Introduction to linguistics

Juan Sebastián Prado Molina

Octubre 2020.

Universidad Nacional Abierta y a Distancia UNAD.

Valle del Cauca.
Task 4
Step 2 - Answers

1-A learner of English as a second language has the following pronunciations (note
that [ʃ] is the symbol for the first sound in ship, and [ð] for the first sound in the):

How might you explain these non-native pronunciations? How do you think this
learner would pronounce the bold-faced consonants in Daddy, either, loathe, ship,
pass, dish, usher?

A/ in my opinion is hard to find differences between some vowels pronunciation in the

English language, I am speaking about the way in which the persons speak and the
English learners get to understand de sounds. The English natives understand in a perfect
way because they grew up with this kind of sounds, their ears to get used to translate each
letter sound in a word, the most complicated topic to English learners is to get used brain
to interpretive this kind of sounds.

About the second question I think is important the English learners take a dictionary how
a pronunciation guide, is probably that they pronounce in wrong way and need a focus.

The dictionary set the pronunciation in the mention words like this:

Daddy: [Dædi] Either: [eɪðe(r)] Loathe: [lɒæðe] Ship: [ʃip] Pass: [pas]

Dish: [dɪʃ ] Usher: [ˈʌʃɚ ]

2-Do the following sounds contrast in English? Find minimal pairs to support your
hypothesis, ideally for initial, medial and final position in the word. Where minimal
pairs for all positions do not seem to be available, write a short statement of where
the sound in question can and cannot be found.

A/ In my opinion, it is possible to find minimal pairs of the letters on mention in the task
in English language.

Minimal Pair Initial Medial Final

 m meet moment exclaim
n noun nine risen
ŋ things finger boring
p put puppy drop
b buy baby crab
t try strike put
d drink seduce bad
k know skip drink
g grow aggressive egg
l lose calm cell
r ring stress river

3-The Ministry for Education in a certain country whose language has up to now
been unwritten has hired two foreign linguists to produce an orthography. Linguists
A and B have suggested two rather different systems. Which one is most in line with
the phonological structure of the language it is designed for? Why do you think the
other linguist may have made different decisions?

A/ In my opinion the second orthography system is better than the first, because the
words are accord with the pronunciation, I think that both can be well, because that
development is to a country without a written language, and the people could to take that
system and to think in it how their new system, but for a person with a knowledge in
English language is better the second system developments by the linguist B.
1. How many phonemes are there in (a) Keith (b) coughs? What are they in the
IPA? In each case try to demonstrate the correctness of your answer by finding
words differing by only one of the phonemes you have identified.

Phonemes in Keith: K/e/i/t/h

Phonemes in Coughs: C/o/u/g/h/s

What are they in the IPA? In each case try to demonstrate the correctness of your
answer by finding words differing by only one of the phonemes you have identified.

Keith: keiθ - Math: mæθ

Coughs: kɑf – laugh: lɑːf

2. You are NOT expected to know the IPA symbols; the table given in the Appendix
will be provided if and when necessary. However it is useful to have some practice in
using them. Study the following phonetic transcription of a verse of Lewis Carroll’s
poem The Walrus and the Carpenter. The transcription corresponds to my ‘careful’
pronunciation. Write down the normal English spelling. If your pronunciation
differs from mine, write down an amended transcription in the IPA.

The time has come, the Walrus said,

To talk of many things
Of shoes - and ships - and sealing wax
Of cabbages - and kings
And why the sea is boiling hot 
And whether pigs have wings.

In my opinion just two words has a different pronunciation they are:

Said: Sed
Talk: tɔk
From the reading “Semantics. The Study of Linguistic Meaning Chapter” by
Akmajian answer the two following questions:

-What is exactly the concept ‘speaker meaning’? Explain and give an example (in
Spanish or English).

The speaker meaning concept has two directions in literal aspect and nonliteral aspect.
The literal aspect is when the people want to do anything and they express it and non-
literal aspect is when the people use the sarcasm.

Literal example: I am going to travel

Non-literal example: The football is not my cup of tea

-Explain, what is an important problem of the ‘Denotational Theory of Meaning’?

The main problem in the denotational theory of meaning is that a couple of phrases can
have the same denotation but to be completely different, with different meanings.
An example can be the phrase the United States ex-president and the phrase Donald
Trump.

-Here is a scenario of a pronunciation lesson gone wrong. The teacher repeatedly

demonstrates a pair of similar sounds (e.g., “rrrr” and “llll”). However, the students
still fail to perceive the difference between the two. The thing is that students have
difficulty distinguishing between pairs of sounds when these are taught in isolation.
Pronunciation lessons are infinitely more effective when students are taught to
distinguish between words (e.g., light/right), instead of just individual sounds.
Design a mini lesson that presents the [l] and [ɹ] sounds within the context of
minimal pairs. (Option, you can select any other minimal pairs to design the mini
lesson). (Adapted from Gordon T. 2012).

The pronunciation explanation R and L sounds

HOW TO MAKE THE R SOUND
 
When you make the R sound, your mouth should form a circle with your lips pointing
upwards slightly.
Your tongue should be in the middle of your mouth and should not touch your teeth.
 

HOW TO MAKE THE L SOUND
 
 When you make the L sound, your mouth should be open, but your lips should not stick
out.
Your tongue should be just behind your top teeth.

LET’S PRACTICE YOUR PRONUNCIATION! 

Try using the tips above to practice saying the following words:

1. Liver
2. River
3. Rim
4. Limb
5. Rhyme
6. Lime
7. Right
8. Light
9. Correct
10. Collect

That explanation was taken to https://www.gonaturalenglish.com/english-

pronunciation-tips-r-l/, I will take it to explain the difference between this sounds.