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Where Chao went wrong in matters of language1
- Source :
- The Canadian Journal of Linguistics - La revue canadienne de linguistique; 1972, Vol. 17 Issue: 2-3 p105-108, 4p
- Publication Year :
- 1972
-
Abstract
- Martin Joos once said: “In matters of language, Chao never goes wrong,” or words to that effect. I certainly appreciate this great compliment, but in many ways which Martin has not noticed, I did go wrong quite a number of times in matters of language.It goes without saying that in my pre-adult speech, which was of course way back in the pre-Martin Joos days, there were a number of things in which I deviated from the speech of my environment. In the form of Mandarin spoken around me retroflex initials were distinct from dental sibilants; I used dental sibilants for both. There was also final nafter front vowels, but I dropped all the final n’s. Thus, when I noticed that a cat had lapped up my bowl of noodles, I exclaimed: Mhautsy woode mieh!for Mhauchy woode miann!‘The cat is eating my noodles!’
Details
- Language :
- English
- ISSN :
- 00084131 and 17101115
- Volume :
- 17
- Issue :
- 2-3
- Database :
- Supplemental Index
- Journal :
- The Canadian Journal of Linguistics - La revue canadienne de linguistique
- Publication Type :
- Periodical
- Accession number :
- ejs40789932
- Full Text :
- https://doi.org/10.1017/S0008413100007040