Extracts from this document...

Introduction

Tugba ALBAYRAK 060102006 COMPARISON OF CONSONANTS IN ENGLISH AND TURKISH The word consonant comes from Latin. It means "sounding with" or "sounding together". In other words, a consonant does not sound on its own, but it has to occur with a vowel. However, this concept does not show the modern linguistic understanding. According to modern linguistics, a consonant is defined in terms of vocal tract constrictions: a sound in spoken language that is characterized by a complete or partial constriction or closure of the upper vocal tract. In this paper I am going to try to compare Turkish consonants to English consonants. Consonant letters in the English alphabet are B, C, D, F, G, H, J, K, L, M, N, P, Q, R, S, T, V, W, X, Z and sometimes 'Y' stands for a consonant in "year", but for a vowel in "myth" because it occupies an entire syllable as a vowel would. Each consonant has some features. It can be a nasal if it is articulated through the nose, a stop if there is a complete obstruction of the air or an approximant if its articulation is strongly influenced by the following vowel sound. When the articulation of the consonant involves blocking the air stream and having the air push through the narrow opening, it is a fricative. ...read more.

Middle

S se "sh" as "shark" T te as in English V ve as in English Y ye "y" as in "yet" Z ze as in English In Turkish when a word finishes with a consonant, it is usually the hard form. For example, the word "mektup" which means "letter" changes into "mektubum" meaning " my letter". In Turkish "b" and its unvoiced equivalent "p" are not so as aspirated as in English. In other words, they are produced with less emission of breath than is heard. (Lewis, G.L Turkish) * In Turkish words never start with "g"(soft g). "�eki�" which means "hammer" becomes " �ekicim" meaning "my hammer". Here the last letter "�" turns into its equivalent "c" for the ease of pronunciation. In Turkish, "d" and "t" are more distinct than "d" and "t" in English. In Turkish, "d" and "t" are pronounced when the tongue touches the top teeth. e.g. "T�rk", which means "Turkish"; "tavuk", which means "chicken". In English the tongue touches the gums behind the top teeth to produce "d" and "t". In Turkish, "v" and its unvoiced equivalent "f" are weaker than they are in English. The top teeth touch the inner side of the lower lip. ...read more.

Conclusion

The pronunciation of "s" in Turkish is the same as the same as the "s" in "this" in English. e.g. "kasa" (safe), "sagir" (deaf) The pronunciation of "s" in Turkish can be expressed as "sh" as in English "shell". e.g. "semsiye" (umbrella), sisman (fat), "sehir" (city) The pronunciation of "y" in Turkish depends on its position in the word. If it is the first letter of a word or after a consonant, it is like the "y" in yes". e.g. "yapmak" (to do) When "y" is between vowels in Turkish, it is weaker as in "cumhuriyet" which means "republic". When "y" is between a front vowel and a consonant, the vowel is lengthened as in "s�yle" /s�:le/ meaning "say it". In Turkish, "z" is pronounced the same as it is in English. Take the case of "z�mr�t" which means "emerald". In conclusion, when the pronunciation changes in Turkish, the spelling also changes. On the other hand, in English this is not the case. That is, when pronunciation changes, the spelling generally does not change. In English, when the pronunciation is the same the spelling often changes in order to understand the meaning as in "meet -meat; morning-mourning; see - sea; flower-flour. In other words, English is not written phonetically, but Turkish is. Turkish is a phonetically written language, so it makes changes in spelling and pronunciation changes for the ease of speaking. ?? ?? ?? ?? 1 of 6 ...read more.

This student written piece of work is one of many that can be found in our University Degree Other Languages section.