A syllable is a phonological unit that is composed of one or more morphemes. It is a single, unbroken sound of a spoken or written word. It is a unit of pronunciation that contains one vowel sound, with or without surrounding consonants.
Wednesday, June 4, 2025
Tuesday, June 3, 2025
Tense: Present Tense
Definition:
Grammatically Tense refers to the conjugation or form of a verb to reflect the time of the action or state -that is, when the action occurred.
Verbs in their basic form
inherently describe the time.
There are three main types of tenses in English:
Sunday, June 1, 2025
Lenis and Fortis
Lenis and fortis are two terms that represent a dichotomy of a voiced/ voiceless pair. Phonetically, lenis refers to the consonants articulated with relatively less muscular energy and weaker breath effort, and are usually voiced. It is a softer, weaker consonant sound. For example, [ b d g] . Fortis refers to consonant
Saturday, May 31, 2025
Manners of Articulation of Consonants:
When producing the consonant sound in the English language, different speech organs or articulators (such as the tongue, lips, and teeth) behave in diverse manners. According to the manners of articulation, the consonants in the English language can be categorized as follows:
Friday, May 30, 2025
Consonants: Place of Articulation
Phonetically, consonants are one of the two general categories used for speech sounds, the other being vowel sounds. Consonants are speech sounds in which the air from the lungs is seriously obstructed by the different articulators at different places in the vocal tract, and then goes out through the oral passage and, in some cases, through the nostrils. According to their areas of articulation, English consonant phonemes can be divided into nine types as discussed below:
Bilabial
Consonant:
To produce the bilabial consonants, the two
lips function as the primary articulators. They first make contact to block the
lung air and then separate to release it. English bilabial consonants include
/p, b, m/. For example: pat, bat, mouse, etc.
To articulate the labiodental consonants, the lower lip makes contact with the upper teeth. English labio-dental consonants are / f, v /. For example: fan, van, etc.
Wednesday, May 28, 2025
Phonology
Phonology is a level of linguistics that studies the sound systems of languages. Phonology is concerned with the range and function of sounds in specific languages, and with rules that can be written to show the types of phonetic relationships that relate and contrast words and other linguistic units. so, it is concerned with the systemetic organization of sounds in spoken languages.
The broadest aim of phonology is to isolate the distinct thorough interacting pressures that underlie both the cross-linguistically common and language particular sound patterns that our data analyses reveal. Broadly, these pressures derive from speech production and sound perception. it deals with the abstract, cognitive aspects of sounds rather than the physical production.
In linguistic theories, phonology is seen in one of two main ways:
Tuesday, May 27, 2025
Monopthong, Dipthong and Tripthong
Every language possesses vowel sounds that play an inevitable role in producing speech. Vowel is one of the two general categories used for the classification of speech sounds, and this type of sound is articulated with the air from the lungs passing through the vibrating glottis and the vocal tract without any interruption.
That is, the speech sounds that are produced without any obstacles in the vocal tract are called vowels. However, vowels can be defined in terms of both phonetics and phonology.
Sunday, May 25, 2025
Phoneme Theory
The concept of phoneme has been studied and explained in three different schools of phonetics. Firstly, according to a school, the phoneme represents a physical phonetic reality. According to David Jones (1931), a phoneme is a family of sounds in a given language and consists of an important sound of the language together with other related sounds. It takes place in particular sound sequences. Gleason (1955) defines the phoneme as a class of sounds that are phonetically similar and show certain characteristic patterns of distribution in the language or dialect under consideration. Under this view, the phoneme is seen as a convenient label for several phonetic units. For example, /p/ may stand for [p], [p:], [ph], etc.
Phoneme, Phone and Allophone:
In linguistics, the theory used to describe a language's distinctive sounds and their relations to one another is labeled the phoneme theory. In order to investigate, analyze, and interpret the various aspects and behaviors of speech sounds, there are three basic terms used in phonetics and phonology, and they are phoneme, phone, and allophone.
Saturday, May 24, 2025
One Word Substitution
The use of a single word to replace a phrase or a group of words without changing the meaning is called One-word substitution. It is commonly used to make language more concise and efficient. Some examples are given below:
Friday, May 23, 2025
Nouns that Name Specific Things
- The author of a book
- The bank of a river
- The lens of a camera
- The bark of a dog
- The Beak of a bird/duck
- The bottom of a well
- The brim of a hat
- The lid of a jar
- The belief in God
- Hope for peace
- The love of music
- The screen of a laptop
- The lawyer of a court
- The claws of a lion
- The crown of a king
- The conductor of an orchestra
- The capital of a country
- The zipper of a jacket
- The center of a city
- The crown of a king
- The door of a building
- The coast of a sea
- The bank of a river
- The belief in God
- The concept of love
- The doctor of a patient
- The envy of success
- The edge of a cliff
- The floor of a room
- The envy of success
- The bottom of a shirt
- The love of music
- The hate of war
- The fur of a cat
- The heel of a shoe
- The horns of a bull
- The hooves of a horse
- The handle of a door
- The hero of a story
- The king of a kingdom
- The lawyer of a court
- The lid of a pot
- The mane of a lion
- The paws of a bear
- The pockets of a pants
- The pride of achievement
- The pages of a notebook
- The pilot of an airplane
- The president of a country
- the roof of a house
- The roots of a tree
- The robe of a judge
- The shell of a Snail/ turtle
- The summit of a mountain
- The tail of a dog
- The teacher of a class
- The scales of fish
- The sole of a shoe
- The stem of flower
- The shame of failure
- The staff of a wizard
- The hooves of a horse
- The paws of a bear
- The theory of gravity
- The pouch of a kangaroo
- The stripes of a zebra
- The spots of a leopard
- The brush of a painter
- The branches of a tree
- The eyes of an owl
- The tongue of a dog
- The hump of a camel
Wednesday, May 21, 2025
Linking Words
Linking words are words or
phrases used to connect ideas, sentences, or paragraphs smoothly in
writing or speech. They help the readers
to follow the logic of thoughts and understand how ideas relate to each other.
Various types of linking verbs depend on the use or place in sentences. These are:
Tuesday, May 20, 2025
Three Unities of Dramatic Composition
The three principles of
dramatic composition are that a play should consist of one main action, occurring
at one time(not longer than the play takes to perform), and in one place; expanded
from Aristotle's “Poetics” by 16th-century Italian critics, and by French
classical dramatists of the 17th century. The unities were often modified;
e.g., the time limit was extended to twenty-four hours, and the place to one
house or town, rather than one room or street.
The Oxford Companion to English Literature by Sir Paul Harvey
Monday, May 19, 2025
Limerick:
A limerick is a short, humorous poem with five lines, with a distinct rhythm and rhyme style. It is a type of nonsense verse with a definite pattern: a five-line STANZA rhyming aabba in which lines one, two, and five have their anapestic feet and lines three and four have two anapestic feet. The origin of the limerick is uncertain. It first appeared in print with the publication of Anecdotes and Adventures of Fifteen Young Ladies and History of sixteen Wonderful Old Women in 1820. Still, they were popularized by Edward Lear and his book of Nonsense in 1846. During the early twentieth century, especially in America, the improvisation of limericks became a popular parlor game.
Saturday, May 17, 2025
Phonetics: The Sounds of Language
Phonetics is concerned with describing the speech sounds that occur in the languages of the world. We want to know what these sounds are, how they fall into patterns, and how they change in different circumstances. ..The first job of a phonetician is… to try to find out what people are doing when they are talking and when they are listening to speech.
Peter Ladefoged, A Course in Phonetics, 1982,nd Edition
Knowledge of a language includes knowledge of morphemes, words, phrases, and sentences. It also includes knowing what sounds are in the language and how they may be ‘strung’ together to form these meaningful units. And although there may be some sounds in one language that are not in another, the sounds of all the languages of the world together constitute a limited set of all the sounds that can be produced by the human vocal tract. To describe speech sounds, it is necessary to know what an individual sound is and how each sound differs from all others. It is also necessary to analyze and interpret the physical, psychological, and physiological aspects of speech sounds. Phonetics is the branch of linguistics that studies the sound of human speech- how they are produced, transmitted, and perceived.
Friday, May 16, 2025
Semantics vs Pragmatics
Semantics and pragmatics are two fields of linguistics. Both
of them are concerned with the study of the meaning of human speech signs.
However, each of the tackles meaning from different angles:
Semantics:
Semantics is the branch of linguistics that studies the
meaning of words, phrases, sentences, and texts. It pays attention to the
literal meaning of words (dictionary meaning).
It seeks to understand how language represents ideas, objects, and
relationships, and how meaning is constructed and interpreted i.e. it combines
words into phrases and sentences. It is essential for clear communication, and
it helps to detect ambiguity and resolve misunderstandings.
Pragmatics:
Pragmatics is a branch of linguistics that studies how
people understand and use language in context. It focuses on the intended
meaning of an utterance (what the speaker means) that is conveyed not just by
the words themselves, but by how, when, where, and to whom something is said. It
is concerned with the use of language in different contexts and ways in which
people produce and comprehend meaning through language.
For example, when someone says, “it is cold here,”-
semanticist will explain the meaning as dictionary; a pragmatist will explain
it by saying the speaker wants.
Pragmatics helps to explain why the same sentence can mean
different things in different situations.
Semantics is the level of linguistics that has largely been affected by pragmatics, but they have some differences. They are given below:
Wednesday, May 14, 2025
Lexicology
Lexicology is the branch of linguistics, the science of language that studies words- their nature, meaning, structure, elements, relation between them, word groups, origin, and the whole lexicon or dictionary embodying all the words, idioms, and phrases used in a particular language. The term lexicology is composed of two Greek morphemes: lexis, meaning ‘word, phrase’, and logos, denoting ‘learning, a department of knowledge’. That is, the literal meaning of the term lexicology is the ‘science of the word’.
classification of Pronoun
Definition:
In English, the word ‘pro’ means before but in Latin, it means instead of. So, Pronouns are words that we use in place of nouns. Example: I, we, you, she, he, they, her, our, etc., the noun being replaced is known as the antecedent of the pronoun.
Categories of Pronouns:
There is a wide range of
different categories of pronouns that we use in everyday speech and writing.
Each kind of pronoun has a unique function in a sentence; many pronouns belong
to multiple categories and can serve different purposes depending on the
context.
Normally, pronouns are classified into the following categories:
1. Personal Pronoun 2. Demonstrative Pronoun 3. Relative
Pronoun,4. Interrogative Pronoun 5. Distributive Pronoun 6. Indefinite Pronoun
7. Reflexive Pronoun and 8. Reciprocal Pronoun.
1. Personal Pronoun: Personal pronouns have different
forms depending on the person, number, and gender. Based on the person, it can
be classified into three categories, and they are:
·
Subjective
pronoun: I, we, you, they, he, she, it, etc.
·
Objective pronoun: the teacher loves me/
us/ you/them/him, etc.
·
Possessive pronoun: It is a pronoun that
shows who or what owns something. For example: the fishing rod is mine/
yours/his/her/ others/ ours/ theirs.
2. Demonstrative Pronoun:
To identify a specific person or thing, we use demonstrative
pronouns. It has different forms
depending on number of person or things. for example: this, that, these, those,
such etc.
3. Relative Pronoun:
We use relative pronouns to relate or connect relative clauses (als
Monday, May 12, 2025
Branches of Linguistics
Language is concerned with human life, behavior, society,
activity, and so on. So, linguistics looks at and explores language from varied
perspectives, and studies a large number of ways to uncover its relation to
human beings and their communication needs. The major branches of linguistics
are given below:
Micro linguistics:
Micro linguistics covers the basic components of a language.
It is referred to as theoretical linguistics.it covers the study of the
structural aspects at the broad level of grammar.
Macro linguistics:
Macro linguistics includes the aspects of linguistic study that
involve the application of findings of micro linguistics or theoretical
linguistics to the analysis of language in use. It is called Applied
linguistics because it involves the application of linguistics in relation to other
disciplines. Sociolinguistics, historical linguistics, mathematical
linguistics, ethnolinguistics, psycholinguistics, computational linguistics,
clinical linguistics, and others are subfields of this macro linguistics.
Theoretical linguistics: Theoretical linguistics is the
branch of linguistics that is most concerned with developing models of
linguistic knowledge. This theoretical linguistics includes phonetics,
phonology, morphology, syntax, semantics, pragmatics, graphology, and
lexicology. This linguistics examines a language at different levels of analysis,
such as its phonological system, articulation and perception of sounds(phonetics),
word formation(morphology) and phrases and sentences(syntax), the meaning of linguistic
expressions (semantics), language use (pragmatics), and so on.
Comparative linguistics:
Comparative
linguistics is a part of historical linguistics that studies the similarities
and differences between languages to determine their historical relationship. For example, if we compare English, Dutch, and
German, we can find several words that are similar in phonetic form and meaning,
such as English Book, Dutch boek, and German buch. If we compare the equivalent
words in French livre, Spanish libro, and Italian libro, it is clear that
English, Dutch, and German are similar to each other. This fact implies that
English, Dutch, and German belong to a language family distinct from that which
French, Spanish, and Italian belong to.
The main goals of comparative linguistics are:
By comparing related languages, linguists try to reconstruct
the features of the common ancestor language (called proto language), such as Proto-Indo-European.
Comparative linguistics helps to classify languages into
families based on shared features and systematic sound changes, e.g.
Indo-European, Afro-Asiatic, Sino- Tibetan).
Comparative linguistics sheds light on how languages evolve
over time including phonological, morphological, syntactic, and semantic
changes.
Contrastive linguistics:
Contrastive linguistics is part of applied linguistics and
seeks to establish the similarities and differences between a language
learner’s first language and the targeted language, where he/she will have
difficulty and make mistakes. It is the study of two or more languages to
improve language teaching and learning. Unlike comparative linguistics, which
focuses on historical relationships, contrastive linguistics focuses on
present-day structures of language. For example, languages like Japanese,
Korean, and Mandarin do not have articles. We can then predict that speakers of
these languages will have difficulty learning articles when they learn English.
Sociolinguistics:
Sociolinguistics is the study of how language interacts with
society on society or the relationship of language to society. It investigates
how factors like region, class, gender, age, level of education, ethnicity, and
context influence the way people speak and how language varies and changes over
time. For example, in a formal job interview, a speaker might use standard
grammar and vocabulary, but the same person might use slang and informal expressions
with friends-showing style shifting based on social context.
Psycholinguistics:
It is the study of how the human mind processes and produces
language. It combines the psychological and neurobiological factors that enable
humans to acquire, use, and understand language. It is concerned with the
psychological mechanisms underlying speech production and reception. It also
studies how children acquire their first language, speech perception, and the loss
of the ability to use and understand language.
Major areas of psycholinguistics:
1. Language acquisition:
·
How children learn their first language
·
How adults learn a second language
2. Language comprehension
· How we understand spoken and written language involves perception, memory and interpretation of words and sentences
3. language production:
·
how we think about what we want to say and turn
it into speech
·
includes planning, word retrieval, and
articulation
4. Language and the brain (Neurolinguistics
·
Studies how language is represented in the brain
·
Includes research on brain regions
It is the branch of linguistics that studies the development
and evolution of languages over time. It focuses on how languages change in
their phonetics, grammar, semantics, and vocabulary across different historical
periods. It was developed in the 19th century. During this time, linguists
were concerned with the historical development of languages. The aim of such
investigations was to arrive at general hypotheses about how languages change
over time and is therefore also known as diachronic linguistics as opposed to
synchronic linguistics, which is non-historical linguistics. Historical linguistics did not originally
develop as a branch of linguistic study as it is today. It began as the core of
linguistic research with its investigation into the historical development of
English from Anglo-Saxon, which is currently referred to as the Romance languages-
French, Spanish, and Italian, which in turn originated from Latin. Historical
linguistics classifies languages into families based on relationships with
other languages.
Structural or Synchronic Linguistics:
Structural or synchronic linguistics, opposed to historical
or diachronic linguistics, covers the study of languages at a specific point in
time- typically the present -without considering its historical development. A
synchronic study of language is a comparison of languages or dialects- various
spoken differences of the same language used within some defined special region
and during the same period of time. For most of the twentieth century,
synchronic linguistics was considered to be prior to diachronic linguistics.
Mathematical Linguistics:
Mathematics is now linked to linguistics and is the study of
linguistics using mathematical methods of analysis. It covers broad areas of
linguistics, probability theory, speech synthesis, speech recognition, and
computational linguistics. It focuses on the statistical and mathematical
representation of information in texts.
Statistical and algebraic linguistics constitute two different areas of
mathematical linguistics.
Ethnolinguistics:
Ethnolinguistics is the field of linguistic anthropology that
studies the language of a particular ethnic group. It is often associated with
regions where ethnicity plays a major role in language description and status.
Ethnologists study the way perception and conceptualization influence language
and show how this is linked to different cultures and societies. As
ethnolinguistics studies on the relationship between language and culture, it
is useful for language preservation and revitalization, cultural anthropology
and sociolinguistics, cross-cultural communication, and education.
Computational Linguistics:
Computational linguistics is an interdisciplinary field
dealing with the statistical and/or rule-based modeling of natural language
from a computational perspective. It is not related to any particular field of
linguistics. Traditionally, computational linguistics was usually performed by
computer scientists who specialized in the application of computers to the
processing of a natural language. Recent research has shown that human language
is much more complex than previously thought; so computational linguists often
work as members of interdisciplinary teams, including linguists, language
experts, and computer scientists. That is, computational linguistics draws upon
the knowledge of linguists, computer scientists, experts in artificial
intelligence, cognitive psychologists, mathematicians, and logicians, amongst
others.
Clinical Linguistics:
Clinical linguistics is a branch of linguistics and involves
the application of linguistic theory to the field of Speech-Language Pathology.
The central focus of Clinical linguistics is the application of the theories, methods
and findings of linguistics to the assessment , diagnosis, and treatment of
language disorders in individuals.
Clinical linguistics is applicable for analyzing a child’s
grammar errors to diagnose developmental delays, assessing a stroke patient’s
ability to produce and comprehend language, and helping autistic individuals improve
pragmatic language skills.
Corpus Linguistics:
Corpus linguistics is the study of language through the
systematic analysis of large collection of real-life language data, known as corpora
(singular: corpus). corpus linguistics is use to analyze and research a number of
linguistic questions and offers a unique insight into the dynamic of language
which has made it one of the most widely used linguistic methodologies. Since
corpus linguistics involves the use of large corpora that consist of millions
or sometimes even billion words, it i
Forensic linguistics, referred to as forensic stylistics, is
a branch of linguistics that focuses on taking the analytical techniques of the
field and applying them to legal and criminal issues as far-ranging as trial,
investigation, rehabilitation, and punishment. As a discipline, forensic
linguistics reviews spoken and written materials and, using the scientific techniques
of linguistics, analyzes them. This branch of linguistics is concerned with
such things as determining who authored a written document and identifying
speakers of oral material, such as taped conversations. Forensic linguistics also
measures as well as determines both the content and meaning of both spoken and
written material.
Cognitive Linguistics:
Cognitive linguistics is the branch of linguistics that
studies the relationship between language and the human mind in its cognitive
function. The term cognitive here refers to the crucial role of intermediate informational
structures in our encounters with the world. This branch of linguistics assumes
that our interaction with the world is mediated through informational
structures in the mind. It is more specific than cognitive psychology, however,
by focusing on natural language as a means of organizing, processing, and
conveying that information
Contact Linguistics
The term ‘contact linguistics’ was introduced in 1979 at the
First World Congress on Language Contact and Conflict in Brussels. Whenever
people speaking different languages come into contact, they naturally tend to
seek ways of bypassing the communicative barriers facing them by compromising their
forms of speech. Such contact can have a wide variety of linguistic outcomes:
internal, that is, linguistic, and external, that is, social and psychological.
Folk Linguistics
Folk linguistics is the study of non-expert beliefs and
opinions about language and its use. It explores how ordinary people perceive,
describe, and evaluate language. Folk linguistics helps linguists understand
public attitudes toward language. It is useful in education, sociolinguistics,
and language policymaking.
Stylistics
Stylistics, a branch of linguistics, is traditionally known
as the study of literary texts or discourse by employing formal linguistics
tools. It can also investigate literary texts or discourse through
sophisticated computer-based applications. Some stylisticians, experts in
stylistics, quantitatively analyze large amounts of data and texts, not
possible otherwise, and thus can provide answers to queries, such as what Robert
Frostt’s writing style is inhn his poetry or how one can state, solely on the basis
of textual evidence, that Milton or Shakespeare’s works are historically
arranged. Literature is the object of study in Stylistics. The traditional
connection between stylistics and literature brings with it two important caveats.
The first is that creativity and innovation in language use should not be considered
as the exclusive preserve of literary writing. The second caveat is the techniques of stylistic analysis are as
much about deriving insights about linguistic structure and function as they are
about understanding literary texts. Thus, stylistic analysis attempts to
provide a commentary which is objective and scientific, based on concrete
quantifiable date and applied in a systematic way.
Friday, May 9, 2025
Phrase and Idiom:
1. under the weather- somewhat ill or gloomy/ feeling unwell
2. Weather permitting- If the weather is fine
3. Weather the storm- To experience a very difficult
situation and survive it
4. Under a cloud- someone who is suspected of having done
something wrong
5. Lovely weather for ducks- Rainy weather
6. Right as rain- All right
7. In a fog/ In a haze- Confused, dazed, disoriented
8. Come rain or shine- Regardless of the weather or
circumstances
9. Every cloud has a silver lining- There is always
something good even in an unpleasant, difficult, or even painful situation.
10. Add fuel to the fire- Make a bad situation worse
11. A piece of cake- Something very easy
12. All ears- Paying full attention
13. cool as a cucumber- very calm and composed
14. Strike while the iron is hot- to take action at the
right time
15. Break the ice- Start a conversation in a social setting
16. The ball is in your court- it’s your decision or
responsibility
17. Spill the beans- Reveal a secret
18. Burn the midnight oil- Work late into the night
19. Hit the nail on the head- Describe something accurately
20. Once in a blue moon- Very rarely
21. Bite the bullet- Face a difficult situation bravely
22. Let the cat out of the bag- Accidentally reveal a secret
23. Pull someone’s
leg- Joke with someone
24. Sit on the fence- Avoid making a decision
25. Kick the bucket- To die/ Pass away
26. Throw in the towel- Give up or admit defeat
27. Hit the books- Start studying seriously
28. hit the road- Leave or depart
29. zip your lip- Be quiet
30. two peas in a pod- Very similar
31. See eye to eye- Agree completely
32. miss the boat- Miss an opportunity
33. The last straw- The final event that makes something
unbearable
34. Pull yourself together- Calm down and regain control
35. Jump on the bandwagon- Follow a trend
Thursday, May 8, 2025
Basic Concepts of Linguistics
Speakers’ linguistic ability or knowledge of a language enables them to combine words to form phrases and phrases to form sentences. Knowing a language means being able to produce new sentences never spoken before and to understand sentences never heard before. The linguist Noam Chomsky refers to this ability as part of the creative aspect of language use. Every speaker of a language can create great literature, but all people who know a language can and do create new sentences when they use and understand new sentences created by others. This creative ability is because language use is not limited to stimulus-response behavior. Eventually, there is a difference between having the knowledge necessary to produce sentences of a language and applying this knowledge. It is a difference between what we know, which is our linguistic competence, and how we use this knowledge in actual speech production and comprehension, which is our linguistic performance.
Speakers of all languages – spoken and signed- have the
knowledge to understand kor produce sentences of any length. When they attempt
to use that knowledge, though, when they perform linguistically, there are
physiological and psychological reasons that limit the number of adjectives, adverbs,
clauses, and so on.
Linguistics is concerned with the diverse aspects of the
nature of language from both theoretical and practical perspectives. It deals
with the phenomena of language learning and teaching. At present, linguistics
is established as an independent discipline at many universities across the
globe, and thus helps us uncover, create, exchange, and disseminate knowledge
of the nature of language in general and languages in particular, as well as
the experience of language learning and teaching.
For the most part, linguistic knowledge is not conscious
knowledge. The linguistic system, the sound, structure, meanings, words, and
rules for putting them all together, is learned subconsciously with no awareness
that rules are being learned.
Here are some definitions of linguistics:
Robins (1985) defines language as: " a system of vocal symbols by means of which human beings communicate." He holds that linguistics is concerned with human language as a universal and recognizable part of human behavior and of the human faculties, perhaps one of the most essential to human life as we know it, and one of the most far-reaching of human capabilities in relation to the whole span of mankind’s achievements.
Wednesday, May 7, 2025
Language : The Features of Language
When we study human language, we are approaching what some might call the “human essence”, the distinctive qualities of mind that are, so far as we know, unique to man.
Noam Chomsky, Language and
Mind
Sunday, May 4, 2025
Ode:
In English, an ode is much-practiced form of lyric poetry from the time of Ben Johnson to that of Tennyson, with sporadic modern revivals. in its traditional application, ‘ode’ is a type of long lyric poem, usually addressed to a particular subject that is serious in treatment, elevated in style, and often expressing deep feeling or admiration. It originates from ancient Greece, and mostly elevated and complicated species of lyric, was often written to celebrate monumental public occasions or universal themes.
Thursday, May 1, 2025
Morphology: the Words of Language
Every speaker of every language knows tens of thousands of words. It has been scientifically estimated that a child of six knows as many as 13,000 words. If he/she produces his/her first word at the age of two, then he/she has learned 3250 words a year and an average of 9 new words a day.
Word is an important part of linguistic knowledge and constitutes a component of our mental grammar. Without words, we cannot convey our thoughts through language. The study of the internal structure of words and the rules by which words are formed is called morphology. The term ‘morphology’ is Greek, and it is constituted of two morphemes,
Thursday, April 24, 2025
Abolitionist Literature
According to J.A. Cuddon, the
term ‘abolitionist’ refers to the 18th and 19th-century black
British, African American, and white European and American men and women who
campaigned for the abolition of slavery in the British Empire and North
America. The origin of abolitionist literature are found in the long history of
slave rebellion, particularly in the Caribbean colonies in the 17th and 18th
centuries. This literature refers to writings- both fiction and non-fiction that
took a moral stand against slavery, expose the horrors of the slave trade and
the inhumanity of slavery, and called for the abolition of this institution. it
often used sentimental and biblical rhetoric to attract sympathy for the
abolitionist cause, and eventually, it played a critical role in changing
public opinion and fueling the anti-slavery movement, especially in the United
States and Britain.
Wednesday, April 23, 2025
Tuesday, April 22, 2025
Monopthong, Dipthong and Tripthong
Monophthong, diphthong, and triphthong are three types of
sound systems in phonetics practice.
In phonetics and language learning, monophthongs play like
fundamental building blocks. Diphthong is important in accent, pronunciation,
and speech clarity. Triphthong reveals how complex vowel sounds function in
natural speech. It is also important for accurate pronunciation
Monophthong:
Monophthong is a pure vowel or vowel sound in which there is a continuous vibration of the vocal folds, and produces a single, unchanging sound. When we pronounce a monophthong, our tongue and mouth remain relatively steady – there’s no glide or shift to another vowel sound.
Sunday, April 20, 2025
The Three Types Mammals
There are three types of mammals based
on how they give birth and nourish their young. The three types are:
- · Monotremes:
A group of highly specialized
animals that lay large yolky eggs and have a common opening for the urogenital
and digestive systems.
Examples: platypus, echidna
- · Marsupials:
Marsupials give birth to tiny, underdeveloped young.
The young crawl into a pouch and suckle milk.
Examples: kangaroos, koalas
- ·
Placentals (Eutherians):
Placentals give birth to a well-developed
young. The young suckle milk from nipples.
- Example: humans, dogs, whales, elephants, cats, cows
Saturday, April 19, 2025
Sunday, April 6, 2025
Agamemnon by Aeschylus
Greek or Attic tragedy is the
earliest form of tragedy known to man. The history of Classical Greek tragedy
spans a remarkably short time. The three masters, Aeschylus, Sophocles, and
Euripides— each of the three was found to be a genius. These three are all the
Greek tragedians that survive to us in their works.
Aeschylus (525-456 B.C), son of Euphoriant (a mother of the old Athenian nobility), was the earliest of the three great Athenian tragic poets. He was born at Eleusis, a town in Attica. His “Agamemnon” is the first of three plays in Aeschylus’s trilogy, “The Oresteia”. According to Greek mythology, Agamemnon rules the ancient kingdom of Mycenae and leads the Greek army during the infamous Trojan War. Agamemnon is a legendary hero known for his bravery and skill on the battlefield. The main themes of Agamemnon are revenge and justice. Clytemnestra, Agamemnon’s wife, murdered her husband after he had returned from the Trojan War, in retaliation for his sacrifice of their daughter.
Saturday, April 5, 2025
Major Areas or Domains of Linguistics:
Linguistics can be divided into two sections-
1. Theoretical or descriptive linguistics
2. Applied linguistics
1. Theoretical linguistics:
Theoretical linguistics is the branch of linguistics that focuses on understanding the fundamental structures and rules of language. Theoretical linguistics is concerned with theories or description and analysis of the ways a language operates. The elements of this linguistics are phonetics, phonology, Morphology, syntax, and semantics.
a) Phonetics:
The study of how sounds of human speech are made is known as phonetics. It helps us to understand the articulatory, auditory, and acoustic process of producing speech sounds.
b) Phonology:
Phonology is the study of the selection and organization of sounds in a particular language. It covers phonemics (synchronic phonology) and diachronic phonology.
Friday, April 4, 2025
Thursday, April 3, 2025
Normal English vs Advanced English
Normal English vs
Advanced English
Normal |
Advanced |
I’m fine
|
|
sorry |
My bad |
I don’t care |
See if I care |
Yes, you can |
Be my guest |
Take your
time |
Time is on
your side |
Good |
Amazing |
That’s so impressive |
That’s next
level |
I’m very
tired |
I’m spent |
This is my
favourite song |
This is my
jam |
but |
however |
And |
In addition |
lovely |
Gracious |
angry |
furious |
Anyway |
Nevertheless |
So |
therefore |
Also |
Moreover |
I’m smart |
I’m
intelligent |
I’m wise |
I’m insightful |
happy |
Challenge |
I’m
determined |
I’m resolute |
I’m
supportive |
I’m
encouraging |
I’m skilled |
I’m
proficient |
I’m honent |
I’m candid |
I’m brave |
I’m
courageous |
I’m friendly |
I’m amble |
I’m proud |
I’m dignified |
I’m thankful |
I’m appreciative |
I’m lucky |
I’m fortunate |
I’m humble |
I’m modest |
I’m obedient |
I’m compliant |
I’m caring |
I’m
compassionate |
I’m generous |
I’m
benevolent |
I’m careful |
I’m cautious |
I’m lively |
I’m spirited |
I’m popular |
I’m renowned |
I’m funny |
I’m humerous |
I’m talented |
I’m gifted |
I’m
understanding |
I’m
empathetic |
I’m sad |
I’m
devastated |
I’m surprised |
I’m
astonished |
I’m sorry |
I’m deeply
regret |
I’m okay |
I’m funny |
Thursday, March 27, 2025
Important Adjectives for Daily Usages
Very sorry-
Apologetic |
Very scared-
Terrified |
Very happy- Ecstatic |
Very weak-
Frail |
Very tired-
Exhausted |
Very strong-
Powerful |
Very sad-
miserable/heartbroken/desolate |
Very funny-
Hilarious |
Very cold-
Freezing |
Very lazy-
Indolent |
Very hot-
Scorching |
Very
religious-Pious |
Very big-
Enormous |
Very talkative-Loquacious |
Very small-
Tiny |
Very loud-
Cacophonous |
Very smart-
Intelligent |
Very noisy-
Deafening |
Very
seriously- Earnestly |
Very shy-
Timid/ Bashful |
Very clever-
Brilliant/ Genius |
Very
skillful- Adept |
Very pretty-
Attractive/ Charming |
Very wise-
Sagacious |
Very fast-
Rapid/ speedy/ swift |
Very useful- Effective |
Very slow-
Sluggish |
Very well- Excellently |
Very angry-
Furious |
Very excited-
thrilled/ elated |
Very nervous-
Anxious, Concerned |
Very light-
Featherlight |
Very ugly-
Hideous |
very deep- Abysmal |
Very quiet-
Silent |
very brave-Courageous |
Very young-
Juvenile |
very soft- Silky/
Velvety |
Very rich-
Wealthy |
very hard-Formidable |
Very poor-
Destitute |
very conservative- Orthodox |
Very clean-
Spotless |
Very great- Superb |
Very dirty-
Filthy |
Very
romantic- Amorous |
Very easy-
Effortless |
Very
difficult- Arduous |
Very thirsty-
Parched |
very
realistic-Lifelike |
Very rural- Backwoods |
Very modern-
state of the art |
Very tame-Docile |
Very wild- Ferocious |
Very hungry- Starving |
Very rude-
Boorish, ill mannered |
Very
shameful-Disgraceful |
Very proud-
Haughty |
Syllable
A syllable is a phonological unit that is composed of one or more morphemes. It is a single, unbroken sound of a spoken or written word. It...
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Linguistics can be divided into two sections- 1. Theoretical or descriptive linguistics 2. Applied linguistics 1. T...
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Greek or Attic tragedy is the earliest form of tragedy known to man. The history of Classical Greek tragedy spans a remarkably short time....