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bnix
Joined: 16 Jan 2003
Posts: 645
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 Posted: Wed Jul 09, 2003 12:23 am Post subject: Panama Teacher, Developing into a Flamer |
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Quite a comment on bertrand,PT  PT is quite a flamer. Now that all of that stuff with Linda L.(????) seems to be winding down..PT can use his energies on other threads.
Waiting for bertand's response.Maybe he has an appropriate quote from Chomsky to suit the occasion.....  |
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Dr.J
Joined: 09 May 2003
Posts: 304
Location: usually Japan
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| Posted: Wed Jul 09, 2003 12:35 am Post subject: |
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Humans learn over time to associate sounds with meaning, so the sound of the word has less effect compared to the associated meaning.
'grape' is 'rape' plus 'g' ... but it sounds OK.
Having said that, words that sound similar to other sounds our bodies make tend to carry that nuance (e.g. 'whisper', 'hacking cough')
But, in general the associated meaning carries more weight...so the most 'beautiful' word overall would have to be a combination of good meaning and nice-sounding (70-30% ratio?).
I suppose classical beauty has always been about emotions or nature, so you'd have to choose one of them. 'Whisper' has connotations of both, as well as intimacy and secrecy, so I go for that. |
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PanamaTeacher
Joined: 26 Jun 2003
Posts: 278
Location: Panama
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| Posted: Wed Jul 09, 2003 12:40 am Post subject: |
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Yay Dr. J my thinking precisely  |
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grahamb
Joined: 30 Apr 2003
Posts: 1945
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| Posted: Wed Jul 09, 2003 9:21 pm Post subject: The most beautiful word in English |
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| As "chunks" of language seem to be in vogue, may I suggest the words "How about a beer?"? Mind you, I can�t understand why we use the singular, because beers are usually consumed in larger quantities. |
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dmb
Joined: 12 Feb 2003
Posts: 8397
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| Posted: Thu Jul 10, 2003 5:48 am Post subject: |
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| So grahamb is beer countable or uncountable? I find it depends on the day of the week. On a saturday morning I can never remember how many I had the night before. Hence- uncountable? |
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grahamb
Joined: 30 Apr 2003
Posts: 1945
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| Posted: Thu Jul 10, 2003 10:31 am Post subject: Out for the count |
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Good point, dmb. I always tell my students that for exam purposes, beer and coffee are uncountable, but in everday speech they're countable.
Nowadays my beer consumption is so low that I never have any trouble remembering the quantity! |
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richard ame
Joined: 16 Jan 2003
Posts: 319
Location: Republic of Turkey
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| Posted: Tue Jul 15, 2003 12:08 pm Post subject: A word I like to use thats not beautiful,but its direct |
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Hi forum
Seems like we have lost our way on this one, not many references to beautiful words of the English language, in fact it seems a new language has started namely BOLLOCKS not a beautiful word I admit but it is beautifuly direct . Have a nice day fellow bollockers . |
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Bertrand
Joined: 02 Feb 2003
Posts: 293
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| Posted: Wed Jul 16, 2003 6:55 am Post subject: |
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| Marcoregano wrote: |
| Er...I'd rather not get into detail here....suffice to say it's English slang for a rather unsavoury coupling act....at least unsavoury for most of us....not really a beautiful word but it does make me chuckle. |
Okay; understood. I really never have heard of that before (the term, not the act)! |
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Bertrand
Joined: 02 Feb 2003
Posts: 293
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| Posted: Wed Jul 16, 2003 7:03 am Post subject: |
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| Dr.J wrote: |
| Humans learn over time to associate sounds with meaning, so the sound of the word has less effect compared to the associated meaning. |
In fact, as results from neurolinguistic analysis evince, the reverse is the case. Have you ever conducted research in speech recognition? No, then how can you speak with such strong confidence? Human infants in their first day of life can differentiate between sounds that we can not even accurately measure yet and to which they have not been exposed - as demonstrated through research conducted using High Amplitude Sucking techniques. You shoudl read:
Jusczyk, P. W. (1997) The discovery of spoken language. Mass.: MIT Press
which is basically THE introductory text to these matters. It is also this text that usually shows undergraduate students that phonemes do not exist in any objective sense; rather they are a theoretical construct employed to model the mental construct used when producing and parsing sound - they are all relative to the speaker (though some 'normalisation' does take place). |
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Dr.J
Joined: 09 May 2003
Posts: 304
Location: usually Japan
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| Posted: Wed Jul 16, 2003 11:35 pm Post subject: |
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Bertrand;
I have never conducted such research.
I just asked the troll who lives under the bridge down the road, by the sweet shop, where they sell suckers. |
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