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Author Topic: Funny English and Linguistics stuff...  (Read 215142 times)

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Offline rivka

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Re: Funny English and Linguistics stuff...
« Reply #1250 on: March 26, 2018, 05:42:39 PM »
The letter y also represents a vowel in Welsh.
It sometimes does in English too, though. I have heard versions of the vowel song that end "and sometimes Y".
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Offline Jonathon

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Re: Funny English and Linguistics stuff...
« Reply #1251 on: March 26, 2018, 10:04:09 PM »
Yeah, but it represents a vowel by default in Welsh.
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Offline rivka

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Re: Funny English and Linguistics stuff...
« Reply #1252 on: March 27, 2018, 06:38:12 AM »
"Sometimes you need a weirdo to tell you that things have gotten weird. Your normal friends, neighbors, and coworkers won’t tell you."
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Offline Dobie

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Offline Ela

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Re: Funny English and Linguistics stuff...
« Reply #1254 on: March 28, 2018, 12:03:53 PM »
 :D

Welsh spelling is just fantastic. If you try to sound it out in English, forget it. Nothing sounds like you think it should.


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Offline Kate Boots

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Re: Funny English and Linguistics stuff...
« Reply #1255 on: March 29, 2018, 11:37:03 AM »
The letter y also represents a vowel in Welsh.
It sometimes does in English too, though. I have heard versions of the vowel song that end "and sometimes Y".

When I learned the rhyme it ended "and sometimes Y and W."

Offline rivka

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Re: Funny English and Linguistics stuff...
« Reply #1256 on: March 29, 2018, 02:24:25 PM »
That is so interesting! I never heard it that way before.
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Offline Jonathon

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Re: Funny English and Linguistics stuff...
« Reply #1257 on: March 29, 2018, 02:56:31 PM »
Me neither. And in what English words does w represent a vowel? The only one I can think of is cwm, which is a borrowing from Welsh.
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Offline rivka

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Re: Funny English and Linguistics stuff...
« Reply #1258 on: March 29, 2018, 03:59:57 PM »
As Dobie's video points out, it is part of a vowel ("aw") in many words.
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Offline Dobie

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Re: Funny English and Linguistics stuff...
« Reply #1259 on: March 29, 2018, 04:27:22 PM »
In many Welsh words in which w precedes another vowel, the vowel sound of the w is so short that it sounds like an English w. ("Anwyl" sounds more like "on wheel" than "on oo eel".)

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Re: Funny English and Linguistics stuff...
« Reply #1260 on: March 30, 2018, 08:25:05 AM »
That's why I said it represents a vowel by default. Both w and y can represent semivowels at times.

As Dobie's video points out, it is part of a vowel ("aw") in many words.

I didn't actually watch the video, but I think this is one reason why it's important to distinguish sounds and the way we represent those sounds. Strictly speaking, vowels and consonants are sounds, not letters. A word like awl has one vowel and one consonant, despite its spelling.

And even when w and y represent semivowels in Welsh, it's always as part of a diphthong, so you could still consider those instances to be part of one vowel.
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Offline Tante Shvester

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Re: Funny English and Linguistics stuff...
« Reply #1261 on: March 30, 2018, 12:12:08 PM »
The letter y also represents a vowel in Welsh.
It sometimes does in English too, though. I have heard versions of the vowel song that end "and sometimes Y".

When I learned the rhyme it ended "and sometimes Y and W."
I've heard it that way, but it never made sense to me because I could never think of any words where "w" was a vowel. Maybe Mrs. Deere, my 1st grade teacher was Welch.
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Offline Dobie

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Re: Funny English and Linguistics stuff...
« Reply #1262 on: March 30, 2018, 03:13:15 PM »
That's why I said it represents a vowel by default. Both w and y can represent semivowels at times.

As Dobie's video points out, it is part of a vowel ("aw") in many words.

I didn't actually watch the video, but I think this is one reason why it's important to distinguish sounds and the way we represent those sounds. Strictly speaking, vowels and consonants are sounds, not letters. A word like awl has one vowel and one consonant, despite its spelling.

And even when w and y represent semivowels in Welsh, it's always as part of a diphthong, so you could still consider those instances to be part of one vowel.

https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/vowel

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Re: Funny English and Linguistics stuff...
« Reply #1263 on: August 06, 2018, 11:39:08 AM »
You underestimate my ability to take things seriously!

Offline Ela

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Re: Funny English and Linguistics stuff...
« Reply #1264 on: August 14, 2018, 07:44:43 PM »


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Offline rivka

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Re: Funny English and Linguistics stuff...
« Reply #1265 on: August 14, 2018, 10:56:58 PM »
 :D
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Re: Funny English and Linguistics stuff...
« Reply #1266 on: August 16, 2018, 06:35:19 AM »
"When Alexander saw the breadth of his domain, he wept for there were no more worlds to conquer..."

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Re: Funny English and Linguistics stuff...
« Reply #1267 on: August 19, 2018, 12:36:02 PM »
I wonder what one molass would look like.
Fighting thread drift with guilt, reverse psychology, and chicken soup.
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Re: Funny English and Linguistics stuff...
« Reply #1268 on: August 28, 2018, 05:26:39 PM »
"When Alexander saw the breadth of his domain, he wept for there were no more worlds to conquer..."

Offline Jonathon

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Re: Funny English and Linguistics stuff...
« Reply #1269 on: August 28, 2018, 05:54:34 PM »
 :o
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Re: Funny English and Linguistics stuff...
« Reply #1270 on: August 29, 2018, 02:49:55 PM »
You underestimate my ability to take things seriously!

Offline Ela

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Re: Funny English and Linguistics stuff...
« Reply #1271 on: August 31, 2018, 12:02:07 PM »
Ha.  :D


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Re: Funny English and Linguistics stuff...
« Reply #1272 on: September 07, 2018, 08:46:53 AM »
You underestimate my ability to take things seriously!

Offline Ela

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Re: Funny English and Linguistics stuff...
« Reply #1273 on: September 07, 2018, 01:12:52 PM »
That's twisting my brain power.  :D


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Offline rivka

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Re: Funny English and Linguistics stuff...
« Reply #1274 on: September 07, 2018, 04:41:59 PM »
[pedant] A boat that holds a boat is not a lifeboat. That is the boat held by the boat, not the reverse. And it should perhaps be apartment building, but not apartment. [/pedant]
"Sometimes you need a weirdo to tell you that things have gotten weird. Your normal friends, neighbors, and coworkers won’t tell you."
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