Essays on Linguistics

Unit 1 – Phonetics and Phonology 1.1 Introduction Phonetics is an empirical science which studies human speech sounds. It tells us how sound are produced, thus describing the articulatory and acoustic properties of sounds, and furnishes us with methods for this classification. Phonetics is divided into three main branches: – Articulatory phonetics: Studies the nature…

Rizal lived in exile in faraway Dapitan, a remote town in Mindanao which was under the missionary jurisdiction of the Jesuits, from 1892 to 1896. This four – year interregnum in his life was tediously unexciting, but was abundantly fruitful with varied achievements. Beginning of Exile in Dapitan Steamer Cebu – brought Rizal to Dapitan…

 Categorical Propositions What are categorical propositions? Propositions are proposals, statements or concepts that either shows affirmation or negation. A proposition also seeks the truth or falsity of the claim. Categorical proposition differs from hypothetical propositions. In the categorical propositions there are three elements that can be distinguished and these are the subject term, predicate term…

“There will come soft rains” is both the title for the short story by Ray Bradbury and the poem by Sara Teasdale and the poem is embedded in the short story. The poem and short story were written in 1920 and 1950 respectively, shortly after WWI and WWII. Thus it is not surprising that both…

The term assumes slightly different meanings in different contexts but in literature discourse means speech or writing normally longer than sentences which deals with a certain subject formally in the form of writing or speech. In other words, discourse is the presentation of language in its entirety while performing an intellectual inquiry in a particular…

Sincere gratitude is hereby extended to the following who never ceased in helping until this paper is structured: First of all, to our parents who gave us time, financial support and permission to this project, without them this paper would not be done. To our beloved professor, Ma’am Anarina Nautan for guiding us and giving…

A Summary of “Newfoundlandese If You Please,” Diane Mooney captures the diverse language of the Newfoundlanders in her essay “Newfoundlanse, If You Please”. She explains how the language has evolved and the different way of speaking in all the communities of Newfoundland. The Southern part of the Island is mostly predominant by the Catholic-Irish and…

After all, accountants, salespeople and designers all communicate in the same language. Write a few paragraphs expressing your own ideas on each of these statements. The two quoted statements invite one to assess the similarities and differences between General English and Business English courses, statement 1 stressing the differences and statement 2 the similarities. I…

Language acquisition: Nature or Nurture?The story of Genie is undoubtedly one of the saddest ones one can imagine. What has been done to her is something no one would ever wish to anyone, not even to their worst enemies. Her story begins on November 4th, 1970, when she and her blind mother walk into the…

If you are learning English because you intend to travel in England and wish to be understood there, do not try to speak English perfectly because if you do, no one will understand you. Though there is no such thing as perfectly correct English, there is presentable English which we call ‘Good English’, but in…