Discussion Post 5

I vividly remember sitting in the living room with my cousins, laughing over Hebrew. “Just try it, say it,” they all laughed. I felt a rumbling in the back of my throat, trying to create that “chah” sound. My cousins all around started to make the noise; it sounded like an awful chorus, but I just could’t do it, at least not naturally. A lot of the Hebrew language uses that “chah” sound, which comes from the back of your throat, but the upper palate. This is one sound I specifically remember because my cousins noticed that with my native language, I couldn’t completely make that noise, but there are many more. And these sounds always tend to be rougher. Spanish and all the other Romance languages have a nice sound to them, while I have always said that Hebrew can be abrasive. Here are some of those words with sounds that are harder to pronounce for native English speakers: To brush: le’tzah tzeah (this one is a little bit of a tongue twister and has some hard sounds)Need/must:…

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Discussion Post 4

Israel is the only Jewish country in the world, and because of that, so much of its culture and national identity are connected to the Jewish religion. For many residents in Israel, being Jewish shapes public life, holidays, and even the weekly schedule. For example, Shabbat affects businesses, transportation, and family routines. Here in the United States, we call winter break Christmas break. And have off for all the Christian holidays. It is very interesting to think about how that norm is for the Jewish religion in Israel. At the same time, Israel is not culturally one-dimensional. Because it is located in the Middle East, it has also been influenced heavily by Arabic and Mediterranean cultures. You can see this in the food and music. Geography also plays a role in shaping culture. Israel is a small country, but it has very different regions. Jerusalem feels like the spiritual and historical center. It holds major religious importance for Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. After…

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Discussion Post 4

 There are many sounds in Chinese that are not used the same way, or don’t exist, as in American English. The most noticeable difference is in the tones used — I am learning to adjust my intonation to communicate the words I learn, as different tones can distinguish what would otherwise be the same words. There are four tones, usually labeled as first, second, third, and fourth (āáǎà), as well as a somewhat unofficial fifth “flat” tone. My  first lesson allowed me to practice with the pronunciation of the different pinyin (phonetic representations of words using a Latin alphabet), and while I began to understand each sound individually, recognizing them when they are put together to form words (and pronouncing those words) can still be a challenge. Two new sounds for me are “er” (ɘɾ) and “yü” (y), as I need to shape them in different ways than I am used to. Some other words that provide examples of different sounds are 冷 (lěng, ɭəŋ (with the third tone on the vowel), which means cold…

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Discussion Post #3

My target language, Catalan, fits well within Aitchison’s model of layered linguistic organization, from phonology and grammar to broader linguistic and other dimensions. At the grammatical level, its rich verbal morphology and SVO syntax structure shares a lot of similarities to other Romance languages that I am already familiar with. Therefore, grammatical acquisition for me is rather straightforward. Currently, my primary focus is on applied linguistics in order to build a basic understanding of Catalan. This includes paying attention to structures such as phonology, morphology, syntax, and vocabulary. As my understanding of the language increases increases, I consider to move toward sociolinguistic, anthropological linguistics and historical perspectives to develop a better understanding of Catalan, particularly its development from Latin and its divergence from other Romance, and specifically Ibero-Romance languages. Now having read Crystal’s How to Investigate Language…

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