Sunday, November 24, 2019

Voiced vs. Unvoiced Pronunciation

Voiced vs. Unvoiced Pronunciation Voiced vs. Unvoiced Pronunciation Voiced vs. Unvoiced Pronunciation By Maeve Maddox Two terms I often use when writing about pronunciation are voiced and unvoiced. Apparently they are not as familiar in this context as I assumed they were. A reader has asked me to explain my use of them. In one sense, to voice something is the same as to say or speak it: Homeowners voice their concerns about increased earthquake activity. Likewise, in some contexts, unvoiced means unspoken: If people seem tense because of  unvoiced  disagreements, you may have to bring  concerns  out into the open. In the context of pronunciation, however, voiced and unvoiced refer to consonant sounds that are uttered with the lips, tongue and teeth in the same position, but which produce different sounds. Voiced sounds result when the vocal cords are touching and vibrate. Unvoiced sounds are pronounced with the vocal cords apart. For example, both sounds, /d/ and /t/ are uttered with the tongue in the same position, but the sound at the beginning of the word dog is voiced. The sound at the beginning of the word toy is unvoiced. The following English consonant letter pairs represent voiced and unvoiced sounds: b/p = boy, pit d/t = dog, toy v/f = van, fan Note: The usual spelling for the unvoiced sound in this pair is f. An exception is the word of, in which the letter f represents the voiced sound. j/tch = jet, witch Note: The letter g represents two sounds. The â€Å"soft† sound is the same as that of the letter j. The â€Å"hard† sound belongs to the following consonant pair. g/k = girl, kite The letter s and the letter-combination th represent both voiced and unvoiced sounds: s = music [voiced], sing [unvoiced] th = they [voiced], thin [unvoiced] The sound /zh/ is represented by the letter g in a few English words derived from French, such as genre and menagerie, but more often the sound /zh/ is spelled with the letter combination si: invasion, intrusion, vision. The /zh/ sound is also spelled with the letter s followed by u: visual, casual. The unvoiced sound of /zh/ is /sh/, as in ship. The sounds for the letters l, m, n, ng, and r are voiced. They do not have unvoiced equivalents in English. Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Spelling category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:Math or Maths?"Have" vs "Having" in Certain ExpressionsPreposition Mistakes #1: Accused and Excited

Thursday, November 21, 2019

Reaction paper Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 25

Reaction paper - Essay Example As a reaction to the freeing of slaves, some Southerners had resulted in killing government couriers as well as soldiers. The Southerners had indulged in an opposition against the Union, a factor that contributed to a complete absence of patriotism. Such factors explained why the president wanted Schurz to compile a report concerning the views of the Southerners. This paper will critically analyze some of the aspects discussed in the report presented by Schurz. In the report, Schurz discussed the attitudes of Southerners towards African Americans. The Southerners had harbored a belief that African Americans were unable to work without any form of compulsion (Johnson 309). In their view, African Americans could only be productive, if there were white masters compelling them to undertake tasks. In my view, this was a misconception because African-Americans could make a living by working as free people. The problem in the Southern States was that freed slaves never received the right opportunities to exploit their potential. In addition, the slave masters had spent several years with African Americans, but they did not understand their true characters. The report does highlight that the slave masters viewed African Americans as very deceitful. However, many African Americans serving as slaves were smart enough to hide their strategies from the masters. The Southerners also believed that African Americans only existed for one purpose. In their view, the purpose was cultivating cash crops such as cotton and rice (310). They opined that African Americans were not in a position to pursue their happiness. Such assumptions were wrong, African Americans had the will to pursue happiness, and their only barrier was slavery (308). The report also reveals that there were high levels of persecution directed towards African Americans