[Script Info]
Title: 
[Events]
Format: Layer, Start, End, Style, Name, MarginL, MarginR, MarginV, Effect, Text
Dialogue: 0,0:00:05.93,0:00:10.62,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Hi, in the previous video, we discussed\Nthe different ways in which languages can
Dialogue: 0,0:00:10.62,0:00:12.70,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,produce different consonants, and
Dialogue: 0,0:00:12.70,0:00:15.74,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,the ways in which they can\Ndistinguish between them.
Dialogue: 0,0:00:15.74,0:00:20.69,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,We have seen our three dimensions\Nwhich are relevant here.
Dialogue: 0,0:00:20.69,0:00:24.90,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,The first is place of articulation,\Nwhere in the mouth do I produce the sound?
Dialogue: 0,0:00:25.95,0:00:28.40,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,The second is manner of articulation,
Dialogue: 0,0:00:28.40,0:00:31.97,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,how is the air stream modified\Nwhen I produce the sound?
Dialogue: 0,0:00:32.97,0:00:36.85,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And the third is voicing,\Nwhat do I do with my vocal cords?
Dialogue: 0,0:00:37.93,0:00:38.75,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I'm going to discuss
Dialogue: 0,0:00:38.75,0:00:43.46,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,these issues a little bit more\Nnow with my students, Inge and Marten.
Dialogue: 0,0:00:43.46,0:00:46.28,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,>> Yes I'd like to ask the first\Nquestion because I was wondering
Dialogue: 0,0:00:46.28,0:00:49.39,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,are there consonants that\Noccur in all languages?
Dialogue: 0,0:00:49.39,0:00:51.94,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,>> Yeah, right, that,\Nthat's a very interesting question.
Dialogue: 0,0:00:51.94,0:00:55.84,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,It's actually a question which\Nhas inspired linguists forever or
Dialogue: 0,0:00:55.84,0:01:00.62,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,at least since the 19th century and\Nthe answer seems to be
Dialogue: 0,0:01:00.62,0:01:05.19,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,that there at least two good\Ncandidates for such consonants.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:05.19,0:01:09.42,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,This is the M sound, and the T sound.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:09.42,0:01:13.36,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,They, linguists don't necessarily agree\Non them, there are some linguists who say
Dialogue: 0,0:01:13.36,0:01:17.30,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,that maybe, one of, or two of these\Nsounds don't occur in all languages.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:17.30,0:01:19.80,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,But I think,\Nit's fair to say that they do.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:19.80,0:01:21.74,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,>> But why would it be M and T only?
Dialogue: 0,0:01:22.97,0:01:28.45,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,>> Well, it's probably M and\NT because they are simple.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:28.45,0:01:30.59,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,For instance, they are easy to make.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:30.59,0:01:31.91,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,It's very easy to make a T.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:31.91,0:01:33.24,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I use the tip of my tongue.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:33.24,0:01:35.33,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,The tip of my tongue is very flexible and
Dialogue: 0,0:01:35.33,0:01:39.45,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I put it basically at its natural\Nplace just behind the teeth.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:39.45,0:01:41.67,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,T, that's a very simple sound to make and
Dialogue: 0,0:01:41.67,0:01:46.09,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,it's a wonderful consonant, and\NM is also very simple to make.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:46.09,0:01:48.30,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I just close my lips.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:48.30,0:01:51.04,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Furthermore, it's very easy to see.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:51.04,0:01:55.26,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,It's very easy to,\Nto see that somebody is making an M sound.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:55.26,0:02:00.17,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,As a matter of fact, it's sometimes\Nclaimed that all languages, or
Dialogue: 0,0:02:00.17,0:02:03.81,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,many languages at least\Nhave the same word for
Dialogue: 0,0:02:03.81,0:02:07.33,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,mother, it's mama, something like that.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:07.33,0:02:12.88,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And the reason for that might be that it's\Nso easy to make for a child, so the child is
Dialogue: 0,0:02:12.88,0:02:18.03,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,just lying there in its cradle and saying\N[mamamama] not meaning anything at all,
Dialogue: 0,0:02:18.03,0:02:24.01,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,it's just the mother who observes this and\Nthinks, okay, he must be talking about me.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:24.01,0:02:28.30,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,>> Okay, so M and T are the easiest\Nsounds, or the easiest consonants?
Dialogue: 0,0:02:28.30,0:02:31.38,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And if you look at all languages\Nin the world are they certain?
Dialogue: 0,0:02:31.38,0:02:33.43,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,What, what constants are there?
Dialogue: 0,0:02:33.43,0:02:36.24,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,What set?
Dialogue: 0,0:02:36.24,0:02:39.02,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,>> Yeah, there so the, it's a,
Dialogue: 0,0:02:39.02,0:02:43.67,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,it's a set of very vast size probably\Nbecause even this T sound might sound
Dialogue: 0,0:02:43.67,0:02:47.72,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,quite slightly different in\None language from the next.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:47.72,0:02:52.57,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,But apart from that I, I think if\Nwe look at the phonetic alphabet we
Dialogue: 0,0:02:52.57,0:02:56.44,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,see a few hundred different symbols for\Nconsonants.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:56.44,0:02:57.98,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,So it's quite many.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:57.98,0:03:01.15,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,>> And is there one language\Nthat has most consonants of all?
Dialogue: 0,0:03:02.36,0:03:06.64,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,>> Well, yeah, I'm, I'm not sure,\Ndepends a little bit on how you count.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:06.64,0:03:10.45,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,But if you want to find one such language,\Nfor some reason,
Dialogue: 0,0:03:10.45,0:03:12.64,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,you have to go to Southern Africa.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:12.64,0:03:17.90,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,So there's several languages spoken there\Nwhich seem to have many, many different
Dialogue: 0,0:03:17.90,0:03:22.80,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,consonant sounds, something between\N100 and 150 different sounds.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:26.48,0:03:29.37,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,>> Okay, I was, I was also wondering then
Dialogue: 0,0:03:29.37,0:03:33.93,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I know that we talk mostly about\Nconsonants, but what about vowels?
Dialogue: 0,0:03:33.93,0:03:37.30,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Are, are there also that many vowels?
Dialogue: 0,0:03:37.30,0:03:39.92,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,>> Well, yeah,\Nthat's another interesting question.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:39.92,0:03:42.10,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I think the answer is no.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:42.10,0:03:46.69,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,So if we look again at the set of symbols\Nwhich are used in the phonetic alphabet,
Dialogue: 0,0:03:46.69,0:03:48.82,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,it's definitely smaller.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:48.82,0:03:51.87,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,So that's one side of the answer.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:51.87,0:03:56.39,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Also, within a language,\Nif you have many different you
Dialogue: 0,0:03:56.39,0:03:59.31,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,use more consonants\Nthan vowels within one
Dialogue: 0,0:03:59.31,0:04:00.82,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,>> Okay.\N>> in the same language.
Dialogue: 0,0:04:00.82,0:04:02.46,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,>> And is there a reason for that?
Dialogue: 0,0:04:02.46,0:04:08.16,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I mean, if there are just fewer vowels\Nin general, doesn't mean that a language
Dialogue: 0,0:04:08.16,0:04:12.66,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,always also needs to have\Nfewer vowels than consonants.
Dialogue: 0,0:04:12.66,0:04:13.69,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,>> Yeah, that's true,
Dialogue: 0,0:04:13.69,0:04:17.90,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,but I think there are two sides to this,\Nto the answer to this.
Dialogue: 0,0:04:17.90,0:04:24.26,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,So on the one hand vowels,\Nit's more difficult to distinguish
Dialogue: 0,0:04:24.26,0:04:29.17,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,between vowels, because the difference\Nbetween vowels and consonants again is, in
Dialogue: 0,0:04:29.17,0:04:34.23,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,order to produce consonants, you need\Nsome obstruction somewhere in your mouth.
Dialogue: 0,0:04:34.23,0:04:36.86,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,In order to produce a vowel,\Nthere's no obstruction,
Dialogue: 0,0:04:36.86,0:04:40.76,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,you just transform the sound\Nwhen it's going out in some way.
Dialogue: 0,0:04:40.76,0:04:45.37,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And there's just many more different ways\Nof making an obstruction in your mouth
Dialogue: 0,0:04:45.37,0:04:48.44,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,than transforming a sound like that.
Dialogue: 0,0:04:48.44,0:04:52.04,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,That seems to be an important\Npart of the answer.
Dialogue: 0,0:04:52.04,0:04:54.55,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Now you can also ask, how then come,
Dialogue: 0,0:04:54.55,0:04:58.90,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,that within a language there are still\Nmore consonants than vowels?
Dialogue: 0,0:04:58.90,0:05:02.77,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,So some languages have\Nmany different vowels.
Dialogue: 0,0:05:02.77,0:05:05.47,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,So we are,\Nall three of us are speakers of Dutch, and
Dialogue: 0,0:05:05.47,0:05:08.19,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Dutch actually has quite\Na lot of different vowels.
Dialogue: 0,0:05:08.19,0:05:10.95,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,It has like 13 different vowels.
Dialogue: 0,0:05:10.95,0:05:14.44,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Well, there are languages which\Nhave only maybe ten consonants,
Dialogue: 0,0:05:14.44,0:05:17.95,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,so why are there no languages with\N13 vowels and ten consonants?
Dialogue: 0,0:05:17.95,0:05:23.21,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,The answer to that, I think is also\Ninteresting, and that it seems to be that
Dialogue: 0,0:05:23.21,0:05:28.33,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,consonants have a slightly different\Nfunction in language than vowels.
Dialogue: 0,0:05:28.33,0:05:33.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,So, consonants seem to reveal\Nmore of word meaning.
Dialogue: 0,0:05:33.00,0:05:35.64,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,We use consonants mostly\Nto reveal word meaning.
Dialogue: 0,0:05:37.06,0:05:39.81,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,In Semitic languages, like Hebrew and
Dialogue: 0,0:05:39.81,0:05:44.03,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Arabic, people write only\Nthe consonants and not the vowels.
Dialogue: 0,0:05:44.03,0:05:46.95,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,They apparently don't need\Nthem to still understand it.
Dialogue: 0,0:05:48.13,0:05:51.64,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Maybe you even remember from,\Non the Internet, there
Dialogue: 0,0:05:51.64,0:05:55.71,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,are these messages where they just took\Nout all the vowels from an English text.
Dialogue: 0,0:05:55.71,0:05:56.41,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,>> Mm-hm.\N>> Mm-hm.
Dialogue: 0,0:05:56.41,0:05:59.59,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,>> And\Nyou can still understand those messages.
Dialogue: 0,0:05:59.59,0:06:01.50,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,So, that's what we use consonants for,
Dialogue: 0,0:06:01.50,0:06:04.95,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,mostly to, if you see the consonants\Nyou already know what the word is.
Dialogue: 0,0:06:04.95,0:06:08.03,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,So, you don't really need the vowels for\Nthat.
Dialogue: 0,0:06:08.03,0:06:13.02,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,The vowels, we use more for grammar,
Dialogue: 0,0:06:13.02,0:06:16.21,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,for expressing grammatical structure.
Dialogue: 0,0:06:16.21,0:06:21.10,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,If I, if I say a sentence and if towards\Nthe end of the sentence my voice goes
Dialogue: 0,0:06:21.10,0:06:25.25,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,really low, in English,\Nwhat do, where do I do that?
Dialogue: 0,0:06:25.25,0:06:27.16,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I do that on the vowels.
Dialogue: 0,0:06:27.16,0:06:30.67,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,So that's what I use the vowels for more.
Dialogue: 0,0:06:30.67,0:06:33.14,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,So they seem to have slightly\Ndifferent functions.
Dialogue: 0,0:06:33.14,0:06:38.13,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And there's many different words with\Nmany different meanings in human language
Dialogue: 0,0:06:39.31,0:06:39.90,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,but there's not so
Dialogue: 0,0:06:39.90,0:06:45.49,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,many different kinds of grammatical\Nconstructions in the same languages.
Dialogue: 0,0:06:45.49,0:06:49.71,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,>> Okay, and then finally I had\Na question which is similar to the one
Dialogue: 0,0:06:49.71,0:06:51.47,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,earlier about consonants,
Dialogue: 0,0:06:51.47,0:06:56.02,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,is that, are there also vowels that can\Nbe found in all languages in the world?
Dialogue: 0,0:06:57.53,0:06:59.68,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,>> The, well, probably yes.
Dialogue: 0,0:06:59.68,0:07:03.55,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Again, it depends a little bit and\Npeople are debating about this.
Dialogue: 0,0:07:03.55,0:07:05.57,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,People just like to debate\Nabout these kinds of things.
Dialogue: 0,0:07:05.57,0:07:09.95,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,But I think that it's fair\Nto say that 99% of all
Dialogue: 0,0:07:09.95,0:07:14.44,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,languages have at least\Nthree different vowels and
Dialogue: 0,0:07:14.44,0:07:19.78,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,those three different vowels\Nthen are typically A, I and U.
Dialogue: 0,0:07:21.08,0:07:26.12,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Again they are sounds which\Nare relatively easy to make.
Dialogue: 0,0:07:26.12,0:07:30.21,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,They probably are the three vowel\Nsounds which are easiest to produce and
Dialogue: 0,0:07:30.21,0:07:32.41,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,are also maximally different.
Dialogue: 0,0:07:32.41,0:07:35.61,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,They're very easy to\Ndistinguish from each other.
Dialogue: 0,0:07:41.27,0:07:44.08,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,In this video, we have seen that\Nthere are certain consonants and
Dialogue: 0,0:07:44.08,0:07:48.83,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,also certain vowels which seem\Nto occur in all languages.
Dialogue: 0,0:07:48.83,0:07:54.08,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,But that beyond that\Nthere's a vast variation.
Dialogue: 0,0:07:54.08,0:07:59.72,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,We've also seen that there seem to be\Nmore consonants than vowels, typically,
Dialogue: 0,0:07:59.72,0:08:03.08,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,in a language and you've seen that there\Nmight be various reasons for that.
Dialogue: 0,0:08:04.95,0:08:08.67,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,In the next video we're going\Nto look more into language,
Dialogue: 0,0:08:08.67,0:08:13.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,into how all these differences between\Nconsonants are actually used in language,
Dialogue: 0,0:08:13.99,0:08:17.72,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,in speech errors,\Nin the way in which we learn languages,
Dialogue: 0,0:08:17.72,0:08:20.92,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and in the way in which\Nlanguages are structured.