Some word combinations

Robin Michael   Mon Dec 14, 2009 11:49 pm GMT
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sewer and sewer

faeces and thesis
Rasputin   Tue Dec 15, 2009 12:01 am GMT
Ja ne ponimaju smysla twoego soobshenia... Kakaja swjazj mezhdu etimi slowami?

sewer i sewer, eto ne kombinacia, eto odno slowo napisano dwazhdi, nu da estj kakayato raznica, no eto prosto glupo, potomu hto kak ze mne znatj, kakoe znahenie ty imeesh wwidu?

faeces i thesis , nu, da, eto kombinacia no ja ne wizhu nikakoj swjazi mezdu etimi slowami, nu kakaja-to rifma estj... esto wso chtoli?

Nu ja prosto ne ponimayu... ty chto, ranshe ne znal, hto w anglijskom jazykom estj takie slowa?
poster   Tue Dec 15, 2009 12:13 am GMT
I also remember being fascinated by rhyming words and homophones and similar phenomena. When I was 5.
K. T.   Tue Dec 15, 2009 2:27 am GMT
I don't understand your point, Robin.

Sewer (one who sews) and Sewer (place for sewage) have different pronunciations.


faeces and thesis (feces) and thesis

These do not rhyme in my dialect, do not have the same meaning, and do not have the same pronunciation. Do the cousins across the pond say them the same way?

Oh brother!
Robin Michael   Tue Dec 15, 2009 10:25 am GMT
I was talking to a Polish relative in Germany who is very good with languages. I mentioned the book that I am interested in, 'Guns, germs and steel' and the various faeces of the author. He then pointed out to me that the way I said 'theses' sounded very similar to 'faeces'.

As you can imagine, I found his comments mildly irritating.

When I was a child I had elocution lessons to help me to pronounce the 'th' sound. That was because I tended to pronounce 'th' as 'f'. Interestingly enough, this is also a common mistake of Polish people learning English and a more common pronunciation in the London area.

I thought that I would get two types of reply on Antimoon. One reply from the experts who thought that what I was saying was obvious. And another reply from people with very little English, who would not understand what I was trying to say.

Can you suggest a way of recording my accent so that I can make it available on Antimoon?

sewer and sewer: The importance of context in the pronunciation of English words.

I suspect that if I said 'faeces', meaning 'theses' when talking to someone who was not interested in languages, but was more interested in what I had got to say; the person that I was talking to would not comment, and would appreciate that it would be rude to comment.
feati   Tue Dec 15, 2009 3:59 pm GMT
>>Robin Michael Tue Dec 15, 2009 10:25 am GMT
>Can you suggest a way of recording my accent so that I can make it available on Antimoon?

http://vocaroo.com/
K. T.   Tue Dec 15, 2009 5:14 pm GMT
Since I wasn't present and you wrote "faeces" (feces) when describing the situation, I don't know what to add except that thesis and theses don't sound alike either, but then again, the "th" sounds in English are difficult for many people. I've heard a lot of African- Americans who don't say both "th" sounds- at least not consistently-including one who has studied many languages and is popular on youtube. However, it's a "th" to a "d" sound.

I thought it was probably a "th"/"f" switch, but since you wrote the singular...

Do language people listen to the words of others or just how they say words? I am not a professional linguist, but I would say that I listen to both.
Rasputin   Tue Dec 15, 2009 9:19 pm GMT
Nositelj anglijskowo mne skazal, hto esli ty ne mozheshj proiznositj 'TH/F' - eto znak leniwosti i newezhestwa. On mne skazal, hto tolko deti tak goworjat, i eto ohen razdrazhaet ih roditelej, nastolko hto oni dazhe gotowy nanjatj specialista...
K. T.   Wed Dec 16, 2009 12:03 am GMT
I don't understand your message. I can make out certain phrases (even though they aren't Cyrillic), so it must be Russian or something close to it.

Here it is in Cyrillic.
Носителй английскощо мне сказал, хто если ты не можешй произноситй ьТХ/Фь - ето знак ленищости и нещежестща. Он мне сказал, хто толко дети так гощорят, и ето охен раздражает их родителей, настолко хто они даже готощы нанятй специалиста...
Rasputin   Wed Dec 16, 2009 12:13 am GMT
Nu wot, ty umnowatyj muzhik, no estj kakieto oshibki w trasliteracii. Nu eto newazhno, wobshemto, wsio bolee ili menee ponyatno.... A na samom dele mnie ne nrawitsya kirillica, ja priwerzhenec ispolzowanija latinksowo alfawita dla wseh yazykow... Nu, eto wsio fantazii, konehno, no mne wsio taki interesno...
Robin Michael   Wed Dec 16, 2009 5:53 am GMT
I was on a bus in Poole Dorset and I asked my Polish partner to tell me what language the two men behind us were speaking. She said that it was a dialect of Russian. We asked them where they came from they said - "Slovakia".

There are direct flights (Ryan Air - very cheap) between Katowice and Bournemouth. Bournemouth is very close to Poole and Katowice (in Poland), is reasonably close to Slovakia.

I would quite like to go to Prague or Budapest in the summer. Our neighbour across the corridor is from the Czech republic. But she is not very communicative although we always get on reasonably well. (I live in a tenement block of six flats that is part of a larger council estate of similar properties. There is a central stair-well. It is very similar to the sort of accommodation found in much of Central and Eastern Europe. Not very popular in the UK. For a long time the council in Aberdeen found these flats very difficult to let. Now there are a lot of Eastern Europeans in them.)
Robin Michael   Wed Dec 16, 2009 6:03 am GMT
My speech



The author of the book ‘Guns germs and steel’ had an interesting thesis about global development. On the beach promenade between Bournemouth and Poole is a sign saying ‘No dog faeces’.


http://vocaroo.com/?media=vjPobZMm4RU7F5eDc


I know this is not perfect. It is a first attempt. I know I say 'say' rather than 'saying'. So lets see if it works.
Rasputin   Wed Dec 16, 2009 6:34 am GMT
<<I was on a bus in Poole Dorset and I asked my Polish partner to tell me what language the two men behind us were speaking. She said that it was a dialect of Russian. We asked them where they came from they said - "Slovakia". >>


Nu wot, ohenj interesno. Mne kazhetsja hto Welikobritanija uzhe praktiheski stala slawjanskoj stranoj. Nu, werojatnee 40% skawjanskaja, 40% musulmanskaja i 20% britanskaja. Xaxa.


<<I live in a tenement block of six flats that is part of a larger council estate of similar properties. There is a central stair-well. It is very similar to the sort of accommodation found in much of Central and Eastern Europe. Not very popular in the UK.>>


Ohenj horoshee zhiljio. Ja sam zhiwu w takom dome!
Robin Michael   Wed Dec 16, 2009 5:09 pm GMT
Thank you Rasputin for taking an interest in what I have written.
Another Guest   Thu Dec 17, 2009 1:06 am GMT
You are pronouncing "thesis" as if it were "theses". The second syllable of "thesis" is pronounced "sihs", not "sees".