Step 4 speech sounds and semantics

Tutor:

Cristian Felipe Canon

Estudiante:

Lizeth Viviana Lopez

Codigo:

1084256736

Grupo:

Universidad Nacional Abierta y a Distancia UNAD

Escuela de Ciencias de la Edcucacion ECEDU

Licenciatura en Lenguas Extrangeras con Enfais en Ingles LILEI

CCAV – Pitalito

05-05-2020
Activities to develop

1. Read the following three documents “The phoneme: the same but

different” Chapter 2, ‘in McMahon, A. M. S. 2016. An Introduction to English

Phonology’. Also read the document: “Natural Language Processing &

Applications Phones and Phonemes and, finally read: “Meaning” chapter 8,

pages 50 to 51, in ‘Linguistics Made Easy’ by J. Aitchison. All the material

is found in UNIT 1, in the Knowledge Environment.

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):

 that [dat] dog [dɒg] head [hεd]

 leather [lεðə] leader [liðə]

 sing [ʃIŋ] sat [sat] loss [lɒs]

 fish [fIʃ] miss [mIʃ] push [pus]

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?

2. Based on the first document “The phoneme: the same but different” by

McMahon, A, develop questions one and two from page 21.

As mentioned, McMahon, A. M. S. (2016), recognizing the spoken language is

highly complex and requires as much training from each user developing great

phonetic awareness to identify each difference, because it is notoriously difficult

to find the notion of the phoneme, so for English language learners It is The small

differences in phonemes are very likely to be ignored due to the strong

similarities they often relate to as minimal pairs.

 Daddy= ðædi

 Either= aɪðə

 Loathe= ləʊð

 Ship= ʃɪp

 Pass= pɑʃ

 Dish= dɪʃ

 Usher= ʌʃə

3. From the second document, “Natural Language Processing & Applications

Phones and Phonemes” please answer questions 1 and 2 From page 10.

Do the following sounds contrast in English? Find minimal pair 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.

[m n ŋ p b t d k g l r]

These sounds contrast because these have minimal phonetic differences.

 Minimal pair/m/ /n/

Initial: map /mæp/ nap /næp/

Medial: smell/smɛl/ snells /snɛlz/

Final: same /seɪm/ sane /seɪn/

 Minimal pair /p/ /b/

Initial: pig /pɪg / big /bɪg /

Medial: simple /ˈsɪmpəl / symbol/ˈsɪmbəl /

Final: cup/ kʌp/ cub /kʌb/

 Minimal pair /t/ /d/

Initial: town /taʊn/ down/daʊn/

Medial: water/ˈʌndər/ under/ˈwɔtər/

Final: write/raɪt/ ride /raɪd/

 Minimal pair /k/ /g/

 Initial: coat/ koʊt/ goat/goʊt/

Medial: anchor/ˈæŋkər/ anger/ˈæŋgər/

Final: back/bæk/ bag/bæg/

 Minimal pair /l/ /r/

Initial: light/laɪt/ right/raɪt/

Medial: blush /blʌʃ/ brush /brʌʃ/

Final: deal/dil/ dear/dɪr/

4. Based on text: “Meaning” chapter 8, pages 50 to 51, in ‘Linguistics Made Easy’

by J. Aitchison answer the two following questions.

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.

 Keith /Kiθ/ there are 3 phonemes.

 Coughs /Kɒf/ there are 4 phonemes.

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

 I differ in a following pronunciation:

Walrus: /ˈwɔlrəs/

Whether: /ˈwɛðər/

4.1. In chapter 8, we can see some classical phenomena related to ambiguous

sentences; please consult in other references and explain what amphibology is,

give one example.

As mentioned, changingminds.org (n.d). Amphibology is where there is

ambiguity in the grammatical structure, often including mis punctuation.

 Amphibology is different from more general ambiguity, as amphibology

refers to the use of grammar rather than directly through words.

Amphibology can easily appear by accident, typically through careless

copywriting. It can also be used for deliberate effect. When you offer

multiple meaning, you confuse and create attention and deeper thought,

which is often desirable.

A phrase with more than one meaning can be risqué, as in the classic

'double entendre'. Amphibology is consequently found in much deliberate

humor, where the flexibility of the language is played to delightful effect.

4.2 In semantics to identify the meaning of a word, linguists created The notion of

‘semantic field’ please, explain what is it?

 (hint: in your answer the concept of ‘structure’ is important). As cited Ipsen G

(1924) .The, semantic field is a set of words or significant elements with related

meanings or features because they share a nucleus of common significance and

are differentiated by another series of semantic features that allow distinctions to

be made. Sharing certain common or semantic characteristics.

As mentioned Norving P (n.d). To a large extent, the structuring of

semantic fields and the most relevant features depend on extralinguistic

factors and frequently have to do with contingent historical or cultural

aspects. An example of this is found, for example, if a writer is writing a

 poem or a novel about a ship, they will surely use words such as ocean,

waves, sea, tide, blue, storm, wind, sails, etc.

5. 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 [l] and [ɹ] sounds:

Minimal pair:

Load /ləʊd/ – Road /rəʊd/

Referencia

changingminds.org. (n.d.). Amphibology Retrieved April 2020, from

http://changingminds.org/techniques/language/figures_speech/amphibology.htm

Coxhead, P. (2006). Natural Language Processing & Applications Phones and Phonemes. [PDF

FILE]. Retrieved from https://www.cs.bham.ac.uk/~pxc/nlp/NLPA-Phon1.pdf

Ipsen G (1924).The semantic field, fromhttps://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Campo_sem%C3%A1ntico

English I (2017). English Pronunciation - L and R sounds plus tonguetwisters, from

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xC-ZxWQW1Uc

J.Aitchison.”Meaning” chapter 8, pages 50 to 51, in ‘Linguistics Made Easy’ from

file:///C:/User/Linguistics%20made%20easy%20-%20Chapter%208%20by%20Aitchison,

%20Jean%20(1)%20(2).pdf

McMahon, A. M. S. (2016). An Introduction to English Phonology. Edinburgh: EUP. Retrieved

from