Example Of Distinctive Feature Theory

In the field of Modern Languages and Linguistics, words are of great importance. A language’s phonology (study of how sounds are organized and used), morphology (study of the form and structure of words), syntax (study of the rules that govern sentence structure), semantics (study of meaning of words, sentences, and expressions), pragmatics (study of aspects of meaning and language use and context), and phonetics (study of human speech sounds) all play an important part in everyday life. These have a major impact in understanding the intent of what is spoken or heard. Due to the importance of communication, literary elements such as metaphors (which are defined as a figure of speech in which a word or phrase

The objective of this essay is to explore the range of similarities and differences between Auslan (Australian Sign Language) and English. An evident difference between the two languages is in terms of morphology, where spoken languages are represented through words and sign languages are formed by signs (Aronoff, Meir & Sandler, 2005; Johnston & Schembri, 2007). However, a strong similarity is the demonstration of ‘duality of patterning’ perceived in both languages. Firstly, the parameters in Auslan are compared to phonemes in spoken English. The five gestural features of handshape, orientation, location, movement and non-manual features (NMF) are known as the parameters of sign production (Johnston & Schembri, 2007). This essay argues that despite their distinct manners, the parameters of Auslan have the same linguistic function as phonemes. In particular, NMF is compared to the varying intonation used by English speakers to discuss the similarities and differences. Secondly, the sets of rules present in both languages is contended as another similarity, with differences perceived in the additional function of an individual’s gesture found in Auslan. This essay acknowledges other similarities such as language attainment in babies and the development of new vocabularies in respect of time. Furthermore, it also recognises the difference found in the ability to disembodied spoken English compared to Auslan, however, it will focus on the function of parameters,

phonology - rules relating to the sounds of words and their constituent vowels and consonants.

c. Isolate and pronounce initial, medial vowel, and final sounds (phonemes) in spoken single‐syllable words.(1.RF.2.c)

Phonological awareness involves the detection and manipulation of sounds at three levels of sound structure: (1) syllables, (2) onsets and rimes, and (3) phonemes.

Theories of language learning can further be broken into theories for speech-sound errors and treatment for these disorders. One of these theories is sensory-perceptual theory with sound production training. This relates to errors due caused by a breakdown in sensory and motor systems of individual sound units (Peña-Brooks & Hedge, 2015). In contrast, the phonological theory suggests errors unrelated to motor skill but, instead, to misrepresentations of phonological rules (MacReynolds, 1987). While neither approach has proven to be most effective in the generalization of correct productions of speech sounds, this paper will be using the sensory-perceptual theory of language acquisition.

1. What is one possible drawback of phonology if a nonnative speaker has poor accuracy? What might be done to master a new phonology?

I will determine whether [æ] and [eʌ] appear to be allophonic or contrastive by examining those target sounds in “Dataset B” and “Dataset A”. Both sounds are present in the datasets but they are never seen together in the same word. The environments of the sounds are determined in (i) and organized by sound to see if there are any patterns that arise.

One of the main factors that affects our understanding of the language is one’s regional accent. Although most words and phrases will be comprehensible some phonetics may have changed so much that all we can do is hope that the context of what has been said makes sense in order for us to ‘fill in the gaps’.

Phonology – use of sounds and how sounds are organized and used in natural languages.

The first, A list of 10 monosyllabic words which are phonologically similar but not semantically related (A list) was adapted from (LS) “white, height, night, light tight, write, might, quiet, bite, fight” (p 30). The second list comprised of 10 words which are semantically related (B list), similar in length, word class and frequency with the phonologically related words, dear, sugar, savory, sweet, tasty, flavor, honey, dessert, candy, treat . The level of frequency of the words were determined with the use of corpus (COCA and BNC). There are slight variations in the level of frequency of the B list words. Nevertheless, The lists were presented orally and

7. In each of the following pairs of words, the bold italicized sounds differ by one or more phonetic properties (features). Give the IPA symbol for each italicized sound, state their differences and, in addition, state what properties they have in common. Example: phone—phonic The o in phone is mid, tense, round. The o in phonic is low, unround. Both are back vowels. bath bathe æ = Low, central, unrounded e = Mid, tense, unrounded reduce reduction ə = Low, lax, rounded v = Low, lax, unrounded cool cold u = High, tense, rounded a = Low, tense, unrounded wife wives e = Mid, tense, unrounded i = High, front, tense cats dogs æ = Low, central, unrounded o = Mid, back, rounded impolite indecent o = Front, lax, unrounded ɛ = Mid, lax, unrounded

For this assessment I have been required to compare English with another language. I have decided to choose Mandarin as my language of choice. A major elements of languages will be compared in this essay. That being phonology. Phonology is defined as being “the study of the way speech sounds form patterns”.(Victoria Fromkin 2009). As (Hammond 1999) describes, every spoken language has a unique system whereby sounds are organised. This unique pattern of pattern can be termed phonology and varies widely in geographical and social differences.

He seeks to find underlying similarities across these “distinct” languages, to construct a general theory of a singular language. However, it seems as though he cannot be scientifically vindicated without the groundwork being laid down by many of the authors that he is critical of. Thus, it is particularly interesting that Chomsky seems to be so at odds with the idea of descriptivism. When Chomsky says, “Grammar should not be merely a record of the data of usage, but, rather, should offer an explanation for such data,” (587) he is acknowledging the usefulness, presumably to his own theories, of descriptive linguistics. He in fact recognizes the debt he owes when he says, “To me, it seems that [structural linguistics'] major achievement is to have provided a factual and a methodological basis that makes it possible to return to the problems that occupied the traditional universal grammarians...” (590) But he goes on to say, “On the other hand, it seems to me that the substantive contributions to the theory of language structure are few, and that, to a large extent, the concepts of modern linguistics constitute a retrogression as compared with universal grammar.” (590) Where the descriptivists see an end, Chomsky sees only the means, and is somewhat dismissive of them.

Every language constitutes its own sound system, and this sound system is a very important aspect when learning or studying a language. Along with this sound system are the prosodic features of a language. This study is about the phonological system and the prosodic features of