Homework 6Homework 6Posted Thursday October 16th, due Tuesday October 21st.
1. Frames of Reference for talking about Locations
In class we talked about different ways in which languages can express the relations between objects in space, using different frames of reference.
The position of one object (the 'figure') relative to another object (the 'ground') may be described using an absolute frame of reference (e.g. expressions like north, south etc.), a relative frame of reference (i.e. position described from speaker's perspective), or an intrinsic frame of reference (i.e. position described relative to properties of the ground object).
In each of the following examples, state which of the 3 frames of reference is being used to describe the location of the figure object relative to the ground object. If the sentence is ambiguous, and could be interpreted using either of two frames of reference, then point this out. As far as possible, you should try to give justification for your choice of frame of reference. (e.g. "if the speaker were to move, but the figure and ground objects remained in the same position, the sentence could stop being true: therefore the frame of reference is relative).
Note: if you are uncertain between two frames of reference, but are certain that you can exclude the remaining frame of reference as a possibility, then at least say this.
The goal of the second part of the homework is to give you some practice in thinking about the sounds of words, as opposed to the way in which words are spelled. The pronunciation and the spelling of a word is often quite unrelated in English. In the next few classes we will be using phonetic transcription, using the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) as a precise and systematic way of writing the sounds of English and other languages.
Reading: Fromkin & Rodman, Chapter 5, Phonetics. For these exercises you will need in particular to have read pp.176-186, and you will probably also find pp.207-210 very helpful.
2. Exercise #1 (p.212)
3. Exercise #2 (p.212)
4. Exercise #3 (p.212)
5. Exercise #7 (p.213-214) [Tip: words that rhyme should end with the same sounds.]
Note 1: in working on these exercises, you should be very careful to listen carefully to how you pronounce the words in normal speech, and make an effort not to be misled by the way in which the words are spelled in English. For example, not every letter of English spelling is always pronounced.
Note 2: it will be useful if you write on your assignment where you are from, or which regional variety of English you typically speak. Some words/sounds are pronounced slightly differently in different varieties of English, and so this information will help us to allow for this.