Word Order between the English and Chinese Languages - Assignment Example

Problem set Chapter 6 Question 3 Phonetic transcriptions of the listed words a. Physics – fiziks b. Merry - meri c. Marry - mari d. Mary - meri e. Yellow - yelo f. Sticky - stɪki g. Music - mʊzik h. Abbot - abot i. Beat – bi:t j. Weather - wɛðər  k. Goat - gəʊt l. Your name – Chapter 6 Question 9 a. [ɡ] [p] [t] [d] [k] [b] Features: velar, voiced, stop b. [ᵾ] [ʊ] [oː] [ͻ] [u] [ʊ] [ͻ] [ɒ] Features: Voiceless c. [iː] [ɪ] [e] [æ] [i] [ɪ] [ɛ] [æ] Features: voiced d. [t] [s] [ʃ] [p] [k] [ʧ] [f] [h] Features: voiceless e. [v] [z] [Ʒ] [ʤ] [n] [ɡ] [d] [b] [l] [ɹ] [w] [j] Features: fricative, voiced f. [t] [d] [s] [n] [l] Features: voiced Chapter 7 Question 6 a. The specific feature in all final segments in column A is [–syll] since the sounds are voiceless consonants. In B, the feature is [+syll] since they are voiced consonants. b. All words differ in column C from those in column A & B since they are all open syllables. All the words in the column end with vowels. c. [˄ɪ] and [aɪ] are in complementary distribution since the two sounds never come about in a similar environment. [˄ɪ] appears before a voiceless consonant, whereas [aɪ] appears in the open syllables and before the voiced consonants. d. Since the allophones [˄ɪ] and [aɪ] are of the same phoneme, they should be derived from /aɪ/ since it occurs in multiple environments. [˄ɪ] only occurs before a voiceless consonant. e. Phonetic representations: Life [lʌɪf] Lives [laɪvz] Lie [laɪ] File [fʌɪl] Bike [bʌɪk] Lice [lʌɪs] f. A rule that will relate the phonemic representations to the words in (e) above. / aɪ/ á [˄ɪ]/ in [-syll] [aɪ] in the other places Chapter 7 Question 16 a. The morphemes ‘I’ and ‘you’ assume the verb conjugate meaning since they can change their form based on a number or a person. In this case, the personal pronouns are not utilized in conjugation. Instead, the personal prefixes or affixes are applicable. b. The allomorphs for ‘I’ are in complementary distribution since they do not form a negative opposition with the other. Conversely, ‘you’ is in complementary distributions since there is not negation between the allophones. c. Assuming we want one phonemic form to underlie each allomorph, what should it be Chapter 8 Question 8 a. The 1.6 year old child deletes the voiced stops and also devoices [z]. The 2 year old child devoices all the final consonants. The final consonant rule for the 1.6 year old is [voiced stop] →ø /___#, /z/→[s] /___#. For the 2 year old: [voiced consonant] → voiceless / ____ #. From the set of rules, there is a possibility of identifying that the final consonants are behaving differently since they are the ones undergoing the rule. For this reason, they represent a natural class. b. The 1.6 year old is simplifying the consonant clusters, which is easily identified when pronouncing the word slide. For the 2 year old, the liquids develop into glides as identified from pronouncing the word light. Chapter 8 Question 12 a. The Egyptian Arabic speakers insert the vowel [i] after the first consonant that occurs in the cluster of consonants. b. The Iraqi Arabic speakers also insert the vowel [i] which appears before the initial consonant in the cluster of consonants. c. The first list, Arabic A, belongs to belongs to Egyptian Arabic, whereas Arabic B, belongs to Iraqi Arabic. Chapter 10 Question 9 The statement is an example of the use of double negatives in a sentence, which is not standard for both written and formal use of English. However, such a statement is common in informal speech. Consequently, from a formal or written point of view, the statement is illogical just as the corrector indicates. From an informal point of view, the speaker is trying to emphasize that he will not get anything. The statement is not acceptable according to English standards since the two negatives cancel out to form a weak affirmation. In this case, the speaker is likely to get something. This argument indicates that the speaker is not illogical. Chapter 11 Question 3 a. It nothing pleased his master. Modern English: There is nothing that pleased his master Change: The alteration of the sentence structure since a negation occurs after a finite element. b. He hath said that we would lift them whom that him please. Modern English: He said that he is likely to lift those people that please him. Change: An alteration in the construction of word orders from SOV to SVO. c. I have a brother is condemned to die. Modern English: I have a brother that has been condemned to death. Change: The inclusion of a relative pronoun that is omitted in the Old English. d. I bade them take away you Modern English: I requested them to take you away. Change: The inclusion of a pronoun between an adverb and a verb. e. I wish you was still more a Tartar. Modern English: I wish you were more of a Tartar. Change: Modern English leaves out the phrase ‘still more.’ Instead, Modern English concentrates on using the word ‘were’ after the word ‘you.’ f. Christ slept and his apostles. Modern English: Christ as well as his apostles slept. Change: The Modern English includes conjunctures that were not characteristic of Old English. g. Me was told. Modern English: I was told. Change: ‘I’ is used as a grammatical subject in Modern English, which depicts the change from using pronouns such as ‘me.’ Word order between the English language and Chinese In linguistics, the concept of word order is essential for making reference to syntactic elements. These elements are essential for language development. In a considerable number of circumstances determine the correlation between several words. One of the most essential word orders is defined with the utilization of finite verbs (V) as well as objects and subjects (SVO). A normal transitive sentence is characteristic of six possible word orders that are theoretical in nature. However, SVO is a basic character o all languages around the globe, which is one of the most essential concerns of this paper. Nevertheless, the preference considered in this discussion relates to the English and the Chinese languages (Xin, 2012). The primary objective of this section is to compare and contrast the different views of word order. The order of words in Chinese is considerably important as those in the English language. When considering these word orders comparatively, there is a possibility of determining that the sentence constituents available follow the SVO order. However, this comparison negates the assumption that both the English as well as the Chinese word orders are similar. Initially sentence structures of Chinese sentences are similar since verbs precede objects. For this reason, there is a possibility of referring to the structures as characteristic of the SVO order, which is standard in the identification of the language systems. For instance, the sentence, “I learn Mandarin.” In such a case, the Chinese structure assumes a similar arrangement as the English structure. In Chinese, the word order will be 我学中文, in which 我 will be I, 学 will be learn, and 中文will be Mandarin. Such a sentence assumes the exact same order of words. For this reason, the arrangement identified is an indication that the interpretation of the language in terms of the order of words presented has no issue. However, the difference identified relates to the inflection of the verbs available in the Chinese and the English languages. In this case, the Chinese language does not inflect the verbs due to the non-existence of past and future tenses, and the singular sentence forms (Yan & Deng, 2009). One of the most essential examples to consider includes the sentence below. He goes to the park, which is translated as, tā qù gongyuán From the identified example, there is a possibility of indicating that the Chinese language refers to the measure of words taken to replace some of the words that consider actual tenses in reference to the spoken words. Consequently, it would be easy for an individual to identify that the measure words used in the Chinese language are more than those available in the English language. Instead, these measure words are utilised whenever the nouns are considered in a numerical order or after the utilizations of determinants such as ‘that’ or ‘this.’ It is possible to illustrate such a provision in the sentence below: ‘Two pieces of cake,’ which is identified as, liǎng kuài gāo In this regard, the basic structures available in the two languages are similar. However, the components are not the same since they are dependent on the complexity of the sentences, which is essential for determining the difference between the two languages. The other observation identified is that the language order characteristic in the negative word order of statements is in contrast. For instance, they are not teachers can be identified as tāmen (they) + bù (not) + shì (are) + laoshi (teachers). In this case, the most vital form to note is that English correlates the negative component available and the verb used. ‘Not’ is placed after the linking verbs. Such a correlation is non-existent in the Chinese language since the negative components are placed after the subject but not the verb. The literal translation in consideration does not provide the correct and meaningful sentence. The other complication in the English language is the consideration of tenses that are not applicable in the Chinese language (Cheng & Li, 2011). For this reason, auxiliary verbs should be placed after the subject before the application of the word ‘not.’ This situation creates a different order in relation to negative sentences. An example, the sentence, ‘I don’t like exams’ can be identified as wǒ (I) + bù (not) + Xinhua (like) + kǎoshì (exams). In the English sentence, the auxiliary verb ‘do’ does not exist in the arrangement available in the Chinese language. This unavailability is also present in some of the auxiliary verbs such as ‘does’ and ‘did.’ When considering interrogation forms, the word order available in the Chinese language differs from the aspects considered in the English language. Such a provision relates to the rules governing question words. In the Chinese language, question words are applicable at the end of every sentence. For instance, words such as who, what, when, and where are placed after sentences, which is an aspect that is in opposition to the English language that considers placing these words in the beginning of each sentence. In order to consider such a provision in a sentence, one of the best examples is to use the sentence below. ‘What do you say?’ in the Chinese language, the translation would be, 你说什么? In the Chinese language, the literal translation of this statement would be, ‘You say what?’ for this reason, there is a possibility of identifying the number of variations in relations for the manner in which the word order appears in the identified languages. There are a considerable number of differences existing between the order of words available in the Chinese and the English language. In this regard, one of the most vital aspects to consider relates to the similarities existing between the two languages, which relates to the consideration of SVO, which is one a primary aspect that assists in the differentiation of different languages. References Bybee, J., & Hopper, P. (2001). Frequency and the emergence of linguistic structure. Amsterdam: J. Benjamins. California., California., & Center for Child and Family Studies (WestEd). (2009).Preschool English learners: Principles and practices to promote language, literacy, and learning : a resource guide. Sacramento, CA: California Dept. of Education. Chen, J.-Y., & Li, C.-Y. (2011). Word form encoding in Chinese word naming and word typing. Cognition, 121(1), 211. Dirven, R., & Verspoor, M. (2004). Cognitive exploration of language and linguistics. Amsterdam: J. Benjamins. Fitch, W. T. (2010). The evolution of language. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Katamba, F. (2011). An introduction to phonology. Harlow: Longman. Xin, W. (2012). Semantic Comparison Between Chinese and English Idioms Containing Color Words. Canadian Social Science, 8(5), 43. Yan, Y., & Deng, T. (2009). On Chinese loan words from English language. English Language Teaching, 2(4), 21. Read More