Unanswered Questions
52 questions with no upvoted or accepted answers
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What free objective tools can be used for assessing pronunciation?
I'm also interested in fluency and intonation.
Any insights will be wonderful.
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55
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How to check if the first /r/ or /j/ sound is elided in "February"?
I've just learnt that there is more than one way to pronounce the word "February":
/ˈfebyuˌweri/
/ˈfebuˌweri/
/ˈfebruˌweri/
And some other variations with /u/ being reduced to schwa.
...
- 21
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51
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What are all the ways to formulate a word?
Consider the formula according to which Sanskrit and most Indo-European languages formulate the word:
[prefix] root + suffix + ending.
And now consider the formula according to which Semitic languages ...
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44
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Is it possible to define a concrete object with language clearly and accurately?
How do we know whether counterexamples of a concept are infinite or finite? Is there an end to the process of revision?
It is usually claimed that defining a concept clearly and accurately is almost ...
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-2
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1
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What are examples of English words containing a Near-close near-front unrounded vowel
What are examples of English words containing a near-close near-front unrounded vowel, when American pronunciation is used.
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135
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How similar are the French and Spanish R sounds, linguistically speaking?
To preface, I'm not particularly knowledgeable about linguistics, but I did take several semesters of French and Spanish in college several years ago. I remember putting a lot of effort into learning ...
1
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104
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Cot-Caught Merger in NYC and New Jersey?
I'm a bit confused with the cot-caught and father-bother merger, especially as they appear in the NYC / New Jersey area? I'm a native of the area and have lived there my whole life, yet I have the ...
1
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52
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Does the Alveolar Tap Cause Complete Closure of the Vocal Tract and Total Obstruction of the Airstream for a Short Time?
When doing the alveolar tap, does the tongue tip cause complete occlusion in the vocal tract and total obstruction of the airflow for a split second? If so, then how long does the blockage of air last,...
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269
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How to pronounce Proto-Indo-European words?
I want to know how do I get to know how to pronounce proto-Indo-European words from how they are spelled currently?
I do understand that the exact pronunciation is not certain for many words, but it ...
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40
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Phonetic/ phonological, not orthographic, syllables of تَطْوِيْل?
Pronunciation of تَطْوِيْل (as verbal noun), is it 'tat-weel', or rather 'ta-tweel' ?
Notice the difference in syllable structure.
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3
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126
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How did خشاب become the Persian word for magazine?
In Iran magazine (in a gun) is called خشاب (kheshab). I tried to find a relation to another language but I failed.
The only thing I found is that خشب (khashb) means wood in Arabic.
In Arabic magazine ...
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59
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How do I tell apart voiced and unvoiced plosives after a stop with no audible release?
I'm making a conlang and I want it to differentiate voiced, breathy voiced, unvoiced, and unvoiced aspirated plosives, but I'm having trouble telling apart the pronunciation of voiced/unvoiced when it ...
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2
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120
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How did Otto Jespersen figure out the Great Vowel Shift?
How did Otto Jespersen figure out the Great Vowel Shift?
Surely, there were no pronunciation audio recordings available.
How did he know how British people had pronounced vowels centuries ago?
Have ...
- 121
4
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107
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Historically, when was whitespace used versus interpuncts versus no-separation?
The Wikipedia article on whitespace claimed until recently that the use of whitespace as a word separator was rare until its promotion by Alcuin of York in the Carolingian Renaissance. But I've found ...
- 538
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42
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Difference between polysemes and senses
As far as I understand, saying that two words are polysemes is saying they're synonymous homonyms, but not synonymous enough to be the same word. Senses on the other hand, are synonymous enough to be ...
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