Oh boy, I've missed a few days. My school had a conference for teachers (pointless, crowded) in Orlando on Friday and I stayed on to have a long lunch (engaging, doughy) with my parents, who came down to our neck of the lakes to see G. B. Shaw's Arms and the Man (hilarious, witty). We had a dessert with Ellen's mother and her Bob (savored, warming - the dessert, not Bob) after which I went to bed to wake up early for our multi-post-poned Regional swim meet (uncomfortable, degrading), finally! Then Ellen and I spent the day shopping (bargained, flattering), separately, and came together to brag and play dress-up. It's all over now and I'm back home and feel obligated to make up for the lost words of the day, though I'm sure it didn't bother too many people out there.
So here they are, the best and the brightest of the past three days (I disregarded milieu at first, but I think I'm going to put it in as a bonus: I heard it on three separate occasions on Friday - too many to be dismissed as mere chance!!! :-D).
feckless (adj.)
Pronunciation: fkls
Definition: 1. lacking purpose or vitality; feeble or ineffective 2. careless and irresponsible
You can fecklessly perform a piece of music, or fecklessly attempt to persuade/dissuade someone from something. Fecklessness is often pervasive among the callow and green.
This word means without feck. You'd never guess. Feck is actually a word from Scotland coming around in 1599. It is a shortened version of effect, and means virtually the same thing: effect, value, vigor. The Scottish thinker Thomas Carlyle, an incendiary figure in history and philosophy, popularized its use and is probably at fault for the dialectical amnesia of its antagonist, feckful. Aw, poor feckful. Carlyle has an interesting theory of God, or more precisely, faith in God. He calls the spirit of faith in God the Everlasting Yea, which is really a response to the spirit of unbelief in God, the Everlasting Nay. Oh, those Scottish - always rhyming.
"For auld lang syne, my dear
For auld lang syne.
We'll tak a cup of kindness yet,
For auld lang syne."
That's "old long ago," for those of you, like me, who never understood why we would be toasting "Old Langside."
"O, my luve is like a red, red rose
That's newly sprung in June.
O, my luve is like a melodie,
That's sweetly play'd in tune."
'Nuff o' that, auld Rabbie Burns.
The Everlasting Yea and Nay is really Carlyle's doctrine that there is no such thing as a faith in God, except as an antagonism to the spirit opposed to God - the spirit which is forever denying the reality of the divine in the thoughts, the character, and the life of humanity, which has a malicious pleasure in scoffing at everything high and noble as hollow and void.
So, on to pariah. :-D
pariah (n.)
Pronunciation: p-r
Definition: 1. a social outcast; an untouchable
This is our first word that comes from Portuguese: paria. It also comes from paraiyar, from Tamil (a Dravidian language, or language from southern India and northern Sri Lanka - ancestry for my old man Michael Ondaatje). It means "drummer," since most of India's drummers were from the lowest caste, the outcasts. It has since generalized to mean any social outcast, of any social level.
How do we reconcile this discrepancy of languages? We don't. We ignore it.
On to squalid.
squalid (adj.)
Pronunciation: skwld
Definition: 1. dirty and wretched, as from poverty or lack of care 2. morally repulsive; sordid
I suppose most squalid people are pariahs. The squalid pariahs. Great band name, if you ask me.
This comes from Middle French and Latin, squalide and squalidus, respectively, meaning "rough, coated with dirt, filthy." Related to squales and squalus and squalare. And I have no idea where it comes from before that.
But don't forget to use squalor. Or squalididly, or squalidness, or squalidity.
And read, if you get a chance, "For Esme, with love and squalor."
post script:
milieu (n.)
Pronunciation: \mēl-ˈyə(r), -ˈyü, -ˈyœ; ˈmēl-ˌyü
Definition: an environment, setting; the totality of one's setting
Its plural having been a subject of much discussion (i.e. railing by my father), I will set the record straight, if it had been crooked ever. The plural is spelled either milieus or milieux (Ellen and I hereby officially endorse the milieux spelling as "more French"). It is pronounced as the singular pronunciation, so don't go around saying "mill-ussssse." The French Connection'll get ya.
Sunday
TAUTOLOGY: Word of the Day - November 10, 2005
tautology (n.)
Pronunciation: tô-tŏl'ə-jē (stress on middle syllable)
Definition: 1. Needless repetition of the same sense in different words; redundancy; an instance of such a repetition. 2. Logic An empty or vacuous statement composed of similar statements in a fashion that makes it logically true whether the simpler statements are factually true or false; for example, "Either it will rain tomorrow or it will not rain tomorrow." (This definition comes from dictionary.com and yourdictionary.com, so that is the definition out there for the public)
It's Greek to me. And to you. And to anyone, really.
But it's also Latin. Things just trickle from one language to another before they get to us, transmuted. The Greek roots are tauto- "the same" and logos "saying," which is related to legein, meaning "to say" (lecture comes from that). The Latin word is tautologia (representation of the same thing).
It should be noted that, strictly speaking, a tautology is a logical term that corresponds to statements that are true by their own definition. That is, a statement is tautological if it is true regardless of the truth of its parts. For example, I could say, "If a prime number is even and bigger than two, then it must be divisible by three" and it would be true. Unfortunately, there are no even prime numbers greater than two, so the statement is excessively superfluous (HA HA HA!) All true statements of logic are tautologies. Though not all false statements of logic are not tautologies. In fact, quite a few of them are. It has come to mean, outside of logic and in grammar, useless, uninformative repetition. If I had said, "All true statements of logic are tautologies and all false statements are not tautologies," that would have been a grammatical tautology, but a logical fallacy.
Wikipedia tells me that tautologies are often used to introduce a red herring, or an ignoratio elenchi, into argument. An ignoratio elenchi (irrelevant conclusion) is a logical fallacy which presents an argument that may itself be valid, but which proves or supports a different proposition than the one it is purporting to prove or support.
I'd be lying if I said teaching wasn't tautological. And I'd be telling the truth if I said teaching is tautological.
Ah! An example of grammatical tautology and logical tautology. There's a subtle fallacy here, which introduces an ignoratio elenchi. If I say, "Teaching is not tautological" and I have furthermore informed you that that is a lie, it does not necessarily make the statement "Teaching is tautological" truthful.
I stumbled upon that. Cool.
Nick, tautologies are apparently very useful for mathematics; as are vacuous truths (get back to me about the empty product). Incidentally, the mathematical symbol for a tautology is .
Tautological expressions include: ATM machine (automated teller machine machine), PIN number (personal identification number number), add an additional, added bonus, climb up, close scrutiny, combine together, comprises of, first began, passing fad, specific details, unintentional mistake, etc.
Pronunciation: tô-tŏl'ə-jē (stress on middle syllable)
Definition: 1. Needless repetition of the same sense in different words; redundancy; an instance of such a repetition. 2. Logic An empty or vacuous statement composed of similar statements in a fashion that makes it logically true whether the simpler statements are factually true or false; for example, "Either it will rain tomorrow or it will not rain tomorrow." (This definition comes from dictionary.com and yourdictionary.com, so that is the definition out there for the public)
It's Greek to me. And to you. And to anyone, really.
But it's also Latin. Things just trickle from one language to another before they get to us, transmuted. The Greek roots are tauto- "the same" and logos "saying," which is related to legein, meaning "to say" (lecture comes from that). The Latin word is tautologia (representation of the same thing).
It should be noted that, strictly speaking, a tautology is a logical term that corresponds to statements that are true by their own definition. That is, a statement is tautological if it is true regardless of the truth of its parts. For example, I could say, "If a prime number is even and bigger than two, then it must be divisible by three" and it would be true. Unfortunately, there are no even prime numbers greater than two, so the statement is excessively superfluous (HA HA HA!) All true statements of logic are tautologies. Though not all false statements of logic are not tautologies. In fact, quite a few of them are. It has come to mean, outside of logic and in grammar, useless, uninformative repetition. If I had said, "All true statements of logic are tautologies and all false statements are not tautologies," that would have been a grammatical tautology, but a logical fallacy.
Wikipedia tells me that tautologies are often used to introduce a red herring, or an ignoratio elenchi, into argument. An ignoratio elenchi (irrelevant conclusion) is a logical fallacy which presents an argument that may itself be valid, but which proves or supports a different proposition than the one it is purporting to prove or support.
I'd be lying if I said teaching wasn't tautological. And I'd be telling the truth if I said teaching is tautological.
Ah! An example of grammatical tautology and logical tautology. There's a subtle fallacy here, which introduces an ignoratio elenchi. If I say, "Teaching is not tautological" and I have furthermore informed you that that is a lie, it does not necessarily make the statement "Teaching is tautological" truthful.
I stumbled upon that. Cool.
Nick, tautologies are apparently very useful for mathematics; as are vacuous truths (get back to me about the empty product). Incidentally, the mathematical symbol for a tautology is .
Tautological expressions include: ATM machine (automated teller machine machine), PIN number (personal identification number number), add an additional, added bonus, climb up, close scrutiny, combine together, comprises of, first began, passing fad, specific details, unintentional mistake, etc.
PANEGYRIC: Word of the Day #15 - November 9, 2005
What do Dwight D. Eisenhower, Mae West, StarKist Tuna, and Charles Yelton all have in common? Read on to find out!
panegyric (n.)
Pronunciation: păn'ə -jǐrǐk, -jī'rǐk
Definition: 1. A formal eulogistic composition intended as a public compliment. 2. Elaborate praise or laudation; an encomium (formal expression of praise; a tribute).
"Friends, Romans, countrymen, lend me your ears," Marc Antony intoned panegyrically, "I come to bury Caesar, not to praise him. The evil that men do lives after them; the good is oft interred with their bones; so let it be with Caesar."
It's a famous panegyric, largely for its use of apophasis, a dubious rhetorical device and sarcastic pedagogical tool. Apophasis is easy to understand. "I'm not even going to talk about all the times he stood me up!" "I don't have to mention, of course, that these papers are to be typed."
Marc Antony's chocablock speech of rhetorical devices is illuminating for understanding the impact rhetoric has on people. It's chock-full of anastrophe, anacoenosis, and a whole lot more. (by the by, go here for a humorous translation of the speech)
On the subject of rhetoric, did you ever notice JFK's heavy usage of chiasmus (specifically, antimetabole): "Let us never negotiate out of fear. But let us never fear to negotiate"; "mankind must put an end to war or war will put an end to mankind"; "...ask not what your country can do for you - ask what you can do for your country."
Even ole Al Gore used it once, "Let's make sure that the Supreme Court does not pick the next president, and this president does not choose the next Supreme Court."
Eisenhower used antimetabole AND antanaclasis, "What counts is not necessarily the size of the dog in the fight - it's the size of the fight in the dog." Same with Mae West (a bit more applicable day-to-day, I should think), "Well, it's not the men in your life that counts, it's the life in your men."
Ellen, you know the whole "Sorry, Charlie" thing we were talking about? StarKist used both antimetabole and antanaclasis, as well, "Sorry, Charlie. StarKist doesn't want tunas with good taste - StarKist wants tunas that taste good."
Oh, it's been a whirlwind romance with the internet today researching this subject. I should probably go do my job now.
Pear Cleaving: it's not the pairing of the pears, it's the paring of the pears.
panegyric (n.)
Pronunciation: păn'ə -jǐrǐk, -jī'rǐk
Definition: 1. A formal eulogistic composition intended as a public compliment. 2. Elaborate praise or laudation; an encomium (formal expression of praise; a tribute).
"Friends, Romans, countrymen, lend me your ears," Marc Antony intoned panegyrically, "I come to bury Caesar, not to praise him. The evil that men do lives after them; the good is oft interred with their bones; so let it be with Caesar."
It's a famous panegyric, largely for its use of apophasis, a dubious rhetorical device and sarcastic pedagogical tool. Apophasis is easy to understand. "I'm not even going to talk about all the times he stood me up!" "I don't have to mention, of course, that these papers are to be typed."
Marc Antony's chocablock speech of rhetorical devices is illuminating for understanding the impact rhetoric has on people. It's chock-full of anastrophe, anacoenosis, and a whole lot more. (by the by, go here for a humorous translation of the speech)
On the subject of rhetoric, did you ever notice JFK's heavy usage of chiasmus (specifically, antimetabole): "Let us never negotiate out of fear. But let us never fear to negotiate"; "mankind must put an end to war or war will put an end to mankind"; "...ask not what your country can do for you - ask what you can do for your country."
Even ole Al Gore used it once, "Let's make sure that the Supreme Court does not pick the next president, and this president does not choose the next Supreme Court."
Eisenhower used antimetabole AND antanaclasis, "What counts is not necessarily the size of the dog in the fight - it's the size of the fight in the dog." Same with Mae West (a bit more applicable day-to-day, I should think), "Well, it's not the men in your life that counts, it's the life in your men."
Ellen, you know the whole "Sorry, Charlie" thing we were talking about? StarKist used both antimetabole and antanaclasis, as well, "Sorry, Charlie. StarKist doesn't want tunas with good taste - StarKist wants tunas that taste good."
Oh, it's been a whirlwind romance with the internet today researching this subject. I should probably go do my job now.
Pear Cleaving: it's not the pairing of the pears, it's the paring of the pears.
MENDACIOUS: Word of the Day - November 8, 2005
mendacious (adj.)
Pronunciation: men-'dey-shês
Definition: Lying or untruthful.
Simple. A mitigating, Latinate form for a harsh criticism. Mendacity is its noun, opaquity its renown. (Oh, I just wanted to rhyme something...and use the word "opaquity.") It's from Latin (mendacium - a lie; mendax, mendacis - lying, deceitful) and Middle French (mendaciuex). The root, mend-, originally meant "physical defect, fault," radiating in general meaning to mean "fault, defect, carelessness in writing." The adjective was first (1616) - thirty years later, a noun.
Incidentally (which seems to be my favorite word of recent), a mendicant is a beggar. Different Latin words, but same basic root - "fault, physical defect."
Pronunciation: men-'dey-shês
Definition: Lying or untruthful.
Simple. A mitigating, Latinate form for a harsh criticism. Mendacity is its noun, opaquity its renown. (Oh, I just wanted to rhyme something...and use the word "opaquity.") It's from Latin (mendacium - a lie; mendax, mendacis - lying, deceitful) and Middle French (mendaciuex). The root, mend-, originally meant "physical defect, fault," radiating in general meaning to mean "fault, defect, carelessness in writing." The adjective was first (1616) - thirty years later, a noun.
Incidentally (which seems to be my favorite word of recent), a mendicant is a beggar. Different Latin words, but same basic root - "fault, physical defect."
OBVIATE and OBTUND: Words of the Day - November 7, 2005
Well, I dropped the ball yesterday for various reasons, so you get a double-whammy today. Two O verbs. I'm studying for the GRE, so I'll try to relegate myself to words that will be featured there (which these both may). But sometimes you have to have your schwas and your brooks. Without further ado:
obviate (v.)
Pronunciation: AHB-vē-āte
Definition: To anticipate and dispose of effectively; prevent; render unnecessary.
This first popped up in 1598 and meant "to meet and do away with." It's from the late Latin (300-700 CE) obviatus, the past participle of obviare, which roughly means "to act contrary to, go against." Obviare is itself from obvius, which means "that which moves against, that which is in the way." We also get "obvious" from this. Since obvius means that which moves in the way, it is readily apparent; right in front of you.
obtund (v.)
Pronunciation: ahb-'tênd
Definition: Make dull or blunt, deaden
Comes from Latin, again: obtundere, meaning "strike against" or "dull, deaden." Not a long jump, huh? Ob means "against," tund-ere is "to beat, strike." Use this word to talk about killjoys (a word literally as old as our country). "That obtundent Williams kept telling jokes until we all left." This word is ripe for that guy who just won't stop. They beat things until they have no life.
Of course, it also has a pretty good literal meaning, too: "The air-bag obtunded the severe impact."
Nick was the winner of last week's Root game. He'll win something literary, though I don't know what yet. Any suggestions?
And while we're on the subject of that, I think I may make that a once-every-two-weeks thing. I need more participants and more hullabaloo surrounding it.
obviate (v.)
Pronunciation: AHB-vē-āte
Definition: To anticipate and dispose of effectively; prevent; render unnecessary.
This first popped up in 1598 and meant "to meet and do away with." It's from the late Latin (300-700 CE) obviatus, the past participle of obviare, which roughly means "to act contrary to, go against." Obviare is itself from obvius, which means "that which moves against, that which is in the way." We also get "obvious" from this. Since obvius means that which moves in the way, it is readily apparent; right in front of you.
obtund (v.)
Pronunciation: ahb-'tênd
Definition: Make dull or blunt, deaden
Comes from Latin, again: obtundere, meaning "strike against" or "dull, deaden." Not a long jump, huh? Ob means "against," tund-ere is "to beat, strike." Use this word to talk about killjoys (a word literally as old as our country). "That obtundent Williams kept telling jokes until we all left." This word is ripe for that guy who just won't stop. They beat things until they have no life.
Of course, it also has a pretty good literal meaning, too: "The air-bag obtunded the severe impact."
Nick was the winner of last week's Root game. He'll win something literary, though I don't know what yet. Any suggestions?
And while we're on the subject of that, I think I may make that a once-every-two-weeks thing. I need more participants and more hullabaloo surrounding it.
BROOK: Word of the Day - November 5, 2005
brook (v.)
Pronunciation: brUk
Definition: To put up with or stand for; to tolerate.
Etymologically, this word means "to use, to enjoy." Somehow it's transmuted to stomaching something up to the breaking point. It comes from our very own basic roots, Middle and Old English. The Middle English word is "brouken" from the Old English "brucan." It's similar to the Latin fructus, meaning "to enjoy."
"Similar?" I hear you say.
Yes, similar.
They have the same root in an old, synthetically composited IndoEuropean language. The common root is bhrug. Linguists spent years and years figuring out the first roots for words of all different languages, so that we could figure out how Latin and German were related. They didn't figure them all out, but many. Grimm's Law (of the Brothers Grimm), a guiding principle in linguistics, explains that the "bh" sound of English often translates to an "f" sound in Latin. It all has to do with the positioning of the tongue and...well, I bored you yesterday, why continue today? :-D
In any case, to prove the point: the English "bear" is, in Latin, fero; brother, frater.
The homonym of this word comes also from English, but by a different word: broc. It's related to the High German word for "marshy ground."
Pronunciation: brUk
Definition: To put up with or stand for; to tolerate.
Etymologically, this word means "to use, to enjoy." Somehow it's transmuted to stomaching something up to the breaking point. It comes from our very own basic roots, Middle and Old English. The Middle English word is "brouken" from the Old English "brucan." It's similar to the Latin fructus, meaning "to enjoy."
"Similar?" I hear you say.
Yes, similar.
They have the same root in an old, synthetically composited IndoEuropean language. The common root is bhrug. Linguists spent years and years figuring out the first roots for words of all different languages, so that we could figure out how Latin and German were related. They didn't figure them all out, but many. Grimm's Law (of the Brothers Grimm), a guiding principle in linguistics, explains that the "bh" sound of English often translates to an "f" sound in Latin. It all has to do with the positioning of the tongue and...well, I bored you yesterday, why continue today? :-D
In any case, to prove the point: the English "bear" is, in Latin, fero; brother, frater.
The homonym of this word comes also from English, but by a different word: broc. It's related to the High German word for "marshy ground."
Tuesday
SCHWA: Word of the Day #10 - November 4, 2005
schwa (n.)
Pronunciation: shwä
Definition: 1. A mid-central neutral vowel, typically occurring in unstressed syllables, as the final vowel of English sofa.
2. The symbol (
) used to represent an unstressed neutral vowel and, in some systems of phonetic transcription, a stressed mid-central vowel, as in the English but.
Heh heh. That just sounded funny. "The English but."
I was looking up all kinds of linguistic terms last night and stumbled upon this one, of which I was unaware. I've always wondered about that upside down e! And now we know! And knowledge is power!
I wonder, Sonia, if they'll have a schwa week at Kreider's school. ;-D
This word, I suppose, is a bit unuseful unless you're talking about vowels. Well, perhaps you should know more about them. At least then you'd have an excuse to use the word "schwa" in actual speech. And we're all looking to do that, aren't we?
You've noticed by now, perhaps, the large table below. It is a table of vowel sounds that I purloined from Wikipedia (actually, I am fully entitled to use this table and I have documentation). Let me explain it a bit.
This table is meant to diagram where and how vowel sounds are created in the International Phonetic Alphabet, by describing the positionings of the tounge and mouth. It is incredibly complex and mind-boggling if you actually sit down and try to memorize it (the IPA lives for confusion, I think).
I will go over, briefly, the characteristics of this table, mainly because that's as far as I understand them. If you feel inclined, please feel free to click around the actual table).
Sounds are distinguished by formants, which are the preferred resonating frequencies of any acoustical system (in this case, the human mouth). It is formants that secern between speaking and singing. In short, just how you make a sound. We will concentrate simply on the vowel sounds and their formants.
There seem to be three defining characteristics (or formants) of a vowel sound: vowel height, vowel backness, and vowel roundedness. The first formant (F1) is vowel height: the positioning of the tongue in relation to the roof of the mouth. A close vowel height means getting the tongue as close to the roof of the mouth without creating a consonant. An open vowel height is when the tongue remains low in the mouth. Close vowel are often called high vowels and result in vowel sounds such as mine, die, sky and others. The IPA defines seven different vowel heights (open, near-open, open-mid, mid, close-mid, near-close, and close) though no language distinguishes all of them. The schwa is the ONLY mid vowel identified by the International Phonetic Alphabet. GO SCHWA!!!!
The second formant (F2) is vowel backness: the position of the tongue in relation to the back of the mouth (these terms are becoming apparent in their nomination, eh?). A front vowel backness means getting the tongue as far forward as possible (again, without creating a consonant). A back vowel backness means quite the opposite, as you might imagine. The IPA identifies five degrees of vowel backness (front, near-front, central, near-back, and back).
The third formant, I believe (though the encyclopedia I am using for reference does not define this as being the third formant), is vowel roundedness: the amount of rounding in the lips during the articulation of a vowel. Rounded vowels are created by forming a circular opening, while unrounded vowels are created through relaxed lips. In most languages, front vowels tend to be unrounded, while back vowels are rounded; certain languages (e.g. French and German) distinguish between rounded and unrounded vowels at the same height and backness. In the table, the vowels that are in the boxes are listed as unrounded and rounded, respectively, separated by a little dot. For instance, the close front vowels are "i" and "y," separated by a tiny dot.
There are two ways of creating a rounded vowel: endolabial and exolabial. Endolabial rounding occurs when you draw the corners of the mouth slightly in to form an O with your mouth, but without protruding your lips (as with your jaw dropping in shock). Only the outer part of the lips are exposed. Exolabial rounding occurs when you draw the corners in, but push out your lips, as in kissing. The inner surface of the lips is exposed. Ellen, you'll be happy to hear that Swedish is an unusual language, making a phonemic distinction between exolabial and endolabial forms of close-mid front unrounded vowels. Apparently this is an unusual phonemic distinction. As with much of this, I have no idea what that means.
This is all so stuffy, but it's nice to know there's a very clear, scientific understanding of language. It's a wonderful intersection of physics and English and I'm very much interested in it.
Well, I had fun, anyway. Though I really ought to sleep at some point. Grading may have been a more productive use of my time, but I know this was more educational.
I've created links for the top row (vowel backness) and the left column (vowel height), so please click on them just to make me feel better. The actual vowel sounds in the chart are links as well, though some of the symbols did not show up in my humble, little journal.
If you're interested, here is a list of phonetics topics to browse at your heart's content.
post script: does anyone know anything about this GNU Free Documentation License? Joseph Price, Mark LeVota, DeCelles? Are you guys out there? I know you'd know. Frère Jacques, tu sais ce que je veux dire?
Pronunciation: shwä
Definition: 1. A mid-central neutral vowel, typically occurring in unstressed syllables, as the final vowel of English sofa.
2. The symbol (
) used to represent an unstressed neutral vowel and, in some systems of phonetic transcription, a stressed mid-central vowel, as in the English but.Heh heh. That just sounded funny. "The English but."
I was looking up all kinds of linguistic terms last night and stumbled upon this one, of which I was unaware. I've always wondered about that upside down e! And now we know! And knowledge is power!
I wonder, Sonia, if they'll have a schwa week at Kreider's school. ;-D
This word, I suppose, is a bit unuseful unless you're talking about vowels. Well, perhaps you should know more about them. At least then you'd have an excuse to use the word "schwa" in actual speech. And we're all looking to do that, aren't we?
You've noticed by now, perhaps, the large table below. It is a table of vowel sounds that I purloined from Wikipedia (actually, I am fully entitled to use this table and I have documentation). Let me explain it a bit.
| Vowels | |||||
| front | near-front | central | near-back | back | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| close | i • y | ɨ • ʉ | ɯ • u | ||
| near-close | ɪ • Ê | ÊŠ | |||
| close-mid | e • ø | ɘ • ɵ | ɤ • o | ||
| mid | É™ | ||||
| open-mid | ɛ • œ | ɜ • ɞ | ʌ • ɔ | ||
| near-open | æ | É | |||
| open | a • ɶ | ɑ • ɒ | |||
I will go over, briefly, the characteristics of this table, mainly because that's as far as I understand them. If you feel inclined, please feel free to click around the actual table).
Sounds are distinguished by formants, which are the preferred resonating frequencies of any acoustical system (in this case, the human mouth). It is formants that secern between speaking and singing. In short, just how you make a sound. We will concentrate simply on the vowel sounds and their formants.
There seem to be three defining characteristics (or formants) of a vowel sound: vowel height, vowel backness, and vowel roundedness. The first formant (F1) is vowel height: the positioning of the tongue in relation to the roof of the mouth. A close vowel height means getting the tongue as close to the roof of the mouth without creating a consonant. An open vowel height is when the tongue remains low in the mouth. Close vowel are often called high vowels and result in vowel sounds such as mine, die, sky and others. The IPA defines seven different vowel heights (open, near-open, open-mid, mid, close-mid, near-close, and close) though no language distinguishes all of them. The schwa is the ONLY mid vowel identified by the International Phonetic Alphabet. GO SCHWA!!!!
The second formant (F2) is vowel backness: the position of the tongue in relation to the back of the mouth (these terms are becoming apparent in their nomination, eh?). A front vowel backness means getting the tongue as far forward as possible (again, without creating a consonant). A back vowel backness means quite the opposite, as you might imagine. The IPA identifies five degrees of vowel backness (front, near-front, central, near-back, and back).
The third formant, I believe (though the encyclopedia I am using for reference does not define this as being the third formant), is vowel roundedness: the amount of rounding in the lips during the articulation of a vowel. Rounded vowels are created by forming a circular opening, while unrounded vowels are created through relaxed lips. In most languages, front vowels tend to be unrounded, while back vowels are rounded; certain languages (e.g. French and German) distinguish between rounded and unrounded vowels at the same height and backness. In the table, the vowels that are in the boxes are listed as unrounded and rounded, respectively, separated by a little dot. For instance, the close front vowels are "i" and "y," separated by a tiny dot.
There are two ways of creating a rounded vowel: endolabial and exolabial. Endolabial rounding occurs when you draw the corners of the mouth slightly in to form an O with your mouth, but without protruding your lips (as with your jaw dropping in shock). Only the outer part of the lips are exposed. Exolabial rounding occurs when you draw the corners in, but push out your lips, as in kissing. The inner surface of the lips is exposed. Ellen, you'll be happy to hear that Swedish is an unusual language, making a phonemic distinction between exolabial and endolabial forms of close-mid front unrounded vowels. Apparently this is an unusual phonemic distinction. As with much of this, I have no idea what that means.
This is all so stuffy, but it's nice to know there's a very clear, scientific understanding of language. It's a wonderful intersection of physics and English and I'm very much interested in it.
Well, I had fun, anyway. Though I really ought to sleep at some point. Grading may have been a more productive use of my time, but I know this was more educational.
I've created links for the top row (vowel backness) and the left column (vowel height), so please click on them just to make me feel better. The actual vowel sounds in the chart are links as well, though some of the symbols did not show up in my humble, little journal.
If you're interested, here is a list of phonetics topics to browse at your heart's content.
post script: does anyone know anything about this GNU Free Documentation License? Joseph Price, Mark LeVota, DeCelles? Are you guys out there? I know you'd know. Frère Jacques, tu sais ce que je veux dire?
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