Discussion Post #4

[Xiwei Gu]

Sounds refer to the way words are pronounced while spelling focuses more on the written form of words. I believe that the relationship between these two is accentuated most in English as the phonetics can be explained in methods of composing letters. I search on the Internet that American English has about 44 unique speech sounds whereas Mandarin has only 4. Pinyin is the fundamental way of learning how to speak Mandarin. There is also sounds that maybe difficult for English speakers to produce or differentiate from one another. “Q” sound is similar to the “ch” in the Scottish word “Loch.” An example of a Mandarin word with this sound is “qin,” which means “close” or “relative.” One of my friends last name is “Qu,” which most post office staffs cannot pronounce. One other strange example is “Ü” （not even in the keyboard that I have to copy it from the internet）. This is a unique sound in Mandarin that doesn’t exist in any other languages. It's similar to the "u" in "mute," but pronounced with the lips rounded. An example of a Mandarin word with this sound is "lüè" (略), which means "to skip." It is also important to note that Mandarin has four tones which can change the meaning of a word even if the pronunciation is similar. I notice from Ethan’s discussion that formal and informal conversations can alter the word choice and resultant sound in Korean. Also, the vowel and consonant sounds should be differentiated in daily usage. The first step for me is to find some tutoring videos online with authentic pronunciation. Then, I will connect with my partner and try to speak with them. With immediate feedback, I can adjust and improve my speaking.

[Ethan Han]

English doesn't make use of tone in their pronunciation. I think the difference in American English dialects changes not only through the words the person uses but also through the tones they used for the same words. A popular example is you all vs ya'll. In the south, ya'll is used very frequently even though it isn't a word. It is the combination of you and all but southerners get lazy and mesh the two words together. Even though you all and ya'll sound almost completely different they hold the same meaning.