Extra Credit BP - Syntax Tasks

Blog Post #5 - Practicing Etymology and Morphology

1)WORD: Whimsical 

ETYMOLOGY:  first seen in 1645, coming from the word whimsy which in fact originated in 1595.

WORD FORMATION: this is a borrowed word .

MORPHEMES: Whim-      -sical 

                          (root)         (suffix) 

                      free/lexical    bound/derivational 

2) WORD: Oozing 

ETYMOLOGY: first seen before 1000, coming from the old French word wase;Middle English word wose.

WORD FORMATION:  this is a borrowed word.

MORPHEMES: Ooz-           -ing
                          (stem)         (suffix)
                        free/lexical    bound/inflectional

3)WORD: Abosfuckinglutely    

ETYMOLOGY: first seen in the first episode of Sex & the City; a combination of "absolutely" and "fuck yeah".

WORD FORMATION: this word is a  Pseudo-infixation. 

MORPHEMES: Abso-         Fucking-        -Lutely 
                         (root)           (stem)              (suffix)
                     free/lexical     free/lexical       bound/inflectional  

4) WORD: Unreliable

ETYMOLOGY: first seen in 1830, coming from the word reliable.

WORD FORMATION: this is a borrowed word.

MORPHEMES: Un-                     reli                     -able
                        (prefix)           (partial stem)             (suffix)
              bound/derivational    bound/lexical      bound/derivational

5)WORD: Irresistible

ETYMOLOGY:  first seen in the 1580's, coming from the word resist. 

WORD FORMATION: this is a  borrowed word.

MORPHEMES: Ir-                         resist-                  -able
                        (prefix)                   (stem)                  (suffix) 
                  bound/derivational      free/lexical         bound/derivational 
 

 

Blog Post #4- Web 2.0, Social Networking, and Technology

1. In my opinion, the rise of social networking does indeed affect the use of language. Some prime examples are the use of "smiley-faces" which indicate how a person is feeling at a given moment by just using symbols such as :'( would mean crying ;-) would mean winking/flirting. Another example would be found in text messaging, text messaging is a language in its own, to communicate that you'll be right back one would simply write the acronym "BRB". A final example would be using everyday words to mean something completely different, for example while some people associate blood with the liquid that flows through your body a group of teenagers might associate it with a gang.
2. I would say yes, because many things that are found on the Internet and in other forms of technology are written in English. Aside from that reason, most of the vernacular used on the Internet and other social networking are mainly English based.

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 /.

BlogPost #2- How Do You Say Your Name?

1)   Soledad
      /so lə dɒ /

2) The first syllable in my name has an onset of a voiceless alveolar fricative and a back mid vowel, "so." The second syllable in my name has an onset of a voiced alveolar liquid with a central, mid non-accented vowel,  "lə." Finally, the last syllable of my name has an onset of a voiced alveolar stops with a back, low vowel, "dɒ."

3) To pronounce my name correctly you would have to start by putting the front of your tongue on the alveolar bridge and make an "s" sound follwed by a short "o" sound. Then you would have to once again put the front of your tongue on the alveolar bridge and make an "l" sound followed by an "eh" sound. Finally you would have to once again place the front of your tongue on the alveolar bridge and make a "d" sound followed by an "ah" sound. When you put it together you should get something that sounds like this "so-LEH-dah."

Blog Post #1

My name, as already implied, is Soledad, I speak fluent English as well as Spanish. As a child my first language was Spanish which was spoken in my house more often than not until i turned 14. In school it is generally required for me to speak in English which has now become the tongue i use most often. I was asked if the language i speak at home,school, or work are the same and unfortunately i dont have an answer for that. It depends on who's home, when its just me and my siblings we speak English, however when the adults get home we speak Spanish. When im with my friends i generally speak in English unless im upset or confused. When i write i prefer to write in English however when i read Spanish seems more natural to me. I can read and write in both languages without a problem but in the back of my mind theres always some sort of difference that i really wouldnt be able to explain. When learning a new language i was taught in the same way, i was showed a picture then told the word which i then had to repeat. this is also the same process ive been using to learn japanese. Im not really sure how language came about, if i were to guess I'd have to say that each language is an offspring of another, and using actions, pictures, or sound is how many words came to form. i do wander how it is that it was decided that blue was a color and not in fact a word meaning jump. I would love to find out how many words came about and how did that "stick." who decided what each word meant and why? Inconclusion, every language is similar in one way or another, in my opion, and for me was taught all the same way. By seeing listening and repeating.  

HELLO!!