Phonetics/PhonologyMarhaba. (Arabic; Middle East)
Oh, unrelated to this entry but related to the greeting-- in Swahili, when you greet an elder, you say "Shikamoo." The elder responds with, "Marahaba." As you can see, Swahili borrows Arabic words.
In my French literature class the other day, we were discussing Jean de la Fontaine's fable poetry. His poems consist of two parts: the illustration of the fable, and the moral of the story. Our professor called them le coeur (the heart, the core) and l'âme (the spirit) of the poem, respectively. Everyone in the class scurried to write those terms down.
I then casually glanced at my neighbor's notes. Sorry, I wasn't trying to be nosy. But what she had written caught my eyes:
le corps & l'homme
...'the body and the man.'
I first doubted myself and thought, "Did I hear him wrong?" But neh... the prof said it again, and it was confirmed: SHE heard it wrong.
What he said:
le coeur [lə kœʀ]
l'âme [lɑm]
What she heard:
le corps [lə kɔʀ]
l'homme [lɔm]
I can kind of see where she got it, but where is this tendency to hear the vowels as a mid-back vowel /ɔ/coming from?!
I would maaaybe understand if it were two rounded back vowels or something... for example,
l'amour [lamuʀ]
and
la mort [la mɔʀ]
Those two are so hard to distinguish, saying and hearing. I remember I spent about 5 minutes with my French teacher last semester repeating the two words until I recognized the distinction. lawl.
Oh, I didn't say anything to my neighbor about her error.... hee.
SOCKS OF THE DAY WOO
Cotton piano print ankle socks, teal. Made in Japan. My casual socks to go with sneakers and such... so what if you can't see them. Socks must be cool always.
Oh, unrelated to this entry but related to the greeting-- in Swahili, when you greet an elder, you say "Shikamoo." The elder responds with, "Marahaba." As you can see, Swahili borrows Arabic words.
In my French literature class the other day, we were discussing Jean de la Fontaine's fable poetry. His poems consist of two parts: the illustration of the fable, and the moral of the story. Our professor called them le coeur (the heart, the core) and l'âme (the spirit) of the poem, respectively. Everyone in the class scurried to write those terms down.
I then casually glanced at my neighbor's notes. Sorry, I wasn't trying to be nosy. But what she had written caught my eyes:
le corps & l'homme
...'the body and the man.'
I first doubted myself and thought, "Did I hear him wrong?" But neh... the prof said it again, and it was confirmed: SHE heard it wrong.
What he said:
le coeur [lə kœʀ]
l'âme [lɑm]
What she heard:
le corps [lə kɔʀ]
l'homme [lɔm]
I can kind of see where she got it, but where is this tendency to hear the vowels as a mid-back vowel /ɔ/coming from?!
I would maaaybe understand if it were two rounded back vowels or something... for example,
l'amour [lamuʀ]
and
la mort [la mɔʀ]
Those two are so hard to distinguish, saying and hearing. I remember I spent about 5 minutes with my French teacher last semester repeating the two words until I recognized the distinction. lawl.
Oh, I didn't say anything to my neighbor about her error.... hee.
SOCKS OF THE DAY WOO
Cotton piano print ankle socks, teal. Made in Japan. My casual socks to go with sneakers and such... so what if you can't see them. Socks must be cool always.
0
0