Linguistics Chapter 13 Dictionary And Summarize Their Etymologies Answer Ekename Came From Old English Eaca

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116 • PART 2 Answer Key

Review, Practice, and Explore – Chapter 13

13.1 Logograms

Consider the following symbols, and determine whether they are logograms or ideograms or both. Is

it clear what each indicates, or might there be more than one interpretation? Describe what meaning

you think each is intended to convey. What other possible interpretations might exist?

13.2 Writing Systems

A. Go to the website http://www.wam.umd.edu/~rfradkin/alphapage.html, and carefully examine

the transition of the various alphabetic systems as graphically represented by Robert Fradkin.

Are there any in which the “leap” from one symbol to the next does not seem likely? What

kinds of things might account for the changes?

B. Consider the variation in handwriting systems. The way we are taught to form letters in school

blends into a unique system by the time we are adults; many people develop a blend of print-

ing and cursive, taking features of each into their own unique style. Consider letters like a/a and

make a list of other variations that you notice. Think about your own handwriting and the ways

in which it varies from the handwriting of other people you know. Write a paragraph summariz-

ing the issues raised here, focusing on the variations from a standard that are allowed in hand-

writing and why you think we generally allow them.

Answers will vary.

13.3 Old English Pronunciation Leaves Spelling Remnants

Our spelling conventions offer us a glimpse into the phonological history of the language. Notice the

inconsistencies we have with the pluralization of words that end in /f/:

Review, Practice, and Explore – Chapter 13 • 117

Some words that end in /f/ form their plural in the “regular” way. In Chapter 4, we saw that our

regular rule of pluralization is that if a word ends in a voiceless consonant, add /s/; so, roof /ruf/ →

/rufs/. Why, then, do we have forms like wolves and scarves instead of wolfs and scarfs? Because in

Old English, the vowel before the final s was pronounced, and a phonological rule of Old English

was that when a fricative came between voiced sounds, it, too, became voiced: the plural of wulf

‘wolf’ was [wulvas] phonetically, though it would be spelled wulfas. Old English had no voiced

fricatives as phonemes, so [f, θ, s] did not have [v, ð, z] as voiced counterparts phonemically, though

they did occur as allophones quite early in Old English. Later on in the Middle English period, after

influence from French, we began to use the letter v. So our current state of pluralization of words

that end in /f/ illustrates the conflict between our natural phonological rule of pluralization and the

influence of spelling on pronunciation.

Determine the plural of each of the following words, and then look them up in a dictionary.

Determine whether any of the plurals differ for British speakers and American English speakers.

Also, determine which of them have two accepted, standard spellings:

belief, leaf, roof, scarf, cuff, wolf, loaf, dwarf, brief, cliff, reef, hoof, proof, chief, knife, half,

calf, life, thief, wharf, chef, plaintiff, wife, shelf, handkerchief, giraffe, sheriff, whiff

Answers. There could also be other variations not indicated here.

belief beliefs

leaf leaves (but Leafs in the Toronto Maple Leafs)

roof roofs (but can be pronounced as /ruvz/)

13.4 Spelling Flukes

Mishearing and, therefore, misspelling happens more frequently with idiomatic phrases like these:

laughing stock as laughing stalk

nick picky for nit picky

I would just assume for I would just as soon

all intensive purposes for all intents and purposes

segue as sedge way

Why do you think the mishearings and consequent misspellings happen? Find examples of some

other typical mishearings that lead to misspellings.

Here are two historical misanalyses; that is, the words nickname and apron used to be ekename

(with separate vowel changes) and napron:

an ekename

a napron

Look up these words in the Oxford English Dictionary, and summarize their etymologies.

Review, Practice, and Explore – Chapter 13 • 119

Also consider the contemporary phrase a whole nother, in which the word another can be separated.

Do you think nother is likely to emerge as its own word? Why or why not?

13.5 Spelling Reform

Write a letter to the Simplified Spelling Society in which you outline the pros and cons of spell-

ing reform and make a recommendation to them for a modest reform or a complete overhaul of the

English spelling system.

13.6 Spelling Reform in Other Languages

Conduct some research on the spelling reform movements for other languages that have enjoyed

somewhat more success than those for English, including German, Japanese, Irish Gaelic,

Norwegian, Russian, Spanish, or Portuguese. In what ways was the reform successful? In what ways

did it fail? Were there features of the language and spelling system that made it easier to reform

compared to English? What sort of support (governmental, educational, etc.) seems to be required in

order for reforms to succeed?

13.7 Punctuation Fluctuation

Some punctuation conventions have more than one accepted standard. Use several online or printed

usage guides to see their recommendations for the following:

• commas with items in a series

• punctuation with quotations

• possessive apostrophes with words, especially names, already ending in <s>:

Jones’ house, Jones’s house, Joneses’ house

Summarize the recommendations and the reasoning behind each of the explanations.

Answers will vary.

13.8 Comma Rules

Find rules about comma usage from a usage guide, and list them. Which of the rules can a conscious

awareness of grammar help you with, and which are simply conventions of writing that must be

learned? Are all of the rules useful? If so, what purpose(s) do they serve?

Answers will vary.

Review, Practice, and Explore – Chapter 13 • 121

everything that was said, including “ums” and “ahs,” false starts, and so on. (You can leave out

names or substitute fake ones if you’d like.) Then answer the following questions:

• Did you include any pseudophonetic spellings: -in’, dunno, and so on?

• If so, which words did you do it with, and why? Do you know what guided your decisions to

select those words?

• How did you indicate interruptions and utterances that trailed off?

• Did you edit out anything besides names? Why?

• Are all the transcriptions of very casual conversations? Are any somewhat formal?

• What factors seem to affect the number of interruptions, unfinished utterances, the use of

slang?

Answers will vary.

B. Assume you’re a newspaper reporter who is selecting quotations from the conversation for an

article you’re writing. Which would you select, and how, if at all, would you alter them? Would

you put them in quotation marks?

Answers will vary.

13.13 Electronic English

Conduct some research and write a brief essay on the potential effects of IMing, text messaging,

and other e-mail and chat room communication. Consider questions such as these, among others: Is

there potential for some of these conventions to come into other genres of more formal writing? If

so, would that be detrimental to the written standard? How might teachers deal with such questions?

Answers will vary.

13.14 Dialect in Literature

In the following selections from Adriana Trigiani’s Big Stone Gap, the author uses various tech-

niques in her representation of language to convey something about the various characters. Some of

the names of her characters are listed, followed by a brief description of the character. The under-

lined words and phrases are typical of a Southern dialect, while the bolded examples convey the

informality of speech but aren’t unique to a specific dialect. Consider also how the age, socioeco-

nomic status, and education level are reflected here in the representation of language.

Fleeta Mullins—works at the counter in the pharmacy, lived in the Gap all her life:

Teena Lee—a second-grader:

122 • PART 2 Answer Key

Iva Lou Wade—librarian, driver of the bookmobile, in her 40s:

“Y’all scoot. And here’s my number when you get the information… well, honey-o, some-

body’s got to put a fire under your butt.” (pp. 98–99)

Ave Maria Mulligan—35-year-old pharmacist, college-educated:

13.15 Spelling Pronunciations

Remember that a spelling pronunciation is a pronunciation that reflects a word’s current spell-

ing, which differs from the way it was pronounced in previous generations. The following words

have undergone some kind of pronunciation change based on their spelling for many speakers

of American English. Research the etymologies and pronunciations of the following words, and

describe how they exhibit spelling pronunciations.

forehead, victuals, figure, ye, wainscoting, tsk tsk

Answers:

forehead – /farɪd/, with stress on the first syllable is the older pronunciation, but now

/forhɛd/, is also common.