Phonaesthetics (Word Sounds)

In language studies, phonaesthetics is the study of the positive (euphonious) and negative (cacophonous) sounds of letters, words, and combinations of letters and words. Also spelled phonesthetics.  Ã‚   Linguist David Crystal defines  phonaesthetics  as the study of the aesthetic properties of sound, especially the sound symbolism attributable to individual sounds, sound clusters or sound types. Examples include the implication of smallness in the close vowels of such words as teeny  weeny, and the unpleasant associations of the consonant cluster /sl-/ in such words as slime, slug and slush (A Dictionary of Language, 2001).   Etymology From the Greek  phÃ… nÄ“aisthÄ“tikÄ“,   voice-sound    aesthetics Examples and Observations Sound Quality (Timbre) We speak of words as soft, smooth,   rough, sonorous, harsh, guttural, explosive.  About individual words not much can be said--even about cellar-door, which is reputed to be one of the most beautiful-sounding words in our language. With a sequence of words, especially one that shapes itself into a meaningful sentence or line of verse, the sound becomes more determinate and controlled. The still, sad music of humanity(Wordsworth, Lines Composed a Few Miles Above Tintern Abbey) naturally calls for a grave and quiet reading.   The sound-quality of a discourse is, then, a regional quality that depends in part upon the qualities of its words and also upon [sound-similarity and sound-pattern].(Monroe C. Beardsley,  Aesthetics: Problems in the Philosophy of Criticism, 2nd ed. Hackett, 1981) Phonaesthetics and the Adopted Names of Actors Quite a few actors have changed their names simply because they didnt like the one they already had...There is a tendency for men to avoid gentle continuant sounds, such as m and l, when looking for new names, and to go in for the hard-sounding plosive consonants, such as k and g. Maurice Micklewhite became Michael Caine, Marion Michael Morrison became John Wayne, Alexander Archibald Leach became Cary Grant, Julius Ullman became Douglas Fairbanks.Women tend to go the other way. Dorothy Kaumeyer became Dorothy Lamour. Hedwig Kiesler became Hedy Lamarr. Norma Jean Baker became Marilyn Monroe.Actually, Roy Rogers is a bit weak, compared with most cowboy names. Cowboys tend to be full of plosives and short vowels--Bill, Bob, Buck, Chuck, Clint, Jack, Jim, Like, Tex, Tom, Billy the Kid, Buffalo Bill, Wild Bill Hickok, Kit Carson. Roy doesnt quite explode from the lips in the same way. His horse, Trigger, actually does rather better.These are only tendencies, of course. There are plenty of exceptions.(David Crystal, By Hook or by Crook: A Journey in Search of English. Overlook Press, 2008) Phonaesthetics and Nicknames [N]icknames incorporate more pleasant and gentle sounds than full names for both men and women. One reason for this is the [i:] ending characteristic of so many nicknames (Nicky, Billy, Jenny, Peggy). Crystal (1993) noted the distinctly masculine characteristics of the nickname Bob. Bob is easy for children to pronounce because its repeated , [b], is mastered early (Whissell 2003b).  Phonaesthetically, [b] is an unpleasant sound and the central vowel of the name is active and cheerful. Bob is, therefore, a prototypical masculine nickname, both in terms of the phonaesthetic system employed here and in terms of Crystals criteria. DeKlerk and Bosch (1997) argue for the importance  of phonaesthetics in the assignment of nicknames, and point to the positive social intent of name-givers as a main concomitant of this assignment.​  (Cynthia Whissell, Choosing a Name: How Name-Givers Feelings Influence Their Selections.  The Oxford Handbook of the Word, ed.  John R. Taylor. O xford University Press, 2015) Phonesthesia and Brand Names The loose association of  phonesthesia, applied to bigger chunks of sound, are ... the source of an unignorable trend in brand names  ...​Previously, companies named their brands after their founders (Ford, Edison, Westinghouse), or with a descriptor that conveyed their immensity (General Motors, United Airlines, U.S. Steel), or by a portmanteau that identified a new technology (Microsoft, Instamatic, Polavision), or with a metaphor or metonym connoting a quality they wished to ascribe (Impala, Newport, Princess, Trailblazer, Rebel).  But today they seek to convey a je ne sais quoi using faux-Greek and  Latinate neologisms built out of  word fragments that are supposed to connote certain  qualities without allowing people to put their finger on what they are. . . . Acura--accurate? acute? What does that have to do with a car? Verizon--a veritable horizon? Does it mean that good phone service will recede into the distance forever? Viagra--virility? vigor? viable? Ar e we supposed to think it will make a man ejaculate like Niagara Falls? The most egregious example is the renaming of the Philip Morris parent company as  Altria, presumably to switch its image from bad people who sell addictive carcinogens to a place or state marked by altruism and other lofty values.  (Steven Pinker, The Stuff of Thought: Language as a Window Into Human Nature. Viking, 2007)Certainly, euphony should be a consideration in choosing a brand name. Lamolay sounds better than Tarytak for a toilet paper even though it has the same number of letters.  (John OShaughnessy,  Consumer Behaviour: Perspectives, Findings and Explanations. Palgrave Macmillan, 2013) Sound and Sense [T]he poet ... knows when the sound is carrying his sense, even if he doesnt know why. In creating his names and his verse, [J. R. R.] Tolkien was exercising both skills, in pursuit of what he called phonaesthetic pleasure (Letters  176).To illustrate, lets turn back  to our abandoned palato-velars. The phonaesthetics of the post-liquid palato-velar is a thing of beauty. It captured the heart of a young Texas poet  with the unlikely name of Tom Jones when he was in college, and he ï ¬ lled a whole song with them, which became the opening song of The Fantasticks, the longest running musical in the history of the New York stage. The song was called Try to Remember. The refrain was the single word we have looked at in its transformation from Old to Modern English: follow, follow, follow.  In each  stanza Jones crammed  as many of the mutated-liquid words he could: first mellow, yellow, fellow, then willow, pillow, billow, and then follow and hollow, finally ending where th e song began with mellow. . . .Tolkien does not incorporate quite  so many of these mutated palatovelar words in any one place, but the mention of the word willow should signal to  any Tolkien reader where I am going next: to the old Willowman of The Adventures of Tom Bombadil and The Old Forest chapter of The Lord of the Rings ...(John R. Holmes, Inside a Song: Tolkiens  Phonaesthetics.  Middle-Earth Minstrel: Essays on Music in Tolkien, ed. by Bradford Lee Eden. McFarland, 2010)   An Alternative View: Noisiness Many of those who have written about the topics of iconicity, sound symbolism, phonaesthetics  and phonosemantics write as though to unfold the latent surplus of meaning contained in certain sounds, letters or groups of letters. But iconic language is in the literal sense idiotic, speaking the idiom of the blindly singular, of purely accidental and idiomatic noise. It may well be that certain clusters of sounds seem charged with certain kinds of meaningfulness--i seems to connote littleness, gl- seems to be associated with light, and gr- with irascibility--but the way these sounds work is by first signifying, not particular sound-qualities, but an abstract quality of noisiness as such--the sound of just sounding.(Steven Connor,  Beyond Words: Sobs, Hums, Stutters and Other Vocalizations. Reaktion Books, 2014)      Monty Python and the Lighter Side of Phonaesthetics When the Pythons are not making words and names take on new meanings, they are likely commenting upon the inherent qualities of words themselves. One fine example appears in the Woody and Tinny Words sketch (ep. 42), in which an upper-middle-class family voice their opinions regarding the pleasure (or displeasure) derived simply from saying and hearing various words. For fun, try to see which of the following words sound woody (confidence building!) and which sound tinny (dreadful): SET ONE: gorn, sausage, caribou, intercourse, pert, thighs, botty, erogenous, zone, concubine, loose women, ocelot, wasp, yowlingSET TWO: newspaper, litterbin, tin, antelope, seemly, prodding, vacuum, leap, bound, vole, recidivist, tit, Simkins* The euphony or cacophony of words (what the Oxbridge scholars in Python--and probably Gilliam, too, why not?--would have known as phonaesthetics, the study of positive and negative sounds in human speech) may lead users to project certain connotations upon individual words (Crystal, 1995, 8-12). Such phonaesthetic connotative projection devolves, in this skit, into a practically visible form of mental masturbation, wherein the father (Chapman) must be doused with a bucket of water to be calmed down after cogitating upon too many woody sounding words. As he sagely notes, ... its a funny thing ... all the naughty words sound woody.  Its a theory not entirely without justification (the understanding of how linguistic connotations are often derived from sounds, not the masturbatory powers of individual words! Bloody pervert.)* Answer key: set one woody: set two tinny(Brian Cogan and Jeff Massey, Everything I Ever Needed to Know About _____ I Learned From Monty Python. Thomas Dunne B ooks, 2014)

Montessori vs. Piaget Essay - 1477 Words

Maria Montessori’s Theory Vs. Jean Piaget’s Theory Maria Montessori and Jean Piaget are two educational philosophers whose theories are still being used and influence today’s educational system. Their theories and methods were revolutionary for their times, but they came to be greatly respected. Both of these theorist developed their own stages of child development and were able to base education on these stages. Although in many ways Piaget and Montessori were very similar in their thinking they were also very different in their teaching approaches. Piaget and Montessori are two main players in the early childhood education field and based most of their ideas on their observations of children. Maria Montessori was†¦show more content†¦In order for the child to be independent the tools and materials must be accessible, reachable, and child-sized in order for the child to be completely independent from adult assistance. At this time there was no market for child-sized tools and materials, therefore, Maria had to make her own tools for the children. Maria Montessori felt that classrooms should be orderly with a label and place for everything this will help the children to learn responsibility for returning things to the rightful place. Maria felt that if adults continue to serve children and clean up after them the children will never learn to be completely independent of adult interference. Maria developed three stages of children’s development based on her knowledge and observations. The first stage is the stage of the ‘absorbent mind’, which is from birth to 6 years of age. This stage is when the child is exploring his/her environment, absorbing information, and creating their concepts of reality. The second stage is from 6 to 12 years of age; this is when the child is using skills learned in the first stage. 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Literary Analysis Essay Free Essays

Literary Analysis: Outline This worksheet must be TYPED. Bring your completed worksheet (along with the O’Connor short stories) to class with you on Tuesday 11/27. Note: Page 1 of this outline provides a sample outline of the thesis statement and ONE paragraph from the online sample Literary Analysis Essay. We will write a custom essay sample on Literary Analysis Essay or any similar topic only for you Order Now Complete pages 2-3 of this worksheet for class on Tues 11/27. Thesis Statement (one sentence that sums up your specific interpretation of the story): In Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s â€Å"The Yellow Wallpaper,† the narrator must go mad in order to â€Å"free† the woman trapped in the wallpaper and escape the oppressive patriarchal control of her husband and society. Topic Sentence (sums up a major point about the story that helps support your interpretation): Gilman’s unnamed narrator is locked in an old nursery in order to help remedy her depression, an illness her physician husband refuses to take seriously, dismissing it as a â€Å"temporary nervous depression—a slight hysterical tendency† (Gilman 437). A. Evidence from Primary text 1. ) Evidence from the story (relevant detail and/or quotation): †¢ The narrator writes in secret, attempting to find a creative outlet for her feelings; she doesn’t want to be locked up †¢ John dismisses her desire to write as â€Å"a nervous weakness†¦sure to lead to all manner of excited fancies† (Gilman 442) 2. ) Your explanation of the evidence (what it shows that is relevant to your topic sentence): †¢ He refuses to take her feelings and thoughts seriously, dismissing her as weak, childish, and hysterical, adjectives clearly aligned with women and femininity. The narrator, because she is a woman, is granted no recourse against her doctor-husband and begins to see another woman trapped in the room with her, creeping behind the wallpaper. B. Support from secondary text 1. ) Relevant Detail or quotation †¢ Elizabeth Ammons, â€Å"Biographical Echoes in ‘The Yellow Wallpaper’†: â€Å"The priso ner of a charming man and an ugly empty domestic life that she cannot escape† (page 454). 2. Your explanation of the evidence (what it shows that is relevant to your topic sentence): †¢ Regardless of her own wants and desires, the narrator is effectively a prisoner of her husband, a man who becomes more and more sinister as the story progresses. Complete the following outline for your Literary Analysis essay. Outlines are due in class on Tuesday 11/27. I. Thesis Statement: II. Body paragraph 1 Topic Sentence (sums up a major point about the story that helps support your interpretation): A. Evidence from primary text 1. Evidence from the story (relevant detail and/or quotation) 2. Your explanation of the evidence (what it shows that is relevant to your topic sentence) B. Support from secondary source 1. Support from an article (relevant detail and/or quotation) 2. Your explanation of the evidence (what it shows that is relevant to your topic sentence) III. Body Paragraph 2 Topic Sentence (sums up a major point about the story that helps support your interpretation) A. Evidence from primary text 1. Evidence from the story (relevant detail and/or quotation) 2. Your explanation of the evidence (what it shows that is relevant to your topic sentence) B. Support from secondary source 1. Support from an article (relevant detail and/or quotation) 2. Your explanation of the evidence (what it shows that is relevant to your topic sentence) IV. Body Paragraph 3 Topic Sentence (sums up a major point about the story that helps support your interpretation) A. Evidence from primary text 1. Evidence from the story (relevant detail and/or quotation) 2. Your explanation of the evidence (what it shows that is relevant to your topic sentence) B. Support from secondary source 1. Support from an article (relevant detail and/or quotation) 2. Your explanation of the evidence (what it shows that is relevant to your topic sentence) How to cite Literary Analysis Essay, Essay examples

20th Century Drama Coursework Essay Example For Students

20th Century Drama Coursework Essay This essay analyses the procedures used by J.B. Priestley in this play. It will pay close attention to which dramatic devices and structures Priestley utilizes. J.B. Priestley uses a cunning technique to conclude the play. He deceives the reader by installing several false endings. This keeps the audience actively engaged and creates a tense atmosphere.  There is great disparity between the inauguration of the play and the closing stages. At the start, the Birling family is rejoicing due to the engagement between Gerald and Sheila. We know this as stage directions and expressions show genuine joy, Sheilas father, Mr Birling, declares This is one of the happiest nights of my life There is also dramatic irony as the play was written in 1945, but set in 1912; Birling talks of the Titanic being unsinkable, no likelihood of wars and so forth. The audience already know that the Titanic had sunk and that two World Wars had previously occurred. This gives a more realistic feeling to the play as what Birling stated was true at the time the play was set. The climax is very much to the contrary. The entrance of the inspector is the point at which the tension rises. During the enquiry, the intensity increases dramatically. The authentic ending is sudden and comes to an end with suspense; the final phone call just tells the audience or reader that a real inspector is soon to arrive to investigate the suicide of a young girl. As the characters have begun to relax, the phone call is a great astonishment. This is traditional cliff-hanger which brings the play full circle; back to the beginning. The inspector approaches each character differently. As the investigation progresses, Goole uses more aggression, as Mrs Birling states, you seem to conducting it in a rather peculiar and offensive manner. The order of inspection is Mr Birling, Sheila, Gerald, Mrs Birling followed by Eric. The significance of this order, is that each character has more deceitful than the last; steadily increasing apprehension. When interrogating Mr Birling, he is calm and is straightforward. He seems to be letting Mr Birling remember everything, as to not put any words in to his mouth. His discussion with Birling is quite brief, but adequate information is revealed. Although the questioning of Birling is concise, as if to represent less significance, he does commence the downfall of Eva. With Sheila, again, the audience is shown how she contributed to the descend of Eva Smith. Although she isnt wholly responsible, she is fully involved. As Goole doesnt raise his voice or get disconcerted, he just establishes that Sheila is a jealous and cruel-hearted person. Also, Goole doesnt implicate her, as he does with each character; he lets them implicate themselves.  As the inspector moves on, he seems to get more affected by the whole situation and becomes inflamed. In Mrs Birlings case, this uproar is produced due to her denial of her responsibility and connection to the situation. As he interviews Gerald, he is still quite calm, but as more mysteries are revealed, the tension rises. As various people interfere, Goole does get slightly annoyed, (sharply) Come along Mr Croft. Goole seems to get emotionally involved as Gerald speaks of the fact the Eva is dead, (harshly)Yes, shes dead. As there are less interferences, the inspector calms down a little. Still, he doesnt imply anything or ask leading questions; he wants the characters to implicate themselves. Goole is quite patient, but again, when interrupted, he is easily annoyed. With Mrs Birling, Goole gets infuriated quite occasionally as she denies various accusations, Youre not telling me the truth. As Mrs Birling doesnt co-operate with Goole, or answer him with some respect, he speaks with sharp tones; (severely) Do you want me to tell you in plain words? As Mrs Birling begins to see her fault and involvement in the matter, she softens her tone, as does Goole. However, as Mrs Birling refuses to accept blame, Goole gets a bit more agitated. .uc8db212208775805ef2910e86421d06c , .uc8db212208775805ef2910e86421d06c .postImageUrl , .uc8db212208775805ef2910e86421d06c .centered-text-area { min-height: 80px; position: relative; } .uc8db212208775805ef2910e86421d06c , .uc8db212208775805ef2910e86421d06c:hover , .uc8db212208775805ef2910e86421d06c:visited , .uc8db212208775805ef2910e86421d06c:active { border:0!important; } .uc8db212208775805ef2910e86421d06c .clearfix:after { content: ""; display: table; clear: both; } .uc8db212208775805ef2910e86421d06c { display: block; transition: background-color 250ms; webkit-transition: background-color 250ms; width: 100%; opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #95A5A6; } .uc8db212208775805ef2910e86421d06c:active , .uc8db212208775805ef2910e86421d06c:hover { opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #2C3E50; } .uc8db212208775805ef2910e86421d06c .centered-text-area { width: 100%; position: relative ; } .uc8db212208775805ef2910e86421d06c .ctaText { border-bottom: 0 solid #fff; color: #2980B9; font-size: 16px; font-weight: bold; margin: 0; padding: 0; text-decoration: underline; } .uc8db212208775805ef2910e86421d06c .postTitle { color: #FFFFFF; font-size: 16px; font-weight: 600; margin: 0; padding: 0; width: 100%; } .uc8db212208775805ef2910e86421d06c .ctaButton { background-color: #7F8C8D!important; color: #2980B9; border: none; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: none; font-size: 14px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 26px; moz-border-radius: 3px; text-align: center; text-decoration: none; text-shadow: none; width: 80px; min-height: 80px; background: url(https://artscolumbia.org/wp-content/plugins/intelly-related-posts/assets/images/simple-arrow.png)no-repeat; position: absolute; right: 0; top: 0; } .uc8db212208775805ef2910e86421d06c:hover .ctaButton { background-color: #34495E!important; } .uc8db212208775805ef2910e86421d06c .centered-text { display: table; height: 80px; padding-left : 18px; top: 0; } .uc8db212208775805ef2910e86421d06c .uc8db212208775805ef2910e86421d06c-content { display: table-cell; margin: 0; padding: 0; padding-right: 108px; position: relative; vertical-align: middle; width: 100%; } .uc8db212208775805ef2910e86421d06c:after { content: ""; display: block; clear: both; } READ: Sheila and Gerald EssayAs Erics interview is more detailed, there are more emotions present in the room. As things get heated, at the beginning of Act 3, Goole swiftly cools things down. To keep focused on matters, and to quicken the investigation, Goole tells Birling to be quiet, Dont start on that. I want to get on. Goole talks quite calmly as Eric doesnt deny truths and just tells of how he got involved with Eva. As matters get heated again later on, it is Goole again who calms the situation. To make sure that Eric understands fully his involvement, Goole states again how Eva died, and how each character helped to put her in her grave, and died a horrible deathBut each of you helped to kill her. Remember that. JB Priestley fits the ending efficiently in to the general structure. Unlike other authors, he uses more than one ending to deceive and confuse the audience, this keeps them engrossed. This creates sufficient tension and suspense in the atmosphere. At the instance the inspector departs from the Birling household, there is a climax of tension between the characters and the audience. What makes the family reflect on their previous deeds, is when Goole states, you will have to learn in blood, fire and anguish. In other words, if people like the Birlings dont learn their lesson now, they will have to pay in blood. This is a shocking message to the Birlings, but it is also an opportunity to change their way and prevent any further ordeals. When the inspector departs, it is an anti-climax. This is referred to as an anti-climax, because the audience believe that after discovering the truth, the whole family has been let off easily and that it was just a test of conscience. This puzzles the spectators and gives them a slight shock as the true moral of the incident is revealed. The whole anti-climax division provides escalating tension and bewilderment, especially for the audience. This also gives the on-lookers time to reflect before the tension begins to rise again. The reason why Priestley doesnt finish the play at this point, is to let the audience acknowledge that the Birlings didnt get off lightly. This gives a tense ambience and provides a perfect cliffhanger ending. It serves a dramatic purpose and allows the on-lookers to reflect on the rest of the play; the moral and so forth. In the subsection of Act 3, the family reflect on their actions. The characters react in a dissimilar fashion after Goole disappears.  This shows the reader that a few of the family have learnt their lesson to sufficient extent. It seems to be the elder characters that have dismissed the lesson. The inspectors final speech seems to have caught the attention of the characters, making them regret their actions, but also to make them realise that they can still change for the better. Although there is a varied response from the characters, they all seem to have some confusion.