An etymology is the history of a linguistic form, such as a word; the same
term is also used for the study of word histories. A dictionary etymology tells us what is known of an English word before it became the word entered in that
dictionary. If the word was created in English, the etymology shows, to whatever extent is not already obvious from the shape of the word, what materials were
used to form it. If the word was borrowed into English, the etymology traces the borrowing process backward from the point at which the word entered English to
the earliest records of the ancestral language. Where it is relevant, an etymology notes words from other languages that are related to the word in the dictionary
entry, but that are not in the direct line of borrowing.
4. Theory of Distinctive Feature
Based on Fromkin in the book An Introduction to Language, distinctive feature organizes language by defining groups of sounds which may exhibit
similar sound patterns. When a feature distinguishes one phoneme from another it is a
distinctive feature or phonemic feature. When two words are exactly alike phonetically except for one feature, the phonetic difference is
distinctive, since this difference alone accounts for the contrast or difference in meaning 1996: 256.
Usually a single feature has two values, plus +, which means its presence, and minus -, which means its absence. E.g. p is [-voiced] and b is
[+voiced], and if we want to call this feature „voiceless‟ we can specify b as [-
voiceless] and p as [+voiceless]. The presence or absence of nasality also can be designated as [+nasal] or [-nasal].
This is a more explicit description of p, b, and m:
p b m Stop + + +
Labial +
+ + Voiced
- + +
Nasal - - +
The distinctive features of the voiced stops are shown in the following table:
b m
d n
g ŋ
Stop +
+ +
+ +
+ Voiced
+ +
+ +
+ +
Labial -
+ -
- -
- Alveolar
- -
+ +
- -
Velar -
- -
- +
+ Nasal
- -
- +
- -
According to Crystal 1994, p.162 in the book The Cambridge Encyclopedia of Language
, distinctive features are the important point when analyzing phonology. It is because they reveal more about the way in which the
sounds of a language are organized, and more readily permit generalized
statements within and between languages, than do descriptions based on phonemes and allophones.
5. Theory of Syllable Structure
The syllable is a basic unit of speech studied on both the phonetic and phonological levels of analysis. No matter how easy it can be for people and even
for children to count the number of syllables in a sequence in their native language, still there are no universally agreed upon phonetic definitions of what a
syllable is.
Based on Crystal in the book The Cambridge Encyclopedia of The English Language
2003, Vowels and consonants typically do not act alone, the vast majority
of English words contain a combination of vowels V and consonants C, such as CV go, VC up, CVC cat, CCVC
stops, and CCCV screw. 2003: 246
The syllable, usually marked as small Greek sigma: σ, has two immediate constituents it is divided into two elements, to put it in another way, the Onset
O, which includes any consonants that precede the nuclear element the vowel, and the Rhyme R, which subsumes the nuclear element the vowel as
well as any marginal elements consonants that might follow it. The Rhyme, in turn, is divided into Peak P, also known as Nucleus N,
and Coda C. The Peak Nucleus represents the “nuclear” or most sonorous
element in a syllable. The Coda includes all consonants that follow the Peak in a
syllable. Syllable structure may be represented graphically by means of a “tree diagram”. The example the writer shall take is run rʌ n.
r
Ʌ
n Run
Onset Rhyme
r Nucleus Peak Coda
Ʌ
n
From the example above, run r ʌ n, the Onset, Nucleus Peak and
Coda each consist of one segment: the consonant C r occupies the Onset, the vowel V
ʌ is the Peak, and the consonant n is the Coda of this syllable.
A syllable is a phonological unit which is formed of one or more phonemes. According to the book An Introduction to Language 1996,
Every syllable has a nucleus, usually a vowel but it may be a syllabic liquid or nasal. The nucleus may be preceded by one or
more phonemes called the syllable onset, and followed by one or more segments called the coda. The nucleus and coda constitute the
subsyllabic unit called a rhyme.
The same explanation is explained by Asher in the book Encyclopedia of
Language and Linguistics p.3131, 1994, he said that the central position of the
syllable, occupied by the V elements, is normally referred to as the „peak‟
