Blog Post #2 - How Do You Say Your Name?

You must imagine that you are attending a world conference on languages with people from every part of the world.  Everyone knows the International Phonetic Alphabet (I.P.A.). Since you are also an expert on I.P.A., you can make use of this knowledge.

1 - You will need to create your name tag, with both your regularly spelled name and your name spelled phonetically (transcribed in I.P.A.).

Example:
REBEKAH
/rə be kʌ/


2 - Also, please explain the pronunciation of your name for your fellow linguist colleagues.

For example, I can say, the first syllable of "Rebekah" has the onset of a voiced alveolar liquid with a rhyme of a mid, central unstressed (schwa) vowel, "rə."  The next syllable has a voiced bilabial stop onset with a rhyme of a mid, front vowel, "be." The final syllable has the onset of a voiceless, velar stop with a rhyme of a mid, central vowel, "kʌ."


3 - Finally, if you leave the convention, and go out on the street and meet other people who are not I.P.A. experts, they will see your name tag and ask you about it.  Please make a description for the way to pronounce your name for people who don't know linguistics.  Tell them what to do with their vocal cords, teeth, tongue, breath, etc.

For example, I would say  "for my name, you start by raising your tongue toward the palate in the back of the mouth to make an "r" sound and then make an "uh" sound, then put your lips together to make a "b" sound with an "eh" sound, and finally let your tongue hit the palate and push air through the space, making a "k" sound, followed by an "uh" sound. "Ruh-BEH-kuh."

**This is due on Monday, Sept. 19, before class.**