Arabic Language and English Language Phonology - Case Study Example

Phonology Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx Name Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx Course Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx Instructor Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx Date Table of Contents Table of Contents 2 Learner Background 3 Phonology analysis 4 Prosodic level 4 Rhythm and intonation 6 Phonemic level 7 Summary & Discussion 9 Bibliography 11 Learner Background There is no single language that looks like the other when it comes to the phonetic system and when learning a second language, there is always interference from the first language. This report is about a comparison between Arabic and English languages sound systems which is mostly exonerated by the prosodic and phonemic levels (Swan & Smith 2001). The group used in this study lies between the ages of 17 and 20 years. In this case, Arabic language happened to be their first language (L1) and the languages they used as they graduate from high school were taken in Arabic. However, it is noteworthy that one subject was taken using English language which is picked as their second language (L2).additionally, it is clear that these two languages are very different for Arabic language has it basis form Semitic language and thus makes it differ substantially with English language as far as grammar is concerned. Currently, the world has become a global village and therefore, there has been a pile of pressure on the importance of English language in their lives. Many of them have been exposed to English language through the mass media, travels and this has increased it importance in their lives (Noor 1994). Depending on their exposure to English language they have developed different attitudes towards the language and their grouping therefore was done in accordance to this basis. In one group, there are some students who did not get to use English in communication and only came across it in their classes at school. They therefore are fond of avoiding to speaking it in presence of the others, solely to avoid embarrassment which may arise from making eminent errors while using the language. The other group involves the students who were exposed to English early and got a chance to use it in their communication even beyond the classroom. It is therefore clear that, in this grouping, there are a category of students who enjoy speaking English and have their pronunciation of English words at purr while there is another lot who have substantial problems in pronunciation of the same words and this is attributed to their perception that learning any other language is a hard task. As for them, being exposed to the English as their second language (L2) is of great importance for it makes them familiarize with the sound system which in the long run improves their encounter with English language at large. Phonology analysis First of all, it is a noteworthy that, phonology is the study of the sound systems of language and it involves phonemes, consonants and vowels of languages. Consequently, phonological errors are made by second language learners are closely linked to inter-language theory and language transfer (Amayreh & Dyson 1998). Prosodic level Arabic stress falls on a particular location in the word and depends on the internal structure of the syllables making up the word. It is however worth to note that, these stress changes from one dialect to another, but generally, the pattern of stress placement in Arabic is that, the last heavy syllable is typically stressed. English on the other hand has a phonemic inventory of nine vowels and five diphthongs. For instance, /ei/ glide from front mid to front high as in say, /ai/ glide from mind low to front high as in sigh. Arabic on the other hand has six vowels, three long and three short counterparts (Amayreh 2003). The three vowels are noted by three letters of the alphabet, while the short vowels are represented by diacritical marks. It is however, noteworthy that, the six vowels that exist in Arabic have equivalent counterparts in English. They are: /i/. /I/, /u/, /U/ and /e/. However the central unrounded short vowel /a/ in Arabic has no English equivalent. Arabic and English sentences stress normally coinciding with the tonic which is usually at the end of an utterance, but can be moved when it comes to special emphasis. However, in Arabic, every word has a primary and secondary stress. In other words, many single Arabic words have stem plus one or even more bound morphemes. For example, what’s this brōther’s name? Arabic: másmu ?axiÍh English gloss what name his brother In this case, in English there is only one strongly stressed syllable per phrase, Arabic on the other hand has one rhythmic stress per word. Arabic intonation uses rising and falling pitch patterns. However, it is has been noted that, pitch in Arabic does not fall as low as in English. It is worthwhile to state that, comparable pitch patterns serve different functions in the tow languages and this makes a major problem for the Arabic students learning English (Amayreh & Dyson 1998). Word stress in Arabic operates on different principles than in English. Word stress in Arabic is totally dependent on the structure of the word. In other words the arrangement of consonants and vowels determine the word stress (Amayreh 2003). This means that, the last syllable of a word is never stressed. In English however is much easier to understand for it is bound up with the derivational history of words form their original Latin or even Germanic and other roots. Arabic speakers substitute primary or secondary stress for a weak stress when speaking English. For instance: mày I hàve ànòther cùp òf tèa plèase? Arabic speakers tend to pronounce some English words loudly with primary stress when used in conversational speech. This is common in monosyllabic words like am, is, is, for just to mention but a few. Conclusively, using the Arabic stress rules, the speaker produces sounds like: ròommàte (stressing the final vowel), comfòrtable (stressing the vowel followed by 2 consonants), yèsterdày (Stressing the final long vowel) Rhythm and intonation The kind of stress misplacement on syllables affects the rhythm and intonation. Arabic speakers treat all the words of a sentence the same, irrespective of whether they are nouns, verbs, or even adjectives and whether they are articles, pronouns, auxiliaries, prepositions, conjunctions or even wh-words. In Arabic all words are stressed and the rhythmic rule of English violated completely (Ashby 2005). There is also a falling tune or a raising of the same in English. The question that starts with wh-questions is categorized as a falling tune. For example: English Falling intonation Where is he going? Arabic Where is he going? All words are stressed with a flat intonation falling when the come to an end. Phonemic level Voicing is one of the most distinctive features of the phoneme in the Arabic language. This being the case, learners distinguish /b/ which is voiced as /p/, which is voiceless even if both are bilabial stops. In actual fact, bilabial stop does not exists in standard Arabic language that is used in schools and this being the case the use of /b/ to produce /p/ is common by Arabic speakers of English (Laver, 2000). For example: play point pump stop English Natives: /plei/ /point/ /pump/ /stap/ or /o/ Arabic NNs /blei/ /boint/ /pomp/ /stob/ It is noteworthy that, by voicing the stop, English learners mix words adding confusion to their meaning. Other consonants that are missing in the Arabic language are the voiced labiodentals fricative /v/ (Baker 2006). This results to the use of /f/ to produce both sounds regardless of the voice quality. For example: Surface proof fail fan Service prove veil van Consequently, because of the stress on all syllables in Arabic, the consonant clusters at the end of English words are separated by schwa, creating a new syllable at the end of the word. For example: Convinced pronounced aids Konvins ס d pronouns ס d /eid ס d Another hard task is to have Arabic speakers pronouns /t/ in away it look to be an allophone of /d/, a flap alveolar voiced sound the resemble /d/ which in most cases in placed after a stressed vowel of the syllable and the unstressed syllable. After a stressed Vowel: Bitter Latter Motor Otter Dirty In this case, the vowel in the first syllable is stressed Before an unstressed syllable: Waiter later writer hotter ninety English clusters cause a lot of problem to Arabic speakers. This is attributed to the fact that, English cluster does allow a combination of clusters at the beginning, middle or even the end of the words. In Arabic, every consonant is followed by a long or short vowel in pronouncing words. This being the case, when an speaking English, with two clusters of two consonants to pronounce within a word, an individual uses the glottal before one consonant to make a short syllable out of it (Roach 2000). Additionally, Arabic which is a semitic language do not start a word with a vowel and this causes English learners to insert a glottal /?/ at the beginning of every word beginning with a vowel. For example: I understand arm open English: /ai/ /^ nd rstand/ /a:m/ /oupen/ Arabic /?ai/ /? ^ nderstand/ /?aarm/ /?oupen/ When they use a glottal sound before the word starting with a vowel, arabs add extra syllables making their accent in producing a sentence heavier than it might be with the pronunciation of the word. Summary & Discussion It is clear from the literature that the phonological system of English and Arabic has diverse asymmetries. This gives rise to chances of confusion and mispronunciation. This calls for language teachers to intervene with suitable solutions to curb the situation. it is therefore noted that, using various activities which sensitize learners to differences in the sound system of English’s and Arabic is of great importance. Literature depicts that, the use of clear manner of articulation for consonants some and the cardinal vowel scheme for vowel is of great importance. This in the other hand enhances teachers ability to analysis and raise awareness regarding inter lingual errors. Additionally, using minimal pairs strengthens the phonetic ability of the learner and harnesses their ability to know where the difference lies between the two languages. Literature supports constant exposure to sounds which is a common pillar for commendable performance when learning a new language. On the other hand, literature depicts that, teachers should not overburden student with theoretical definitions or terms, rule or any other complication, for this will improve the learner pronunciation as well as justify learner errors. Teachers should otherwise deal with the root course of the problem so as to effectively achieve their purpose. Additionally, there is enough exoneration form the literature where teachers should be amicably equipped with the basic knowledge of speech mechanism and the phonologies of English and Arabic languages for this will mean that they effectively teach the sounds and letters of Arabic with the bases on phonetics and comparative phonology. Bibliography Amayreh, M., & Dyson, A. . (1998). The acquisition of Arabic Consonants. Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research, 41, , 642-653. Amayreh, M. (2003). Completion of the Consonant Inventory of Arabic. , . Journal of Speech Language, and Hearing Research, 46, , 517-529. Amayreh, M. .. (2003). Completion of the Consonant Inventory of Arabic. . Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research, 46, , 517-529 . Ashby, P. (2005). Speech Sounds, 2nd edn. Routledge: London. Baker, A. (2006). Ship or Sheep? 3rd edn . Cambridge University Press: Cambridge. LAVER, J. (2000). The nature of phonetics. Journal of the International Phonetic Association 30, 1/2: , 31 38. Noor, H. H. (1994). . “Some Implications of the Role of the Mother Tongue in Second Language Acquisition. Linguistica Communicatio , 97-106. Roach, P. (2000). English Phonetics and Phonology 3rd ed. Cambridge: CUP. Swan, M. & Smith, B. . (2001). Learner English, 2nd edn [and 1st edn, 1987],. Cambridge: Cambridge University press. Read More