ASSIGNMENT 1 

 
 
1. Consider Charlie’s answer to the teacher in terms of phonetics and
spelling! 
Teacher: Give me a sentence which includes the words defence, defeat, detail. 
Charlie: When a horse jumps over defence, defeat go first and then detail. 
Provide justifications for Charlie’s answer! What mistakes does he commit in
this response? (10 pts)

2.  
What causes problem to the man on the right? Why? (5 pts) 

 
3. What is the mistake in the sign above? Correct it and justify your
correction! (5 pts) 

4. handkerchief is pronounced as /ˈhæŋkətʃɪf/. If isolated, hand is

pronounced as /hænd/ and kerchief as /kətʃɪf/. Why is handkerchief pronounced
as such? (5 pts) 

5. The word ga in Vietnamese is borrowed from drap, gare in French,

and gas in English, meaning bed sheet, (railway/subway) station or airport
 terminal, and a kind of fuel or carbonate dissolved in some beverages,
respectively. Remember the letter ‘r’ in French represents the velar fricative
consonant [ʁ]. 
Why did those loan words merge as just one word ga in Vietnamese? In this
case, ga in Vietnamese is a polysemous word, or the same form of 3
homonyms? Why? (20pts) 

6. Tell your students which one is the correct pronunciation of each of these
two verbs, including their stresses:  
examine  a. /ikzæmain/ b. /igzæmin/ 
determine c. /ditƏ:min/ d. /ditƏ:main/ 
Explain to your students the reason why these two words, including their
consonants and vowels, are pronounced as such, and why they are often
mispronounced! (Pay attention to strong and weak forms of pronunciation in
relation to stress!) (5 pts) 

7. What do these words have in common: genocide, homicide, decide,

suicide, pesticide, insecticide, herbicide, linguicide, coincide, excide? What does
the shared element mean? Where do these words come from (i.e. how are they
formed and what are their meanings)? What parts of speech are they? Are there
any odd ones out? Why? What implications will you tell your students from
these examples in terms of English word formation and meaning? (40 pts) 

8. The bold, italicized and underlined words in the following sentences are
marked as emphatic information, and carry the sentence stress. These sentences
are definitely different in meaning. What do you think each of them mean? (10
pts) 
i. I didn’t think John quit the job. 
ii. I didn’t think John quit the job. 
iii. I didn’t think John quit the job. 
iv. I didn’t think John quit the job. 
v. I didn’t think John quit the job. 
vi. I didn’t think John quit the job.
Answer:
Question 1:
Charlie misunderstood the meaning of the words that teacher required to
make a sentence:
- defence (protection) vs fence (a structure that divides two areas of land,
similar to a wall but made of wood or wire and supported with posts)
- Defeat ( win) vs feet (plural of foot)
- Detail (a single piece of information or fact) vs tail (a part of an animal's
body, sticking out from the base of the back)
Charlie’s answer means: when a horse jump over fence, feet go first and tail.
 Question 2:
The man on the right thought that the man with the scythe said that he was
deaf ( in stead of death) so he thought that he would speak louder.

Question 3:
Correction: Khu vực cấm đỗ các loại xe/ Khu vực cấm dừng các loại xe

Context: This sign is used to indicate an area where vehicles are not allowed to
perform a particular action.

Wrong word: In this sentence, the word "để" is used incorrectly. "để" is often
used to indicate the purpose or objective of an action, while here the meaning to
be conveyed is "to pass" or "to stop".

Correction: To correct this error, it is necessary to replace the word "to" with the
word "park" or "stop" to indicate the exact meaning of the sign which is "No
Parking Area"
To summarize, the error in the sentence "No parking area for vehicles" is a
misuse of the word "to", so it needs to be replaced with the word "park" or
"stop" to convey the exact meaning of that sign.

Question 4:
handkerchief pronounced as such because of the influence of neighboring
sounds: In the word "handkerchief," the nasal sound /ŋ/ is influenced by the
preceding sound /d/. The combination of the /ŋ/ and /d/ sounds is challenging to
pronounce consecutively, so the "d" sound assimilates with the following "n"
sound, resulting in a single nasal sound /ŋk/.

Question 5:

The merging of the loan words "ga" from French and English into a single word
with multiple meanings in Vietnamese can be attributed to several factors:

First, it is because of simplification and adaptation: Loan words in Vietnamese

often undergo simplification and adaptation to fit the phonetic patterns and
limitations of the Vietnamese language. The letter "r" in French represents the
velar fricative consonant [ʁ], which does not exist in Vietnamese phonology. As
a result, the pronunciation of "ga" in Vietnamese simplifies the sound to a single
consonant [g], which is closer to the phonetic inventory of the Vietnamese
language.

Secondly, it is because of phonological constraints: Vietnamese has a limited

number of syllable-final consonants compared to languages like French and
English. As a result, loan words may be adapted to fit the phonological structure
of Vietnamese, often resulting in the omission or merging of certain sounds. In
the case of "ga," the syllable-final consonant "r" in French and the "s" sound in
English are omitted or assimilated into the final "a" sound, resulting in a
simplified pronunciation of "ga."

The word "ga" in Vietnamese is considered a polysemous word, meaning it has

multiple related meanings. In this case, the loan words "ga" from different
languages have merged into a single word with multiple meanings. The different
meanings of "ga" in Vietnamese can be seen as homonyms, where words with
the same form but different meanings exist.
It's important to note that while the word "ga" in Vietnamese may have different
meanings borrowed from French and English, its pronunciation and usage may
vary in different contexts. The polysemous nature of the word "ga" in
Vietnamese showcases the adaptability of the language in incorporating loan
words and creating new meanings.

Question 6:
Considering two words “examine” and “determine”, the correct pronunciation of
these words will be /ɪɡˈzæm.ɪn/ and  /dɪˈtɜː.mɪn/ respectively. In fact, these
three- syllable words are often mispronounced by second language learners. To
be more specific, in these two suggested words, the final sound/e/ is silent and
this will change the pronunciation of the preceding vowel. Therefore, when we
leave the final e there as silent, the final syllable will be pronounced differently
However, the final syllable in these three-syllable words is unstressed. And in
English, in unstressed syllable, vowel is shortened and simplified. In other word,
according to the rule of stress, the three –syllable words which contain the short
vowel or not more than one vowel, the stress is on the second syllable. That is
the reason why the word stress of these words is on the second syllable.

Question 7:

The words "genocide, homicide, decide, suicide, pesticide, insecticide,

herbicide, linguicide, coincide, excide" share a common element: "-cide." This
shared element comes from the Latin word "caedere," which means "to kill" or
"to cut."

These words are formed by combining the Latin root "-cide" with different
prefixes or stems to create nouns or verbs related to killing, cutting, or
destroying in various contexts. Here's a breakdown of their meanings and parts
of speech:
Words Parts of speech Meaning
 Genocide Noun The deliberate killing of a large group of
people, especially those of a particular ethnic
group or nation
homicide Noun The act of killing another person
decide Verb To make a choice or reach a conclusion
suicide Noun The act of intentionally causing one's own
death
pesticide Noun A substance used to kill pests or insects
Insecticide Noun A substance used to kill unwanted plants or
weeds
Herbicide Noun A substance used to kill unwanted plants or
weeds
linguicide Noun The deliberate extinction or destruction of a
language
coincide Verb To occur at the same time or occupy the same
space
Excide Verb To cut out or remove

As for odd ones out, "decide" and "coincide" are the odd ones in this list because
they do not directly relate to killing or destruction. However, they still contain
the shared element "-cide" due to their etymological connection to the Latin
root.

From these examples, it's important to highlight to students that English word
formation often involves combining roots, prefixes, and suffixes to create new
words with related meanings. Understanding the meanings of common affixes
like "-cide" can help students decipher the meanings of unfamiliar words.
Additionally, it shows that English borrows heavily from other languages, in this
case, Latin, to expand its vocabulary.
By exploring word formation and etymology, students can enhance their
vocabulary, make connections between related words, and deepen their
understanding of the English language.

Question 8:
 The bold, italicized, and underlined words in the sentences you provided carry
emphatic information and indicate a change in meaning. Let's analyze each
sentence to understand their respective meanings:
i. "I didn't think John quit the job."
The emphasis in this sentence is on the subject pronoun "I." It suggests that
someone else might have believed or expected John to quit the job, but the
speaker, despite having a different opinion, didn't share that expectation.
ii. "I didn't think John quit the job."
This sentence implies that the speaker had doubts or uncertainty about John
quitting the job, but they were mistaken. The emphasis is on the verb "think,"
indicating surprise or realization that John did, in fact, quit the job.
iii. "I didn't think John quit the job."
In this sentence, the emphasis is on the name "John." It suggests that the speaker
didn't expect John specifically to quit the job, possibly because John was
considered reliable or committed to the job.
iv. "I didn't think John quit the job."
The emphasis in this sentence is on the action "quit." It suggests that the speaker
had a different expectation or belief about what John did, but it turns out that he
did, in fact, quit the job.
v. "I didn't think John quit the job."
In this sentence, the emphasis is on the article “the”. It implies that the job is
mentioned in the previous statement.
vi. "I didn't think John quit the job."
In this sentence, the emphasis is on the noun phrase "job." It implies that the
speaker had doubts or uncertainty about John quitting a specific job, possibly
because they thought John was dedicated to that particular position.
Each sentence carries a different meaning due to the emphasis placed on
different words. The emphasis highlights particular aspects of the sentence, such
as the speaker's belief, the identity of John, the action of quitting, the negation,
the speaker's opinion compared to others, or the specific job in question.
Understanding the impact of emphasis and sentence stress can help convey
nuanced meanings and emphasize specific information in English
communication.