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watizname
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We can't even fund the schools now to teach just the 3 R's {thats Readin, Riten, and Rithmetic to all you young-uns} to a proficient level. Where
are we going to get the money to fund these new programs. Right now, Arts/music?--gone. Sports?-----gone. Auto shop, wood shop trade
programs?-------gone. Where does the funding come from, huh??????
I yam what I yam and that\'s all what I yam.
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bajalinda
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Interesting thread, you all. Going way back to the earlier post about being able to reproduce sounds (or not) after the age of 5 years old, here is a
little factoid that, for some reason, has stuck with me since college days. When you compare the number of sounds that different languages have,
French is way at the bottom of the list with a very small number (if not the smallest number of sounds), whereas one of the Slavic languages - could
well have been Czech if memory serves - is way at the top of the list with many more sounds. (And yes, there really are people who count and study
this stuff.)
So, to make a really broad generalization, it follows that the French would have a more difficult time (after childhood) mastering pronunciation of
other languages since they have a smaller repertoire of sounds in their native language to begin with. Interesting thought - just thought I'd throw
that in there and, no darn it , I can't remember where English falls on the continuum of number of sounds.
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DENNIS
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| Quote: | Originally posted by bajalinda
no darn it , I can't remember where English falls on the continuum of number of sounds. |
Phoneme info for English:
http://www.antimoon.com/forum/2005/6356.htm
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vgabndo
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Linda, thanks for joining-in. I think you make good points, and I found a lot of information to think about on that score. From my minor in fine arts
speech, I could only remember dipthongs as sophisticated language parts, but that revealed this:
http://linguistics.stackexchange.com/questions/1575/why-does...
Undoubtedly, there are people who cannot afford to give the anchor of sanity even the slightest tug. Sam Harris
"The situation is far too dire for pessimism."
Bill Kauth
Carl Sagan said, "We are a way for the cosmos to know itself."
PEACE, LOVE AND FISH TACOS
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vgabndo
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Dennis...great source! So, it is just 40! Great! Except that there are two No. 17s on the list which makes 39 sounds, and the mental masturbation
continues!
At my local supermarket there is a recorded voice trying to sell things over the PA system. The speaker talks so slowly as to sound truly ludicrous,
and much of his speech is very carefully crafted so that when he says FUR instead of FOR on every occasion, I can only smile at the obvious pretense!
Being mostly self-educated, I've experienced knowing and understanding far more words than I've heard spoken. That has been a negative. My debating
skills have been reduced because I hesitate to use the most appropriate word or name when I am unsure of the pronunciation and don't want my argument
tainted by the appearance of ignorance. (Assuming my opponent knows how the word is pronounced :lol
That is probably just the shadow shame I'm still carrying for dropping-out of college 44 years ago. And ego.
[Edited on 3-31-2012 by vgabndo]
Undoubtedly, there are people who cannot afford to give the anchor of sanity even the slightest tug. Sam Harris
"The situation is far too dire for pessimism."
Bill Kauth
Carl Sagan said, "We are a way for the cosmos to know itself."
PEACE, LOVE AND FISH TACOS
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bajalinda
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Thanks for the links!
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DENNIS
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| Quote: | Originally posted by vgabndo
Dennis...great source! So, it is just 40! Great! Except that there are two No. 17s on the list which makes 39 sounds, and the mental masturbation
continues!
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Lots of info on the subject on Google. Other sources say 42 etc. and all state good reasons.
I made a brief search for "Phenomes in the French language and couldn't come up with a simple number, but lots of other stuff. Parisians speak as
though their tongue is suspended in oil, so they probably can't count them as a lot of 'em ooze together.
Interestingly enough, Spanish has only around 23, but that number will be growing with the acceptance of Spanglish in the vocabulary.
Incidently.....I've been hanging sheetrock/drywall in a couple of rooms here and learned from a friend the Spanglish term for this is "Shirokiando."
Way mo betta than the English.
.
[Edited on 3-31-2012 by DENNIS]
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vgabndo
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"Shirokiando." Way mo betta than the English.
I love it!
I had a friend who's Spanglish for Comidas was Eatos. It didn't serve him very well!
Undoubtedly, there are people who cannot afford to give the anchor of sanity even the slightest tug. Sam Harris
"The situation is far too dire for pessimism."
Bill Kauth
Carl Sagan said, "We are a way for the cosmos to know itself."
PEACE, LOVE AND FISH TACOS
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bajalinda
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Well, I had no idea my post would trigger off such a research project! Thanks for all the info. Shirokiando?! - that's a good one!
So as native English speakers I guess we're fortunate to have a few more sounds in our repertoire - including that ole "th" sound which is not easy
for lots of people trying to learn English as a second language.
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watizname
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| Quote: | Originally posted by lencho
| Quote: | Originally posted by watizname
Where does the funding come from, huh??????
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But we do seem to have money to wage wars on the other side of the globe... |
I'm all for bring all our people home and spending all those billions on us. That is the US. Schools, infrastructure, new energy
sources, etc. I would rather spend it here in the US than fight those wars.
I yam what I yam and that\'s all what I yam.
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