477) from a list of frequent polysyllabic words are extracted from 25 speakers’ interviews and analyzed via mixed effects models. Tested predictors include: vowel identity, phonological context, clausal position, lexical frequency, word length, gender, generation, ethnic orientation and age. Homeland and heritage speakers exhibit similar distributions of full, reduced and deleted forms, but there are inter-generational differences in the constraints governing the variation. Primarily linguistic factors condition the variation. Homeland variation in reduction shows sensitivity to part of speech, while heritage speakers show sensitivity to segmental context and part of speech. Slightly different factors influence apocope, with suprasegmental factors and part of speech significant for homeland speakers, but only part of speech for heritage speakers. Surprisingly, for such a socially marked feature, few social factors are relevant. Factors influencing reduction and apocope are similar, suggesting the processes are related. Citation: Baird, Anissa, Angela Cristiano, and Naomi Nagy. 2021. Keywords: heritage language; apocope; vowel centralization; vowel reduction; variationist sociolin- Apocope in Heritage Italian.
    [Show full text]
  • Sample File “H” = a Voiceless Alveolar Affricate: “Ts.” the “Ts” of “Hats” Or “Pots.”
    Credits front layout and design Victor Raymond cover illustration Giovanna Fregni editorial help SampleChris Davis file ©M. A. R. Barker, 2002 Bednálljan THE SCRIPT OF THE FIRST IMPERIUM By M. A. R. BARKER “Bednálljan Salarvyáni” is a Khíshan language, related to Tsolyáni, Mu’ugalavyáni, and others of the family. It is a member in a long tradition, dating all the way back to Llyáni in far-off Livyánu; yet the stages of this process are anything but clear. One important fact is its close relationship to Irzákh, the tongue of the Dragon Warriors of N’lüss. The language can only tenuously be connected to Bednállja, the small princpality that once occupied the shores of Tamkáde BaySample in what is now file Western Salarvyá. The First Imperium, the empire founded by Queen Nayári of Jakálla, in southern Tsolyánu, was the primary cause for the prominence of both the language and the name: what “Bednálljan Salarvyáni.” Had she and her court not spoken of Bednállja as their original cultural and spiritual “homeland,” the language might well have been called something else entirely. “Bednálljan Salarvyáni” is not a single unified linguistic corpus. There were many dialectical changes during the First Imperium. Time and events have eroded the visibility of many of these: cognates, morphological and syntactic similarities, and sound shifts. What is left is a basic strong relationship, however, as can be seen from tomb inscriptions and historical texts, plus such non-linguistic cultural sequences as pottery, coins, and later records. Perhaps a dozen major dialects emerged from the chaos of the crumbling kingdoms of the Fisherman Kings.
    [Show full text]
  • Grammar and Corpora 2016
    Published in: Fuß, Eric/Konopka, Marek/Trawiński, Beata/Waßner, Ulrich H. (eds.): Grammar and corpora 2016. - Heidelberg: Heidelberg University Publishing, 2018. Pp. 289-312 Renate Rafelsiefen, Anja Geumann Phonological Analysis at the Word Level: The Role of Corpora Abstract Notions such as “corpus-driven” versus “theory-driven” bring into focus the specific role of corpora in linguistic research. As for phonology with its intrinsic focus on abstract categorical representation, there is a question of how a strictly corpus-driven approach can yield insight into relevant struc - tures. Here we argue for a more theory-driven approach to phonology based on the concept of a phonological grammar in terms of interacting constraints. Empirical validation of such grammars comes from the potential convergence of the evidence from various sources including typological data, neutralization patterns, and in particular patterns observed in the creative use of language such as acronym formation, loanword adaptation, poetry, and speech errors. Further empirical validation concerns specific predictions regarding phonetic differences among opposition members, paradigm uniformity effects, and pho - netic implementation in given segmental and prosodic contexts. Corpora in the narrowest sense (i.e. “raw” data consisting of spontaneous speech produced in natural settings) are useful for testing these predictions, but even here, special purpose-built corpora are often necessary. Keywords Speech corpora, German vowels, phonological grammar, abstract - ness, Optimality Theory 1 Introduction Phonology is concerned with capturing the contrastive potential of a language, aiming at a comprehensive account of the ways in which differences in mean - ing can be conveyed through sound differences. Traditionally, a phonological description includes an inventory of phonemes, organized in terms of oppo - sitions or distinctive features, along with rules for the combination and pro - sodic organization of the phonemes.
    [Show full text]
  • Programme and Abstract Booklet
    Programme and Abstract booklet 6th – 8 th November 2013 2 Ultrafest VI Welcome to the 6 th Ultrafest meeting. We are pleased to welcome you all to Edinburgh. The venue for the meeting is the University of Edinburgh Informatics Forum. Lunch, coffee and teas will be served each day in the Atrium outside the seminar room. The drinks reception on Wednesday night will be held in the Atrium next to the Exhibition stands. There will be a three course meal and ceilidh at the Ghillie Dhu on Friday 8 th November. We will gather outside the Informatics Forum at 6.30pm or you can make your way to the Ghillie Dhu for 7.00pm. There are limited places so please sign up for this at the registration desk. (This is a 1.5km walk from the Informatics Forum, directions are at the back of this booklet.) Organising Committee: James M. Scobbie, Alan Wrench, Claire Timmins, Zoe Roxburgh, Natalia Zharkova, Eleanor Lawson, Sonja Schaeffler, Joanne Cleland, Korin Richmond Conference sponsors: Grant EP/I027696/1: Ultrax Grant ES/K002597/1 CONFERENCE FLOOR PLAN 1 Ultrafest VI Programme Wednesday 6 th November 8.30 – 9.15 REGISTRATION 9.15 – 9.30 Welcome: Prof. James M Scobbie 9.30 – 9.50 Diana Archangeli Jeff Berry UltraPraat: Software & database for Paul Boersma simultaneous acoustics and articulatory Session David Ellison analysis One Chair Gus Hahn-Powell 9.50 – 10.10 Diana Archangeli Jae- Hyun Sung Testing AutoTrace: a machine-learning Doug Marissa Cooper approach to automated tongue contour data Whalen Gustave Hahn-Powel extraction Jeff Berry 10.10 – 10.30 COFFEE
    [Show full text]
  • Phonological Problems in Teaching French to American High School Students
    PHONOLOGICAL PROBLEMS IN TEACHING FRENCH TO AMERICAN HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS fi. MARJORIE MC LAUGHLIN A. B., Wichita State University, 1942 A MASTER'S REPORT submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree MASTER OF SCIENCE College of Education KANSAS STATE UNIVERSITY Manhattan, Kansas 1968 Major Professor I /fV ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I wish to express my deep appreciation to Dr. Leo F. Engler, of the Interdepartmental Program in Linguistics, for his invaluable assistance in carrying out and reporting this study. Also, I would like to express my sincere gratitude to Dr. J. Harvey Littrell, my advisor, and to Dr. Richard E. Owens, of the College of Education, for their sugges- tions and constructive criticism during the preparation of this report. TABLE OF CONTENTS CHAPTER PAGE I. INTROirtJCTION 1 The Problem 2 Statement of the problem 2 Limitations and delimitations 2 Definitions of Terms Used 3 Review of the Literature 6 II. CONTRASTIVE ANALYSIS OF THE CONSONANTS OF FRENCH AND OF ENGLISH AND OF THEIR DISTRIBUTION ... 9 Contra stive Consonant Phoneme Inventory ... 9 Articulation of French Consonants 11 Stops /p,t,d,k/ 11 Fricatives /S,3,r,s,a/ 13 Lateral /l/ 16 Nasal consonants /n,n,m/ 16 Semi-vowels /H,w/ 18 Summary 19 III. CONTRASTIVE ANALYSIS OF THE VOWELS OF FRENCH AND ENGLISH 20 Manner of Classification of Vowels 20 Phonetic Description of the Vowel Phonemes of French and English 22 The twelve French oral vowels 22 The four French nasal vowel phonemes .... 23 iT CHAPTER PAGE The nine simple vowel phonemes of English 25 The twenty-seven complex syllabic nuclei of English 26 Contrast of French Vowels with Their Near- counterparts among the English Vowel Nuclei 27 French /£,3/ 27 French /i,e,u,o/ 29 The low vowels /a/ and /a/ 32 The rounded front vowels /y,(tf,ce/ 33 "Mute" or "fleeting" e 35 The French nasal vowels /a,0,£,ce/ 36 Summary 38 IV.
    [Show full text]