Blog Post #3-Be a Linguistic Detective!

1. The case of the Changing Prefix

      Balance - Imbalance ; Compatible - Incompatible ; Complete - Incomplete ; Decent - Indecent ; Glorious - Inglorious ; Gratitude - Ingratitude ; Legal - Illegal ; Literate - Illiterate ; Mature - Immature ; Perfect - Imperfect ; Possible - Impossible ; Rational - Irrational ; Responsible - Irresponsible ; Sane - Insane ; Tolerant - Intolerant ; Variable - Invariable.

Some of the prefixes are different because the of both the pronunciation as well as the meaning the prefix gives the word. Although the prefixes in- im- ir- and il- have the same negative meaning, they can either mean not or without giving the original word a completely different meaning.

2. The Case of the Shifting Plural Suffix

          A. baT - voiceless alveolar stops
             booK - voiceless velar stops
             couGH - voiceless labiodental fricative
             shiP - voiceless bilabial stops
          B. caB - voiced bilabial stops
               caVE - voiced labiodental fricative
               laD - voiced alveolar stops
               raG - voiced velar stops
              thiNG - voiced velar nasal
          C. bUs - central vowel  / ə /
               bUsh - central vowel  / ə /
               chUrch - central vowel  / ə /
                jUdge - central vowel  / ə /
                mAze -  central vowel  / ə /
        a. In words like Bat, Book, Cough and Ship the pronunciation of the words have one specific thing in common, which is the fact the the words are voiceless. Making the plural -s sound like / s / .
        b. In words like Cab, Cave, Lad, Rag and thing the pronunciation of the words are all voiced. Making the plural -s sound like / z /.
        c. In words like Bus, Bush, Church, Judge and Maze consist of central vowels, meaning there is no emphasis on the vowel, making the plural -s sound like an / ez /.