Reminder: Test Schedule

Please don't forget this semester's new rules for quizzes & tests. There will be one or two quizzes/tests per class. If you arrive late or leave early, you will probably miss a test, and there will be NO makeups. Quiz/Test grades will be totaled up at the end of the semester and divided by one less than the total number of tests: test grade = (N * 100)/N-1. If you miss one test, you're still OK. If you miss more than one, your average starts to go down.

Xhosa: Miriam Makeba Song

You don't have to sing the song yourself (even your teacher has trouble!), but you should be familiar with the click sounds in this song because we studied them in class.

In this version she explains that she used to be unhappy when white people asked her: "How do you make that noise?" "It's not a noise. It's my language!" she would answer. Now she doesn't mind such comments.

Here is a clear recording of the song:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2tSJ7L_IRBs

Here she explains the song on stage (but the recording is not so clear):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3m_TEq2E4cs

Miriam Makeba speaks Xhosa.

Below a handsome young man from South Africa teaches us how to speak his language. What do we call those special sounds? Remember? We practiced them in class.

Lesson 1
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JZ6oe2U7AOA

Lesson 2 (Here he tells you what the sounds are)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=31zzMb3U0iY

Korean Hangul: A Featural Alphabet

In 1444, King Sejong the Great, the king of Korea, announced a new alphabet called Hangul:

國之語音異乎中國與文字不相流通故愚民 有所欲言而終不得伸其情者多矣予爲此憫然新制二十八字欲使人人易習便於日用矣Because the speech of our country is different from that of China, Chinese writing does not match our language. Therefore, when commoners wish to communicate, many of them cannot express their feelings. Saddened by this, I have newly made 28 letters. It is my wish that every person may easily learn them and that they be convenient for daily use. 

King Sejong the Great

This alphabet is very special because:

1) Many consonant letters are simple pictures which show how these sounds are made.

2) Sounds made in the same place in your mouth (place of articulation) or made in the same way (manner of articulation) are written in a similar way. This is a "featural alphabet."

Here is a Hangul consonant chart:

Here is a Hangul vowel chart:

Notice how the consonant letter shapes for 'N' and 'G' are similar:

What a clever king!

Cards & Scissors for Learning!

On December 1st, please come to class with

1) A box of blank business cards (~100/box)
   If you don't know what a business card looks like (is that possible?), go here to take a look: http://www.flickr.com/photos/themandatepress/6345343060/in/pool-artofthebusinesscard

2) A small pair of scissors (please don't bring very large scissors) (or very small ones)

These scissors are a little bit too big (but very attractive) Peacock Brand (CC Meanest Indian Flickr)

Chinese Syllables

English syllables can start with 1, 2 or 3 consonants:

sit (CVC),

spit (CCVC) and

split (CCCVC). 

English syllables can also end with 1, 2 or 3 consonants: 

sit (CVC),

silt (CVCC) and

silts (CVCCC).

Chinese syllables can only start with one consonant (C) and usually end with a vowel (V): CV. Some Chinese syllables end with a consonant: CVC, and some start with a vowel and end with a consonant: VC. Chinese syllables (Mandarin syllables) are much simpler than English syllables.

The character 蔣 is pronounced 
jeang (Gwoyeu Luomaatzyh)/jiǎng (Hanyu Pinyin)/ㄐㄧㄤˇ(bopomofo)
Traditionally, Chinese syllables are divided into two parts: initials and finals.

ㄐ	ㄧ	ㄤ	ˇ
聲母	韻母
Initial	Final

Init- means the “beginning”

Fin- means “the end”

ㄐ	ㄧ	ㄤ	ˇ
聲母	介音	韻尾	聲調
Initial	Medial	(Coda)	Tone

Chinese syllables usually end with a vowel (= an open syllable). A few syllables end with a consonant, but there are only two choices: -n or –ng.

Summary:

English syllables can start or end with several consonants (CCCVCCC). 

Chinese syllables can only start and end with one consonant (CVC). 

This is why we say that syllables in Mandarin are much simpler than syllables in English.

IPA Symbols for Chinese Consonants

This chart was adapted from from Wikipedia's article on Spelling in Gwoyeu Romatzyh. 
Three spellings are included: National Romanization (國羅), Bopomofo (注音), and IPA.

國羅+注音+IPA	Bilabial	Labio- dental	Alveolar		Retroflex		Alveolo- palatal		Velar
Plosive (stop)	b ㄅ [p]   p ㄆ [pʰ]		d ㄉ [t] t ㄊ [tʰ]						g ㄍ[k] kㄎ[kʰ]
Nasal	mㄇ [m]		nㄋ [n]
Lateral approximant			lㄌ [l]
Affricate			tz ㄗ [ts] ts ㄘ [tsʰ]		j ㄓ [tʂ] chㄔ [tʂʰ]		jㄐ[tɕ] chㄑ[tɕʰ]
Fricative		fㄈ [f] vㄪ [v]	sㄙ[s]		shㄕ [ʂ] rㄖ [ʐ ~ ɻ]		Shㄒ [ɕ]		Hㄏ [x]

Midterm Topics

The midterm will be based on the following topics in articulatory phonetics

(LF = Language Files 10)


LF p. 43-44: IPA symbols for English

p. 49: Sagittal Section

LF p. 53 Chart (6): Place and Manner of articulation

LF p. 55 Chart (1): Monophthongs of English

LF p. 55 Chart (3): Diphthongs of English

LF p. 89: do all of the pictures
If you're stuck, ask Sammy to help you

LF p. 91: #16, 18

DI & MONO (Linguistics Words): Diphthongs/Monophthongs & Ditransitives/Monotransitives (More Greek "2")

Don't worry! You don't need to remember all of these words. If you ever see them in a linguistics book, just remember di = 1 and mono = 2.

A diphthong is a double vowel (your tongue moves from one vowel position to another position). The vowel sounds in bye /baI/ and cow /kaʊ/ are diphthongs.

A monophthong is a pure vowel (your tongue stays in one place; it doesn't move to another position): The vowel sounds in hat /hæt/ and taught /tɔt/ are monophthongs. 


A ditransitive verb is a verb with two objects (Vnn), such as words that mean "give" (give, pay, sell, etc.)

	V	n	n
Please	give	me	a book
I’ll	pay	you	$5
He	sold	me	his car

A monotransitive verb is a verb with one object (Vn), such as attack, kill and eat.

	V	n
The army	attacked	the town
My cat	killed	three mice
I	ate	a chocolate cookie

If you see these long, difficult words in a book, you will probably be able to guess these words from context. Don't waste time memorizing them: even your teacher almost never uses them.

Dioxide, Diploma, Dilemma: DI Means "2" in Greek

Latin and Greek word roots can help you learn and remember difficult English words: dioxide, diploma, dilemma.

Remember "Mono?" Mono- means "one" in Greek. So how do you say "two" in Greek? Di = 2

Carbon dioxide is "better" than carbon monoxide, but they can both hurt you.
Read about carbon dioxide on Wikipedia in English or Chinese

CO2 (Carbon dioxide)

CO (Carbon monoxide)

 
 




Frozen carbon dioxide is called "dry ice."
Dry ice keeps ice cream cold.

Dry Ice (frozen CO2)

A little carbon dioxide can make you feel bad, but it won't kill you. More than 5% carbon dioxide is toxic (= it can kill you).

Too much carbon dioxide can hurt you in these places (the colors show you how much: red is the worst)

Carbon monoxide is different. Even a little carbon monoxide can kill you!

Click below to learn more about diploma and dilemma

"Mono" might lead to cancer

"Mono" was in the news last week. Mono, a disease which makes you feel tired (the "kissing disease"), is caused by the Epstein-Barr virus. Doctors are not sure yet, but later in life, EB might also cause cancer:


人類皰疹病毒第四型EB（Epstein-Barr virus）病毒會引起鼻咽癌、淋巴癌等。


優活健康網 provides more information:
http://www.uho.com.tw/hotnews.asp?aid=12789&HN_Yr=0&HN_Mon=0