The Role of Women in the Late 19th Century Essay

The Role of Women in the Late 19th Century - Essay Example The progressive era and the oppressive ideas prevalent The late 19th century can be thought of as an era where rapid business and economic changes occurred, progression in terms of the legal rights and professional attitudes of women occurred. The image of San Francisco in the early twentieth century in the public areas is well portrayed by Jessica to be â€Å"one comprising of substantial stone clad buildings, visible down Market Street with a lively mixture of people which comprised of women in long dresses and hats and working women in business suits† (Jessica, 2011, pg 11). The women in the late 19th century faced much oppression in the work place especially in male dominated areas. Sexism or gender discrimination was at its peak in this era as female workers in highly proficient jobs faced opposition from both sexes. The major role of the women in the late 19th century was that of a housekeeper and caretaker of the children. The women from wealthy families hosted parties for business reasons and charity raising purposes. Working women faced a huge opposition from their family, society and at the work place. The women in the 19th century were involved in many reform movements like the women’s rights to suffrage, feminism to pacifism, temperance to abolitionism which changed the American history and gained many rights for the women (Kathleen, Therese, 1996, pg 25). There were many informal community groups involved to bring about a change in the neighborhood, the state, the society and ultimately in the nation. Women began to enter into all fields like journalism, photography, law, medicine and engineering. The publications like newspapers and magazines played a major role in the upliftment of the women (Kathleen, Therese, 1996, pg XVII). The right to vote was given to women in the 19th century by the joint effort of many women’s right movements active at that time. Discussion The book the Russian Hill murders by Shirley portrays the bac kground found in the late 19th century well in relation to how the women were treated, expected to behave and the general culture over the period of time. The book is a murder mystery set in the 19th century and the incident occurs at San Francisco. The female lead in the book is Sarah Woolson who is an attorney at law in the late 1880’s, inspired by her father who was a Judge (Shirley, 2005, pg 15). The firm in itself is a major obstruction for her as she is taken into the firm reluctantly and in every manner possible the firm tries to push her down from her professional practice. The women in the 19th century had demanding work, much more tough than practicing criminal law in terms of the physical effort they had to spend â€Å"I find it strange that practicing law in a comfortable well-heated office is considered too demanding an occupation for women†¦.† (Shirley, 2005, pg 6). Sarah overcomes the numerous oppositions she faces with a helpful few while following the female etiquette demanded from women during the late 19th century. Conclusion In the book Russian hill murders (Shirley, 2005) the social status of women in the late 19th century is well analyzed. The characters are all well portrayed and the background description fits in well with what existed in reality in the late 19th century. The lead character Sarah gives us an idea of how women in male dominated fields were treated in the 19th centur

The differences between xbox 360 and playstation 3 Essay

The differences between xbox 360 and playstation 3 - Essay Example PS3 has the ability to output a higher resolution signal than Xbox 360 as gaming has become a norm and a much favored option on PS3 than on the Microsoft model. PS3 offers two HD outputs as it helps enormously in multitasking. As far as the memory is concerned, Xbox 360 has around 20GB which is close to 5000 songs on an iPod. While PS3 users need to buy a hard drive at the pay point. When it comes to music, both PS3 and Xbox 360 offer surround sound with Dolby 5.1. Sony PS3 has the feature of supporting seven different controllers, being quite different from Xbox 360’s range. The other differences between Xbox 360 and PS3 include the fact that PS3 has the capacity to support far more players in the room than Xbox 360 which could support only four at a time. Both the machines support Internet access and playing online is a worthwhile option. The graphics of Xbox 360 are better when one compares them to PS3 since the lighting seems more realistic in Xbox 360. Also brightness within Xbox 360 gives a sense of realism more than the PS3 machine. The power differences between the two machines seem to suggest that PS3 has more power on paper than in essence. The technical differences between Xbox 360 and PS3 come down to the graphics and resolution differences, where the advanced one takes the lead over the other. However these differences have meant time and again that users from territorial locations have seemed to enjoy one over the other ever since these machines came into the respective

Employing Strategy in a Competitive Environment Assignment

Employing Strategy in a Competitive Environment - Assignment Example Google’s income still mainly comes from only one source; that means that the company is lacking in product integration. Google has also been on the receiving end of litigation from competitors such as ‘Yahoo!’ and Microsoft. In addition, Google has a lot of competition from a different search engine, Baidu, in China- which is potentially its largest market (Wheelen and Hunger, 2010). Google has also faced accusations of the intrusion of privacy of personal accounts. Google has to look for other ways to make money other than depending on advertisements (Salis, 2009). Diversification will ensure that its profits are not affected even when it is involved in suits initiated by its rivals over different products. Google also has to ensure that it remains at the front of cutting-edge technology in terms of its offerings because its rivals have invested a lot of capital in coming up with offerings that will dislodge Google from its position as the foremost search engine. Google should also invest more in informing customers of its product offerings. It would seem that there are Google has numerous products such as Google+, which mostly remain unknown by its many customers. Even if people know about them, they are unsure of how to operate them. This means that there is a need for more extensive advertising in order to reach customers. Competitive Advantages over Rivals Google enjoys a number of competitive advantages that have propelled it to the front of the search engine market. Google allow customers to be able to access websites in a direct and easy manner. The other search engines often have different advertisements and other offerings that users have to navigate through before reaching their preferred websites. Google has also invested a lot in ensuring that users can surf through different pages at a fast rate. Every search allows the search engine to ‘acquire’ more abilities; thus allowing it to deliver different results at a fa ster rate (Levy, 2011). To duplicate such operations, Google’s rivals would have to undergo a lengthy re-structuring process. Google also allows its users to be able to make money through the ‘Google AdSense’ program - which is something that is not offered by other search engines (Wheelen and Hunger, 2010). Google also provides analytics tools for its customers that can make different search words more comprehensible. For instance, a word like ‘script’ has different connotations; with each meaning being of great significance to a definite group of people. Google also has additional operations such as book and music applications. Competitors Microsoft Corporation is a global corporation which deals in the information technology industry and is one of Google’s main competitors. Google has cornered the market in software by investing in the transaction of software services. Moreover, it still has a lot of work to do to move clearly ahead of Micr osoft. One way in which it can do this is by increasing the rate at which new innovations are made. Google needs to take advantage of collaborative arrangements such as teamwork in realizing objectives so that new products are created at a faster rate. In addition, Google has to further diversify its portfolio so that it has other sources of income and is not just dependent on web advertisements. This will also attract investors who may be reluctant to invest in a company, no matter how

Model in the projection of equity portfolio Essay

Model in the projection of equity portfolio - Essay Example Company owners, executives, as well as all stakeholders assess various aspects in strategic planning and analysis of uncertainty using modeling techniques. Using financial modeling, various stakeholders can engage in calculated risks and as such minimize failure dangers while at the same time keeping client rewards at optimal levels. The aim of literally any investment analysis is being able to come up with appropriate investment decisions and even advice others on the best ways in making their investment decisions. Consequently, there exists an inextricable link between equity analysis and management of equity portfolio. Nonetheless, even for those with sufficient comprehension of equity analysis, there are a number of mechanical portfolio management elements which need to be addressed prior to construction and running of the respective equity portfolios. As exercised with professionals, real-life application of hypothetical investment ideas involves looking beyond expertise and one ’s training levels. More often than not, managing a group of portfolios incorporates comprehensive detail attention, computerization of the information, as well as embracing the need for administrative effectiveness. Generally, the mechanics of portfolio management and more particularly projection of equity portfolios require a comprehensive and more object-oriented approach. In essence, managers who look after equity portfolios have to make a choice as to whether or not they adopt a given approach in management of the respective equity portfolios (Onyango, 2003, pp. 45). Investment firms often have strict defined parameters which they make use of in stock selection and general management of their investment. Background information In the recent past, managers and many other stakeholders have taken to portfolio modeling. Portfolio modeling has come to occupy a central place in the business landscape. Whether one is running a single portfolio or lots of them in a single equity investment product, style construction and maintenance of a portfolio model is a common procedure in management of equity portfolio. More often, portfolio models acts as the standards upon which individual portfolios are equated. In general, the managers of a portfolio assign a weighting percentage to each stock in the model of the portfolio after which individual portfolios are further modified to match against the assigned weighting mix. Usually, computerized portfolio models assisted by software such as Excel, SPSS, and matlab, among others. As an example, after running a mix of corporation analyses, departmental analyses, as well as macro-economic analyses, a manager make a decision as to whether or not to own a substantial weight of a specified stock. In essence, models help in obtaining of portfolio efficiency with regard to portfolio analytics. With models, a portfolio manager may need to get an understanding of may be 30 or 50 stocks owned in similar ratios in the entire po rtfolio, instead of 100 or 250 stocks owned in different ratios in over a thousand varying portfolio accounts. Analyzing 30 or 50 stocks can be easily applied to the entire portfolio by altering weights in the model of portfolio over a specified time. What makes portfolio models outstanding is that as the individual stocks vary with time, a portfolio mana

International Maritime Organization IMO-International labour Essay

International Maritime Organization IMO-International labour organisation ILO Co-relationship in Maritime Administration - Essay Example The establishment of the IMO in the year 1948 was in response to the proposal made by several countries stressing the need for an international body to promote maritime safety in a more effective manner. The IMO Convention proposed an article which summarized the purpose of the organization. It called for cooperation among governments in relation to technical matters governing the shipping industry, to adopt the highest practical standards for maritime safety, and to improve navigation efficiency and to control and prevent marine pollution (Introduction to IMO, n.d). Following the convention, the IMO adopted a newer version of SOLAS (safety of life at sea), which is concerned with maritime safety, in the year 1960. It further regulated international maritime traffic and the carriage of dangerous goods and also revised the measurement of tonnage in ships. In addition, following the increasing number of oil spills by oil tankers owing to the rise in the transportation of oil across cou ntries, the organization also laid down measures to reduce marine pollution due to tanker accidents as well as those resulting from disposal of chemical and garbage wastes into the sea. One of the important measures introduced by the IMO is the International Convention for the prevention of pollution from ships (MARPOL) which strictly regulated oil spills and also disposal of wastes into the sea (Introduction to IMO, n.d; IMO and ILO, n.d). In addition to taking measures to prevent marine pollution, IMO also adopted two treaties by which suitable compensation was provided to the victims who suffered losses due to the pollution. In the year 1970 the International Mobile Satellite Organization, which was launched as a global search and rescue system, has further improved the radio communication in ships. As a further advancement, the Global Maritime Distress and Safety System, which came into existence in the year 1988, now ensures that any ship in distress can be guaranteed with imme diate assistance through automatic message transmission (Introduction to IMO, n.d). The safety of the human force in ships are being taken care of by two standards, the International Safety Management Code and the amendment to the Convention for the certification and watch keeping of seafarers (STCW) (Introduction to IMO, n.d; IMO and ILO, n.d). In addition, further conventions related to maritime safety were adopted in the 2000s and several amendments have been adopted as a result changing technology or lessons learned from accidents. Some of the key issues of the IMO at present include tackling modern day piracy, reducing green house gas emissions from ships, and ensuring the safety of the seafarer. Secure, environment friendly, and maintaining sustainable cooperation in the shipping industry is the motto of the IMO and the organization is working towards achieving these objectives by adopting and implementing the right standards and legal practices (Introduction to IMO, n.d). ILO is the abbreviation for International Labor Organization which is a tripartite UN agency that oversees the labor standards, their rights and welfare across the world. It was founded in the year 1919 during the war crisis when it was strongly believed that universal peace can be achieved only through the establishment of a social justice system. Its representatives include the international labor conference, the

Organisations - Contrast the Assumptions of Mainstream and Critical Approaches to studying Organisations Essay Example for Free

Organisations Contrast the Assumptions of Mainstream and Critical Approaches to studying Organisations Essay An organisation is a group of people intentionally organised to accomplish an overall, common goal or set of goals. Business organisations can range in size from two people to tens of thousands. Organisations are complex phenomena and understanding them – either from the point of view of academic analysis or as a basis for practical attempts to change them – is also complex. It is obvious that organisations vary in a number of key ways, for example structures, cultures, personnel systems, and so on. There are several important aspects to consider about the goal of the business organisation. These features are explicit (deliberate and recognised) or implicit (operating unrecognised, behind the scenes). Ideally, these features are carefully considered and established, usually during the strategic planning process. Vision Members of an organisation often have some image in their minds about how the organisation should be working, how it should appear when things are going well. Mission An organisation operates according to an overall purpose, or mission. Values All organisations operate according to overall values, or priorities in the nature of how they carry out their activities. These values are the personality, or culture, of the organisation. Strategic Goals Organisations members often work to achieve several overall accomplishments, or goals, as they work toward their mission. Strategies Organisations usually follow several overall general approaches to reach their goals. Systems and Processes that (hopefully) are aligned with achieving the Goals Organisations have major subsystems, such as departments, programmes, divisions, teams, etc. Each of these subsystems has a way of doing things to, along with other subsystems; achieve the overall goals of the organisation. Often, these systems and processes are defined by plans, policies and procedures. How you interpret each of the above major parts of an organisation depends very much on your values and your nature. People can view organisations as machines, organisms, families, groups, etc. The study of organisations draws on a number of disciplines: Economics Classical economics viewed the firm as a single decision-unit engaged in maximising profits. It ignored the possibility of conflict between owners, managers and employees. The obsession with competition failed to take into account the other goals which may take precedence in organisations. Organisation theory partly owes its existence to a reaction against such simplistic ideas. It became necessary to understand behaviour which seemed in classical terms to be irrational. Psychology Psychology is a wide-ranging subject. Early psychologists provided an insight into individual behaviour within organisations particularly on aspects of motivation and leadership. The Hawthorne studies led to a realisation of the importance of social phenomena, such as the informal groups, group norms and conformity. Valuable as these micro-level studies were, they only compounded to the issue by making it difficult understand the link between the behaviour of individuals and the structure of the organisation in which they worked. Sociology Organisational sociologists took a wider perspective, setting the organisation within its environmental framework specifically in relation to society and its institutions. Some sociologists have examined formal organisational structures, particularly in relation to technology. Dating from Webers early work on bureaucracy, sociologists have taken a particular interest in non-profit making organisations. Organisations as Systems (Systems or Mainstream Theory) Mainstream Organisational theory thinks of organisations as systems. Simply put, a system is an organised collection of parts that are highly integrated in order to accomplish an overall goal. The system has various inputs which are processed to produce certain outputs, which together, accomplish the overall goal desired by the organisation. There is ongoing feedback among these various parts to ensure they remain aligned to accomplish the overall goal of the organisation. There are several classes of systems, ranging from very simple frameworks all the way to social systems, which are the most complex. Organisations are, of course, social systems. Systems have inputs, processes, outputs and outcomes. To explain, inputs to the system include resources such as raw materials, money, technologies and people. These inputs go through a process where theyre aligned, moved along and carefully coordinated, ultimately to achieve the goals set for the system. Outputs are tangible results produced by processes in the system, such as products or services for consumers. Another kind of result is outcomes, or benefits for consumers, e. g. , jobs for workers, enhanced quality of life for customers, etc. Systems can be the entire organisation, or its departments, groups, processes, etc. Feedback comes from, e. g. , employees who carry out processes in the organisation, customers/clients using the products and services, etc. Feedback also comes from the larger environment of the organisation, e. g. , influences from government, society, economics, and technologies. Each organisation has numerous subsystems, as well. Each subsystem has its own boundaries of sorts, and includes various inputs, processes, outputs and outcomes geared to accomplish an overall goal for the subsystem. Common examples of subsystems are departments, programs, projects, teams, processes to produce products or services, etc. Organisations are made up of people who are also systems of systems of systems and on it goes. Subsystems are organised in a hierarchy needed to accomplish the overall goal of the overall system. The organisational system is defined by, e. g. , its legal documents (articles of incorporation, by laws, roles of officers, etc. , mission, goals and strategies, policies and procedures, operating manuals, etc. The organisation is depicted by its organisational charts, job descriptions, marketing materials, etc. The organisational system is also maintained or controlled by policies and procedures, budgets, information management systems, quality management systems, performance review systems, etc. One of the most common ways at present is to look at organisations is as organisational systems. This view is becoming more common among professionals who study, teach and write about organisations. Practitioners who work with organisational management to improve organisations also tend to view organisations as systems so it has been termed the mainstream approach. Note that machines, organisms, persons, groups, families, family dynasties are all systems, too. Probably everyone in the workplace has their own conception of what organisation means. As with most highly complex terms, everyone is right and everyone is wrong. The concept of organisational culture is much like an organisational personality. Organisations, like people, have life cycles. Many people view organisational learning much like we view organisms to be learning. Organisations can accumulate and manage knowledge as well. There are a variety of books that describe other traits of organisations much like traits of people, e. g. , depressed organisations, addictive organisations, etc. David Needle makes two important points about the dynamics and determinants of organisational structure and functioning: organisations are not simple unitary, consensual entities where everyone agrees on and focuses on shared organisational goals but where sectional, group interests and viewpoints exist and flourish. And although in many ways organisations are the most rational entities ever created where managers and employees strive to make sensible decisions about purposes and to design organisations and processes that efficiently achieve these purposes, in reality irrational forces also play a major role (Salaman, 2001). Setting organisational goals is a complex process whereby both external factors and internal politics need to be taken into consideration. As such, the system is highly dynamic and changes in the goals will occur with changes in the external environment, such as market demand, technology and government policy, as well as changes that take place between interest groups within the organisation e. g. , sales and production departments. A number of goals may operate at any one time. These may conflict, but in general the goals of a business follow closely those of the dominant coalition (Needle, D; Salaman 2001). A change in ownership or top management is likely to lead to a shift in emphasis of the firms operations too. The culture of an organisation refers to those factors which enable us to distinguish one organisation from another and are the product of its history, management, operating environment, technology, goals and so on. More recently the notion of organisational culture has been used in a more positive way and a set of principles have been developed which mark out the culture of a successful company from that of an unsuccessful one (Needle, D: Salaman, 2001). The goals, structure, patterns of ownership and size of an organisation both reflect and are reflected in its culture. The importance of the organisational culture is that it sets the scene for the determination of strategy and hence the operational aspects of organisational life. Mainstream organisation theory has attracted critical attention. Thompson and McHugh (Salaman, 2001), for example, have argued that there is a tendency for a narrow management plus psychology perspective which has little to do with real-life enterprises. In an attempt to produce a science of organisations, the main focus has been on identifying generalisations about behaviour in work situations and applying them to all organisations, regardless of their nature. In particular, theorists have paid scant attention to the differences between organisations which are subject to market forces and those which are not. Thompson and McHugh contend that it is not meaningful to treat organisations as diverse as scout troops and transnational companies within the same analytical framework and using the same domain assumptions (Salaman, 2001). This has been termed the critical approach. Let’s look into the critical approach a little more.

Production Of Speech Sounds English Language Essay

Production Of Speech Sounds English Language Essay The production of speech sounds involves two essential components: initiating a flow of air in and through the vocal tract; Some method of shaping or articulating the air-stream so as to generate a specific type of sound articulation; A third component, present in most, but not all sounds phonation. Initiation Initiators: lungs in English the only initiator (in other languages also closed glottis or tongue (combined with velar closure). Lungs sponges that can fill in with the air, contained within the rib cage. The expiratory air stream is further processed to bronchi, then to trachea/windpipe and then the larynx  [1]  . The space between the vocal cords/vocal folds is the glottis. Articulation Organs participating in articulation are called articulators (above the larynx): Pharynx  [2]   a tube stretching from above the larynx, its top end is divided into two parts: One part being the back of the mouth; The other part beginning off the way through the nasal cavity. In the production of English sounds it serves mainly as a container of a volume of air that is set into vibration in accordance with the vocal folds vibration  [3]   Oral cavity plays the most important role. It is within the oral cavity that the greatest variety of articulatory motions occurs. The articulatory organs in the mouth: i/ passive the maxilla, the teeth, the alveolar ridge, the hard palate. ii/ active the jaw, the lower lip, the soft palate. The velum/soft palate raised (the airflow cannot escape through the nose) or lowered a (the air passes through the nose). The most active organ in the mouth is the tongue. The tongue: the tip (apex), the blade (dorsum) and the root (radix). The outer end of the mouth is provided with the upper and lower lip. The vibration of the vocal folds inside the larynx/voice box produces the sound of voice and this process is called phonation. The larynx is situated in the neck. It has several parts; its main structure is made of cartilage (material similar to bone but less hard). The larynx consists of four cartilages: 1 cartilago thyreoidea 2 cartilago cricoidea 3 cartilagines arytenoideae 4 epiglottis covering the entrance into the larynx Inside the larynx there are vocal folds (two thick flaps of muscle rather like a pair of lips). At the front the vocal folds are joined together and fixed to the inside of the thyroid cartilage. At the back they are attached to a pair of small cartilages called arytenoid cartilages, so that if the arytenoid cartilages move, the vocal folds will move too. The arytenoid cartilages are attached to the top of the cricoid cartilage but they can move so as to move the vocal folds apart or together. The term glottis is used to refer to the opening between the vocal folds. States of the glottis: 1. Not vibrating: 1) If the vocal folds are closely together and they part after the final phase of articulation Voiceless Plosives 2) If the vocal folds are loosely open, no vibration, no voice is produced Voiceless Fricatives and Affricates are produced. 3) If the vocal folds are held closely only in their front part, the cartilage-like part is set apart Glottal Fricative (the sound /h/) is produced. 2. Vibrating: Further narrowing of the glottis brings it into position for the production of voice. The vocal folds can be held closely together and vibrate. This produces tones /vowels. The vocal folds can be loosely together and their vibration is weak. This produces: Voiced Plosives, Affricates and Fricatives. The number of cycles of opening and closing the glottis per second is referred to as the fundamental frequency of voice (Hz). A single cycle happens in the region of 1/100th second, therefore, the cycle repeats at the rates in the region of between approximately 80-200 cycles per second. This rate is far too rapid for the human ear to be able to distinguish each individual opening /closing of the folds. However, human ear is able to perceive variations in the overall rate of vibration as changes in the pitch of the voice  [4]  . The vibration averages roughly between 200 and 300 times per second in a womans voice and about half that rate in adult men. Acoustic aspect Sound is formed by means of the vibration of air molecules and is transmitted in sound waves in all directions. The voice comes into existence on the basis of vocal folds vibration. The periodic vibration gives rise to tone, whereas aperiodic vibration results in the production of noise. The tone is characterized by three basic qualities: The pitch given by the frequency of the vibrations in cps. The pitch is in direct proportion to the number of cps and in indirect proportion to the cycles period. The intensity is the amount of energy transmitted through the air. It is related to the amplitude of vibration. The intensity is proportionate to the square of the amplitude. The timbre is given by the composition of the tone. Simple tones are non existent because any object vibrates not only as a whole but also in its individual parts. The vocal folds vibrate in such a manner that in addition to the fundamental frequency (a basic vibration over their length) they produce a number of overtones or harmonics which are simple multiples of the fundamental or first harmonic. The combination of these components makes up the acoustic spectrum. A visible recording of speech is produced by computer analysis and it refers to the following dimensions: Time / duration on the horizontal axis, given in ms Frequency on the vertical axis, given in cycles per second Intensity indicated by relative blackness of the markings. The component bands are called formants and are numbered from bottom upwards. It is the first two formants (F1 and F2) that contribute most to the distinctive character of the vowels. From articulatory point of view F1 is correlated with tongue height (the pharyngeal formant), F2 with front-to-back tongue placing (the oral formant). Auditory aspect The perception of a sound is mediated by the brain rather than by ear itself. The ear has three major functions: To collect stimuli To transmit them To analyze them. The upper limit of frequency which can be perceived is maximum 20, 000 cps. The ear is subdivided into the outer ear, the middle ear and the inner ear. The outer ear leads to the ear drum. The middle ear is a small air-filled cavity containing a chain of three tiny bones connected to the ear drum at one end and the inner ear at the other. The main part of the inner ear is the cochlea shaped like a snails shell whose function is to convert sound vibrations into nerve impulses. Speech sounds are perceived in terms of four categories (pitch, loudness, quality and length). The categories are subjective and must not be equated exactly with the related physiological and physical categories. Consonants: Plosives, Fortis Lenis The differences between vowels and consonants are in the way they are produced (vowels voices, consonants noises); vowels fulfill the role of the peak of the syllable whereas consonants fulfill the marginal function.. Classification of consonants see Chart of Consonants (P. Roach, p.62). It is customary to divide consonants into several groups according to several criteria. The most important are: According to their place of articulation According to their manner of articulation A/ Classification according to the manner of articulation: The articulators involved form a closure: /p, t, k/; /b, d, g /. The consonants produced in this way are called Stops/Plosives. The articulators involved form a narrowing (as for /f, v, s, z,  Ã¢â‚¬ ,  Ã¢â‚¬Å¾,  Ã¢â‚¬Å",  Ã… ¡, h/). The consonants produced in this way are called Fricatives. The articulators form a closure combined with a narrowing (as for t Ã¢â‚¬Å", d Ã… ¡). The consonants produced in this way are called Affricates. Plosives As for place of articulation: bilabial, apico-alveolar, velar. Plosives four phases (approach, hold, release, post-release). Distributions All the three plosives in all positions: initial, medial and final. Initial position: CV In /p, t, k/ during the transition to voiced sound the wide-open glottis takes some time to close sufficiently so that the vocal folds can start vibrating, consequently there is a period of voicelessness aspiration (puff of air). Final position: VC The syllables closed by voiceless consonants are considerably shorter than those that are open, or closed by voiced consonants. Fricatives They include /f,  Ã¢â‚¬ , s, v,  Ã¢â‚¬Å¾, z, h/. Manner of articulation: Two organs are brought and held sufficiently close together for the escaping air-stream to produce strong friction. This friction may or may not be accompanied by voice. A/ Place of articulation: /f, v/ labiodental / Ã¢â‚¬ , Ã¢â‚¬Å¾/ dental /s, z/ alveolar / Ã¢â‚¬Å",  Ã… ¡/ palato-alveolar /h/- glottal Length of the preceding sound: The value of the final /f,  Ã¢â‚¬ , s, v,  Ã¢â‚¬Å¾, z/ is determined by the length of the syllable which they close. Dental fricatives: / Ã¢â‚¬ ,  Ã¢â‚¬Å¾/ / Ã¢â‚¬ / spelling: always th distribution: word initial, word medial, word final; word initial clusters, word final clusters / Ã¢â‚¬Å¾/ spelling: always th distribution: word initial, word medial, word final; word initial clusters /d/ does not occur in initial clusters, word final clusters Manner place of articulation: The tip of the tongue makes a light contact with the edge and inner surface of the upper front teeth. With some speakers the tongue-tip may protrude through the teeth. Affricates Affricates are complex consonants, beginning as plosives and ending as fricatives (Roach). Palato-alveolar Affricates /t Ã¢â‚¬Å", d/ /t Ã¢â‚¬Å"/ when final in syllable: effect of reducing the length of the preceding sounds. Nasals Bilabial nasal /m/ Alveolar nasal: / Ã‚ ®/ Velar nasal: / Ã… ½/ (spellings: ng or n followed by a letter indicating a velar consonant: tongue, anxious) distribution: word medial: singer, hanger, anxiety; word medial + g: finger, angle, angry, hunger; word medial + k: anchor, monkey, donkey; word final: sing, wrong, tongue; word final + k: sink, rank; word final syllabic: bacon, taken, organ Roach: rules for the pronunciation of the nk and ng digraphs: in nk the /k/ is always pronounced in ng the following /g/ is pronounced in mono-morphemic words (finger, anger, linger) and in comparatives superlatives of adjectives (younger, the longest) otherwise the /g/ following the / Ã… ½/ is never pronounced!!! Laterals Articulatory features: articulated by means of a partial closure, on one or both sides of which the air-stream is able to escape through the mouth. Only one, alveolar, lateral consonant occurs in E. Within the /l/ phoneme 3 main variants occur: a/ clear /l/, with a relatively front vowel resonance, before vowels and /j/ Roach /i/ resonance b/ voiceless /l/ following accented (aspirated) /p, k/ (less considerable devoicing after /f, s,  Ã¢â‚¬ /, or weakly accented /p, t, k/) c/ dark /l/, with a relatively back vowel resonance, finally after a vowel, before a consonant, and as a syllabic sound following a consonant Roach u resonance Clear /l/ the front of the tongue is raised in the direction of the hard palate at the same time as the tip contact is made. Dark /l/ the front of the tongue somewhat depressed and the back raised in the direction of the soft palate. Approximants /r/ Distribution: word initial (red, raw), word medial, intervocalic (mirror, very), word final /r-link/ (far away, poor old man); in consonantal clusters (price, crow) Manner place of articulation: the tip of the tongue held in a position near to, but not touching, the rear part of the alveolar ridge. Lip position according to the following vowel. BBC /r/ distribution: only before a vowel. /j/ palatal /w/ labio-velar English vowels: short vowels long vowels Vowels are specified in terms of 3 parameters: vertical tongue position (high low; close half-close half-open open) horizontal tongue position (front back) lip-position (unrounded rounded) In accented syllables the so-called long vowels are fully long when they are final or in a syllable closed by a voiced consonant, but they are considerably shortened when they occur in a syllable closed by a voiceless consonant. The same considerable shortening before fortis consonants applies also to the diphthongs. Diphthongs The sequences of vocalic elements included under the term diphthong are those which form a glide within one syllable. They have a 1st element (the starting point) and a 2nd element (the point in the direction of which the glide is made). BBC diphthongs: 1st element is in the general region of / Ã¢â‚¬ °, e, a, ÊÅ  , Ɔ , Æ / 2nd element is in the general region of / Ã¢â‚¬ °, ÊÅ  , Æ / division into closing (direction towards / Ã¢â‚¬ °, ÊÅ  / and centering (direction towards /Æ /. Generalizations referring to all RP diphthongs: 1/ Most of the length and stress associated with the glide is concentrated on the 1st element, the 2nd one is only lightly sounded; in Slovak the ratio between the lengths of the two elements1:1, in English it is approximately 2:1; 2/ They are equivalent in length to long vowels and are subject to the same variations in length; in the reduced forms there is a considerable shortening of the 1st element; 3/ No diphthong occurs before /ņ¹/; Phonetics Phonology Phonetics phonology are the two linguistic sciences investigating the phonic aspect of language communication and its generalization in the minds of the language users. Phonetics investigates the phonic material of speech (the sounds). The speech sounds are analyzed from two aspects; Aspect of the speaker/producer; Hearer/receiver. The former aspect covers the activity of articulatory organs, the latter: the transmission of acoustic entities perceived by the listener and the process of decoding. According to the subject of investigation, phonetics is further subdivided into: i/ genetic/articulatory production of speech sounds ii/ acoustic transmission of sounds, acoustic characteristics of speech sounds iii/ auditory perception of speech sounds Phonology speech sounds from the aspect of their function they fulfill within a linguistic system, how they are organized into systems, how they are utilized in languages and what the relationships among them are. We can divide speech up into segments and we can find great variety in the way these segments are made (their pronunciation differs from speaker to speaker; even the same speaker never pronounces the same segment in the same way. But there is an abstract set of units as the basis of our speech; otherwise we would not be able to understand other speakers of the same language, communication among people would be impossible. These units are called phonemes, and the complete set of these units is called the phonemic system of the language. The phonemes themselves are abstract (the sound patterns stored in our mental grammar), we do not produce phonemes, we produce sounds or phones. Phonemes are the minimal sequential contrastive units of the phonology of languages, (Catford). contrastive: phonemes are contrastive in the sense that they are the bits of sound that distinguish one word from another: bit , pit: solely by the contrast between the initial consonants /p/ /b/ the two words are distinguished. The bits of sound manifesting these contrasts are phonemes. minimal: phonemes are minimal units, because if you take a stretch of speech and chop it up into a sequence of phonological units, the shortest stretch of speech sounds that functions as a contrastive unit in the buildup of the phonological forms of words is the phoneme. The phonological structure of English, like that of other languages, can be described as a hierarchy of units. The largest, or most inclusive, unit in English is the intonation contour or tone-group: Jane was here yesterday. We can chop up each tone-unit into smaller units, namely into successive rhythmic units, or feet: (the fact that these feet are contrastive, meaning differentiating units, is demonstrated by the fact that we could divide the utterance into feet differently, and this would convey a slightly different meaning). Next, we can divide each foot into still smaller chunks, namely into a sequence of syllables. Finally, we can divide up each syllable into a sequence of still smaller units and here it is necessary for us to go into phonetic transcription: At this point we can do no further chopping. We have reached the lowest rank in the phonological hierarchy, the smallest sequential; or linear units phonemes. There are no smaller meaning-differentiating units. Sequential: following in sequence. Phoneme an abstract unit operating on the level language as a system. Symbols Transcription Types of Transcription 1/i/ Phonological transcription, phonemic transcription: The choice of symbols is limited to one symbol per one phoneme. 2/ Phonetic transcription: Very detailed, each single realization of a sound is recorded. The Syllable Human beings cannot produce a sound smaller than a syllable. The syllable seems to be the essential unit of speech segmentation and speech recognition. J. Lavers definition of the phonological syllable is as follows: The syllable is a complex unit, made up of nuclear and marginal elements. Nuclear elements are vowels, and marginal elements are consonants. A/ Languages differ in syllable types: The minimum syllable V (I, Oh); CV (consonantal beginning an onset): (e.g. me) open syllable; VC (consonantal end a coda): (e.g. am) closed syllable; Some syllables have both onset and coda: (e.g. him). The most common type of syllable among the languages of the world is CV. CVC is also common among the languages of the world. English syllables: a wide variety of syllable types, both open and closed. B/ Languages also differ on constraints on the segments which can occur at the beginning or end of a syllable. No syllable in E can begin with /ņ¹/; /Ê’/ and /ÊÅ  / are rare. Almost any consonant can occur in syllable-final position, except for /h/, /j/, /w/, /r/ (only in rhotic accents). Syllable types in E: Beginning: a vowel (see the constraints above), one, two or three consonants. Ending: a vowel, one, two, three or four consonants. Syllable structures in English: Beginning: a vowel zero onset (/ÊÅ  / rare); a consonant except for /ņ¹/, /Ê’/ having an onset; two or more consonants a consonant cluster. C/ Initial two-consonant clusters: i/ pre-initial /s/ is followed by one of about 10 initial consonants (p, t, k; f; m, n; l; w, j, r); with /l, r, w, j/ a two-way analysis is possible (e.g.: slow, sky, swim); ii/ initial (p, t, k; b, d, g; f, ÆÅ ¸, s, h, v; m, n; l) followed by a post-initial /l, r, w, j/ (e.g. proud, queen, friend). D/ Initial three-consonant clusters: There is a clear relationship between the two groups: /s/ is the pre-initial /p, t, k/ are initial and /l, r, w, j/ are post-initial (e.g. split, square, strike). E/ Final consonant clusters: No final consonant means that there is no coda, i.e. it is an open syllable. One consonant means that the syllable is closed. Any consonant except for /h/, /w/, /j/, /r/ can occur in syllable-final position. F/ Two-consonant clusters: i/ pre-final (m, n, ņ¹, l, s) is followed by a final (e.g. bend, bench ask); ii/ a final consonant is followed by a post-final /s, z, t, d, ÆÅ ¸/ (e.g. fifth. asks, robbed). The post-final consonant often corresponds to a separate morpheme. Pronunciation: the release of the first plosive of a plosive + plosive cluster is usually produced without plosion and is therefore practically inaudible. G/ Final three-consonant clusters: i/ pre-final + final + post-final: (e.g. helped, twelfth); ii/ final + post-final 1 + post-final 2 (e.g. fifths, next); H/ Final four-consonant clusters: i/ pre-final + final + post-final 1 + post-final 2 (e.g. twelfths); ii/ final + post-final 1 + post-final 2 + post-final 3 (e.g. sixths). The syllable: onset + rhyme / peak + coda Difficulties encountered by foreign learners: Unknown consonant clusters: usually two strategies are applied: i/ vowels between the consonants are inserted; ii/ one of the consonants is deleted. That is simplification of the syllable structure of the E word by making it conform to the pattern of the native languages of the learners. Deletion exists in E but these deletions do not occur randomly. Stress in English The syllable or syllables which stand out from the the other szllable or szllables of a word are said to be stressed, to receive the stress. Gimson: a stressed syllable the one upon which there is relatively great breath effort and muscular energy. As for perception the stressed syllables are perceived to be more prominent because they are louder, longer, pronounced on the pitch different from that of the other syllables and they contain a vowel sound differing in its quality from neighboring vowels. The most powerful effect is produced by pitch, the length comes second, loudness and quality of the vowel sounds is less important. Types of stress: (Kenworthy): Three levels of stress: primary, secondary, tertiary are heard in long E words: i/ when said in isolation; ii/ the word is in a position in a sentence where it is very strongly stressed; iii/ full vowels are used. Placement of stress: English stress is: A/ Variable, i.e. the main stress is not tied to any particular syllable (in Slovak it has delimitative function, i.e. denotes word boundaries; in E it has distinctive function, i.e. it differentiates the meanings of words); B/ Fixed, i.e. the main stress always falls on a particular syllable in any given word; C/ Mobile, i.e. having become familiar with one form of a word, learners will assume that the stress stays on the same syllable in other forms of the word (or they will assume that prefixes and suffixes make no difference to the placement of the stress) but this is not the case of the E language (e.g. photography photographer photograph; advertising advertiser advertisement; librarianship librarian library). Word Stress Rules When considering the stress placement several factors should be taken into account: the structure of the word (whether the word in question is a simple or complex); the grammatical category of the word (noun, adjective or verb) the number of the syllables in the word; the phonological structure of the syllables. 1. The structure of the word: Simple word not consisting of more than one grammatical unit morpheme (although this is sometimes difficult to decide); Complex words two major types: i/ words made from a basic stem word with the addition of an affix (derived words) affixes: two sorts: prefixes and suffixes. They have three possible effects on word stress: the affix itself receives the primary stress (i.e. -ee, ese); the affix will not influence the placement of stress, (i.e. -ing the word will be stressed just as if the affix was not there); The stress remains on the stem, not on the affix, but it is shifted to different syllable (i.e. magnet magnetic). ii/ compound words made of two (or occasionally more) independent E words. There is no clear dividing line between two-word compounds and pairs of words that simply happen to occur together quite frequently. Spelling inconsistency: solid (one word, e.g. sunflower); words separated by a hyphen (e.g. fruit-cake, whistle-blower, cabinet-maker); two words separated by a space (e.g. coffee table, tax inspector, weather forecast). Word stress rules 2. The number of the syllables syllable structure TWO-SYLLABLE WORDS Verbs: Oo 60%. If the second syllable contains a long vowel/diphthong, or if it ends with more than one consonant the second syllable is stressed (e.g. apply, attract, achieve). If the final syllable contains a short vowel and one/no consonant or the diphthong / Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ Ã¢â‚¬ ¢/ the first syllable is stressed (e.g. enter, open, follow). Adjectives: follow the verbs (e.g. lovely, even, hollow, divine, correct). Nouns: Oo 90%. If the second syllable contains a short vowel, the stress will usually come on the first syllable. (e.g. table, sofa, picture). Otherwise it will be on the second syllable (e.g. estate, balloon). Adverbs, Prepositions: behave like verbs and adjectives (e.g. evenly, correctly). THREE-SYLLABLE WORDS Verbs: oOo, ooO. If the last syllable contains a short vowel and ends with not more than one consonant that syllable will be unstressed and the stress will be placed on the preceding/penultimate syllable (e.g. encounter, determine). If the last syllable contains a long vowel/diphthong, or ends with more than one consonant, that final syllable will be stressed (e.g. entertain, resurrect). Nouns: Ooo, oOo. If the final syllable contains a short vowel and the middle syllable contains a short vowel and ends with no more than one consonant, both final and middle syllables will be unstressed and the first syllable will get the stress (e.g. library). If the final consonant contains a short vowel or /Éâ„ ¢u/, it is unstressed if the middle syllable contains a long vowel/diphthong, or it ends with more than one consonant, the middle syllable will be stressed (e.g. potato, mimosa, disaster). Adjectives: follow the nouns (e.g. derelict, insolent). DERIVED WORDS Prefixes stress rules governed by the same rules as in words without prefixes. Suffixes: carrying stress themselves (e.g. -ee, -ese, -eer, -ette); not affecting the stress placement (e.g. -able, -al, -ful, -less); influencing the stress in the stem (e.g. -ive, -ic, -ion, -ious); stress on the penultimate syllable (e.g. words ending in -phy (e.g. photography); -cy (e.g. democracy); -ty (e.g. reliability); -gy (e.g. prodigy); -al (e.g. critical). COMPOUNDS Nouns: Two noun elements: the first element stressed (e.g. typewriter, suitcase, sunflower). Adjectives: Adjective + -ed: the second element is stressed (e.g. bad-tempered); first element a number: the second element is stressed (e.g. first-class, five-finger, three-wheeler) Adverbs, Verbs: usually final stressed (e.g. ill-treat, down-stream, North-East, half-timbered). Note: What a beautiful black bird! Look at that big blackbird! Stress tending to go on syllables containing a long vowel/diphthong and /or ending with more than one consonant. 3. The grammatical category of the word nouns, adjectives, verbs. Compounds nouns usually stressed on the first element (e.g. summertime, grandfather, silverware, schoolteacher, bathtub). When the second element is a polysyllabic word it retains its stress pattern, but when speaking more rapidly, the stress of the second element may be lost (the secondary stress, e.g. trade exhibition). Some compound nouns late stress exceptions: Late stress: First element material, ingredient the second element is made of (e.g. plastic cup, turkey sandwich, cherry pie). Compounds containing juice, cake take an early stress!!! (e.g. fruit juice, fruit cake, lemon juice). Names of squares and roads thoroughfares (roads for public traffic, e.g. Walnut Avenue, Cambridge Crescent, Belgrade Square, Oxford Drive). Those containing street, however, have an early stress (e.g. Baker Street). The first element identifies a place or a time (e.g. town hall, kitchen window, summer holiday, London transport, April showers). Sentence Stress In sequences (sentence, clause, discourse) not all the words are equally important, which in E is shown by means of sentence stress and sentence focus. Why is it important? As listeners, it is essential that we are able to spot points of importance in the stream of speech; As speakers, we must highlight points in our messages, or E listeners will have difficulty in interpreting what they hear, in deciding how it relates to what has just been said and predicting what the speaker is possibly leading up to. Thus sentence stress and sentence focus are vital for intelligibility. The placement of sentence stress is closely related to the function the word fulfills within a sentence. According to their function the words in E are divided into: Content words/lexical words; Grammar words/function words/structure words. The former bear the lexical meaning while the latter are structural markers, denoting grammatical categories and syntactic relations. The classes appear to have physiological and neurological validity. Some brain damaged persons have greater difficulty in using, understanding or reading content words and structure words (e.g. in inn; which witch). Content words normally carry the most of information. They generally have in connected speech the qualitative pattern of their isolate form and therefore retain some measure of qualitative prominence even when no pitch prominence is associated with them and when they are relatively unstressed. Structure words do not carry so much information. They do not have a dictionary meaning in the way we normally expect nouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs to have. All structure words