What Are Allophones in English

Students who are new to the English language often struggle with letters that are pronounced differently depending on how theyre used in a word. These sounds are called allophones. Linguistics 101 In order to understand allophones and how they function, it helps to have a basic understanding of linguistics, the study of language, and phonology (or how sound functions within a language). One of the basic building blocks of language is phonemes. They are  the smallest sound units capable of conveying a distinct meaning, such as the s in sing and the r of ring. Allophones are a kind of phoneme that changes its sound based on how a word is spelled. Think of the letter t and what kind of sound it makes in the word tar compared with stuff. Its pronounced with a more forceful, clipped sound in the first example than it is in the second. Linguists use special punctuation to designate phonemes. The sound of an l, for instance, is written as /l/.   Substituting one allophone for another allophone of the same phoneme doesnt lead to a different word, just a different pronunciation of the same word. For this reason, allophones are said to be noncontrastive. For example, consider the tomato. Some people pronounce this word toe-MAY-toe, while others pronounce it toe-MAH-toe. The definition of tomato doesnt change, regardless of whether its pronounced with a hard a or a softer tone. Allophones Versus Phonemes You can distinguish between allophones and phonemes by looking at the letter and how its being used. The letter p is pronounced the same way in pit and keep, making it an allophone. But p makes a different sound than s in sip and seep. In this instance, each consonant has its own consistent allophone, but they each produce different sounds, making them unique phonemes. Confused? Dont be. Even linguists say this is pretty tricky stuff because it all comes down to how people pronounce words, not how theyre spelled. In other words, you need to pay attention.  Paul Skandera and Peter Burleigh, authors of A Manual of English Phonetics and Phonology, put it this way: [T]he choice of one  allophone  rather than another may depend on such factors as communicative situation, language variety, and social class...[W]hen we consider the wide range of possible  realizations  of any given phoneme (even by a single speaker), it becomes clear that we owe the vast majority of allophones in free variation to  idiolects  or simply to chance, and that the number of such allophones is virtually infinite. For non-native English speakers, allophones and phonemes prove a special challenge. A letter that has one pronunciation in their native language may sound utterly different in English. For example, the letters b and v have distinct phonemes in English, which is to say they sound different when pronounced. However, in Spanish those same two consonants are pronounced similarly, making them allophones in that language.   Sources Allophone. British Council, Teaching English. Burleigh, Peter. A Manual of English Phonetics and Phonology: Twelve Lessons with an Integrated Course in Phonetic Transcription. Paul Skandera, durchgesehene edition, Print Replica, Kindle Edition, Narr Francke Attempto Verlag; 3, January 18, 2016. Hughes, Derek. Phonology: Definition, Rules Examples. Study.com, 2003-2019. Mannell, Robert. Phoneme and allophone. Macquarie University, 2008.

Transition from Socialism to Capitalism in Bosnia

CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION Capitalism and socialism, as two major economic systems, have shaped the past century to a great extent. After many wars and political games, it seems that the battle between the two systems has come to an end. Capitalism proved to be the stronger system and, as a result, globalization became the most descriptive attribute of the world economy in the current century. Most of the socialist countries decided, or were forced, to start a painful process of transition, which would enable them to become capitalist countries in the future. The countries in transition have had to deal with numerous problems such as political and economic pressure from other countries, corruption at all levels of political and†¦show more content†¦The last part investigates the problem of corruption and other political factors that are a current impediment to transition. At the end, subjective conclusions will be made about whether transition itself is worthwhile. Each rea der is welcome to draw his or her own conclusions. Whether transition is worthwhile is a question that will be approached from the people’s point of view and it will rely on comparison between Bosnia’s economic performance and the living standard in the country before and during transition. It will also consider future estimates. Political events that affected the process of transition will be taken into consideration because of their enormous relevance. Hopefully, the conclusions will be unbiased and provide important considerations relevant to Bosnia’s future. CHAPTER 2 POLITICAL BACKGROUND Bosnia before World War I - Islamization The focus of this thesis is the transition of Bosnia from socialist to capitalist economy, but in order to fully understand it, one must be familiar with some of the historical events particular to Bosnia. The single most important historical trend is certainly the Islamization of Bosnia. Although the Serbian people consider the Battle of Kosovo in 1389 to be the beginning of this process, only decades and centuries to come marked a significant increase in the number of Muslims in Bosnia. The primary source of information on population and especially changes inShow MoreRelatedComparative Government6816 Words   |  28 Pageswheels always moving We are Poles because we are not Russian, not German religion became very important for their identification. Day 2 Post-Yugoslavia states Tito managed to unify Yugoslavia after WWII and to keep it independent from Russia. self-managed socialism (market orientation). More contact to the west. Authoritarian system but not as closed as the other eastern states. Before he died he passed a new constitution that came into effect after his death. start of decentralization of YugoslaviaRead MoreOne Significant Change That Has Occurred in the World Between 1900 and 2005. Explain the Impact This Change Has Made on Our Lives and Why It Is an Important Change.163893 Words   |  656 Pages161 6 Locating the United States in Twentieth-Century World History †¢ Carl J. Guarneri 213 7 The Technopolitics of Cold War: Toward a Transregional Perspective †¢ Gabrielle Hecht and Paul N. Edwards 271 8 A Century of Environmental Transitions †¢ Richard P. Tucker 315 About the Contributors †¢ 343 _ IN TR OD UC TIO N Michael Adas B y any of the customary measures we deploy to demarcate historical epochs, the twentieth century does not appear to be a very coherent

Capstone Project free essay sample

There is no more need to fight crowds, find a parking spot, and deal with traffic. The high street and mail order systems still have a place in the mix of purchase routes; however it is no longer the only method of making purchases. The Internet revolution has seen a massive increase in the long distance purchases made by consumers, as geographical barriers are no longer as important as they were. The lack of geographical importance has influenced the strategy of Internet companies. One of the first companies that took advantage of this was the online bookshop Amazon. om. Amazon. com is an organization that offers a broad range of services to consumers and is considered an online leader of pure-plays pure online merchants. Amazon. com was founded in July of 1995 with a mission to fully utilize the Internet to make book buying fast, easy, and all in all, a very enjoyable experience. They currently have 29 million customers in 160 different countries, making Amazon. com one of the leading online merchants. It is rated third in business-to-consumer online revenue as of June 20, 2000. Amazon. com represents the ideal e-Commerce company. It was one of the first to demonstrate the potential for virtual upstarts and turned the market on end even leading the bricks and mortar companies. Analyze the company’s mission and vision statements against the performance of the organization. Then, evaluate how well the company lives out its mission and vision statement. Provide support from the organization’s performance in your evaluation. Amazon’s company mission and vision statement is to continue to offer quality products and services using the best technology available and at a reasonable price. This results in highly loyal customers, while maintaining shareholders interest and company profits in mind. We also want to expand geographically, increasing the number of customers and to keep improving our main competitive advantage infrastructure. By working hard and having fun we seek to offer the best working environment to our employees, promoting career opportunities, and to increase our responsibility towards environment and the society. (www. amazon. com). In basing that off of the performance of the company it can be concluded that they are living out their mission statement. As more retail categories get added, the opportunity will only expand Assess how the organization’s strategic goals link to the company’s mission and vision. The strategic goals of Amazon. com are very simple they work off of six basic principles which are the freely proffers products and services, the use a customer friendly interface, the company scales easily from small to large, they exploit its affiliate’s products and resources, the use existing communication systems, and finally Amazon utilizes universal behaviors and mentalities (www. arketingplan. com). Most of the marketing the Amazon does is indirect marketing where you probably will not see allot of ads for the company on billboards or during the commercial breaks of televisions shows, the company uses allot of online ploys and has very good relations with other partners they use these strengths to market themselves to a great amount of people. This goes hand in hand with their mission statement and vision which is increasing the number of customers and to keep improving our main competitive advantage, since the majority of society uses the internet for all of the business needs, this will work to the advantage of Amazon as they can link up with several of their business partners and even provide links on those pages that will take a potential customer directly to the website. Amazon rarely uses the offline marketing process; they use the motto â€Å"Since most people shop online that is where they will be†. (www. arketingplan. com). Also Amazon has a convenient way for customers to make their purchase more effectively and efficiently which is part of the marketing strategy of them focusing on being customer friendly. Amazon uses a streamlined ordering process that applies the most advanced technology to allow the customers to better navigate and explore online. Amazon uses a one click option once you have everything that you need, you place them in your basket and you pay for everything all at once without having to do multiple orders which make it convenient for the customers. Analyze the company’s financial performance to determine the link between the company’s strategic goals, strategy, and its financial performance. Detail your findings. One of the main strategic goals that Amazon has set with the company is offer quality products that bring in profits that sentiment is identified in the mission and vision statement and over time this company has been able to maximize their profits and minimize their expenses through the North American market as well as the international market as well. The earnings statement shows that Amazon has found a way to have increased sales performance through both of their selling markets. The North America segment consists of amounts earned from retail sales of consumer products (including from sellers) and subscriptions through North America-focused websites such as www. amazon. com and www. amazon. ca and include amounts earned from AWS. This segment includes export sales from www. amazon. com and www. amazon. ca. The International segment consists of amounts earned from retail sales of consumer products (including from sellers) and subscriptions through internationally focused locations.

Taking the First Step free essay sample

Crunch. Crunch. Crunch. The vibration from the helicopter rattles my bones as I cautiously stumble my way across the Mendenhall Glacier. I can scarcely hear the guide as he begins his monologue regarding the glacier’s history. I grip my grandmother’s gloved hand tightly as we trek towards the crevasse. My heart quickens, and although I still cannot hear her, I know my grandmother is reassuring me. I avert my eyes from my focused steps and instantly recognize the figure in the short distance as my mom. As the vibrations from the helicopter dwindle, a new pulsing emerges and soon transitions into an echoing roar. Before my feet, a small canyon thick with water strains to reach my ankles. While the entirety of my family hops across with ease, I pivot exactly ninety degrees, and follow the water the fifty-some yards until it meets it’s fate at a trench and becomes a small waterfall. We will write a custom essay sample on Taking the First Step or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page A foot away, the ice begins again and I test it before walking across to rejoin my family. With the regained grasp of my grandmother’s hand, my pace quickens to align with hers. The guide lectures about the mountains in the distance, but my focus is on the crevasse ahead. All too soon, I find myself peering into the abyss. An eerie silence envelops me from the inside out, only to be broken by my gasp as the guide leaps across the crevasse. The enormity of the task laying ahead strikes me as if by lightning. Following in suit, my family begins to step across the crevasse. As the guide and I assist my grandmother across, the resounding silence takes its hold on me. My entire life, I have successfully avoided my two true fears: falling and dying. Now, it seems, I am at the precipice of both. I have always been an analytical risk taker, but I have never seen the need to fling myself across anything. Yet now, I have found a valid reason. Seeing the encouraging look on my grandmother’s face, the worried look on my mom’s face, and the dumbfounded look on my eight-year-old cousin’s face is all I need. As I lift my concrete feet from the ice, every synapse fires and tries to hold me back. What occurred in the blink of an eye took an eternity. I turn around and look at my accomplishment: one foot across, but miles in depth. I tighten the straps on my backpack, exchange a knowing look with my mother, and receive a reassuring nod from my grandmother as I place my hands into my pockets.

Free Essays on Evaluation Of The Cask Of Amontillado

Evaluation of â€Å"The Cask of Amontillado† by Edgar Allen Poe In the story â€Å"The Cask of Amontillado†, by Edgar Allen Poe, one of the characters actually gets away with murder. I chose this story for the simple fact that I enjoy Poe’s work greatly, and have since I was a child. I had a book of Poe stories and poems that was illustrated by Gahan Wilson. If you have ever seen any of Wilson’s macabre and gruesome comics or illustrations, then you will know why he is perfectly suited to engage with Poe’s often sick and twisted stories. I believe that this helped me, as a child, appreciate Poe’s work even more. I have been a fan ever since. The theme of this story, as with the majority of Poe’s work, is that of the macabre, grotesque, and more specifically, murder. There are three main characters, but only two of them are realized in this story. The first is Montresor, whose eyes we see the story through. I take him as being a sort of noble or some type of semi-powerful man in early 19th century France. He is a smart man, perhaps well educated due to his family’s money and power. While money and power are still present, I get the feeling that neither are as prevalent as they once were, simply because Montresor states â€Å"The Montresors, were a great and numerous family.† (151) His use of the word â€Å"were† symbolizes past tense. The second character is Fortunato. He is in the same class as Montresor, with money, power, and respect all coming his way. Fortunato seems very immature, so I get the feeling that he is a bit younger than Montresor, although it is hard for me to establish their ages. He is not as bright as Montresor, and while he is probably well educated, it is wasted on stupidity and cockiness. He is a very arrogant person, which causes people to tolerate him simply because they feel they have to. The third character, although we never meet him, is mentioned several times by Montresor and Fortunato. He i... Free Essays on Evaluation Of The Cask Of Amontillado Free Essays on Evaluation Of The Cask Of Amontillado Evaluation of â€Å"The Cask of Amontillado† by Edgar Allen Poe In the story â€Å"The Cask of Amontillado†, by Edgar Allen Poe, one of the characters actually gets away with murder. I chose this story for the simple fact that I enjoy Poe’s work greatly, and have since I was a child. I had a book of Poe stories and poems that was illustrated by Gahan Wilson. If you have ever seen any of Wilson’s macabre and gruesome comics or illustrations, then you will know why he is perfectly suited to engage with Poe’s often sick and twisted stories. I believe that this helped me, as a child, appreciate Poe’s work even more. I have been a fan ever since. The theme of this story, as with the majority of Poe’s work, is that of the macabre, grotesque, and more specifically, murder. There are three main characters, but only two of them are realized in this story. The first is Montresor, whose eyes we see the story through. I take him as being a sort of noble or some type of semi-powerful man in early 19th century France. He is a smart man, perhaps well educated due to his family’s money and power. While money and power are still present, I get the feeling that neither are as prevalent as they once were, simply because Montresor states â€Å"The Montresors, were a great and numerous family.† (151) His use of the word â€Å"were† symbolizes past tense. The second character is Fortunato. He is in the same class as Montresor, with money, power, and respect all coming his way. Fortunato seems very immature, so I get the feeling that he is a bit younger than Montresor, although it is hard for me to establish their ages. He is not as bright as Montresor, and while he is probably well educated, it is wasted on stupidity and cockiness. He is a very arrogant person, which causes people to tolerate him simply because they feel they have to. The third character, although we never meet him, is mentioned several times by Montresor and Fortunato. He i...

Searchers essays

Searchers essays The Searchers (1956) is one of America's top one-hundred films ever made. John Ford directed this film with John Wayne as the leading role, his supporting actors/actresses were Natalie Wood, Jeffery Hunter, Vera Miles, and Ward Bond.The film tells the story of a man, Wayne, searching for his captured nice, but actually is searching for his humanity. This film dones not focus on Wayne as a hero, as much as it does on him trying to find himself. The montage, visual elements, action, and sound elements are what makes this film so great. The montage, or narative continuity and character explination is what hooks the viewer into watching the film. Narative continuity is how the film flows, or how the story is told. Throughout the movie the story is told, or percieved as if the viewer were there experiencing it all. When Ethan(Wayne) is comes home and the whole family is sitting in the livingroom by the fire they are telling the story through their dialouge and the actions. There is a part in the film that is nariated though.When Marty sends the letter back home to Laurie to tell her about his journey, she reads the letter aloud to the family and that is how that part of the film is shown to the viewers. When she reads the part about him finding a wife, the film shows much more detail than she reads. Like him finding wife, the film shows how he got his wife, how she followed them, and how he lost her. Character explination allows the viewers to get to know the characters. Through out the film the viewers will get to know little bits and pieces of information about the main characters. They are not as obvious, so the viewer needs to read between the lines. At the very beginning of the film when Ethan returns home, his nephew Aaron asks him, "How was California," and Ethan replies, " California? How should I know?...No, I ain't been to California. I don't plan to go either." Then Aaron asks him to tell them about the war, so...

Willam Blake (1757-1827) Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Willam Blake (1757-1827) - Essay Example Industrial revolution that swept across Britain can be attributed to the emergence of romantic writing. Among the advocates of Romanticism, Blake’s poems and paintings demonstrated deep emotions including romance, passion, and aspiration to freedom as a genuine response to the chaotic social conventions of the time. William Blake, the prominent poet and painter was born in London as the son of a hosiery shop owner on 28 November 1757. He started his initial formation as a painter at the age of ten, at the art school run by Henry Pars in Strand. After his four years of learning at Pars, he was apprenticed to James Basire and seven years later by 1778 he joined the Royal Academy where he mastered drawing using living models (William Blake1757-1827, BBC). Blake’s first volume of poetry was published in 1783 encouraged by the great artist of the time, Flaxman. Blake explored the scope of integrating painting with book writing and in 1788 he initiated illuminated book Ã¢â‚¬Ë œThere is no Natural Religion’ followed by Songs of Innocence, Songs of Experience, Book of Thel and many more throughout the subsequent years. He was indeed a versatile writer and poet who performed all efforts himself for printing his illuminated books. Blake’s other famous works include the Book of Job (1825), and Pastorals of Virgil (1821).