Free Variation in Phonetics Definition and Examples

In phonetics and phonology, free variation is an alternative pronunciation of a word (or of a phoneme in a word) that doesnt affect the words meaning. Free variation is free in the sense that it doesnt result in a different word. As William B. McGregor observes, Absolutely free variation is rare. Usually, there are reasons for it, perhaps the speakers dialect, perhaps the emphasis the speaker wants to put on the word (Linguistics: An Introduction, 2009). Commentary When the same speaker produces noticeably different pronunciations of the word cat (e.g. by exploding or not exploding the final /t/), the different realizations of the phonemes are said to be in free variation. (Alan Cruttenden, Gimsons Pronunciation of English, 8th ed. Routledge, 2014) Free Variation in Context Sounds that are in free variation occur in the same context, and thus are not predictable, but the difference between the two sounds does not change one word into another. Truly free variation is rather hard to find. Humans are very good at picking up distinctions in ways of speaking, and assigning meaning to them, so finding distinctions that are truly unpredictable and that truly have no shade of difference in meaning is rare. (Elizabeth C. Zsiga, The Sounds of Language: An Introduction to Phonetics and Phonology. Wiley-Blackwell, 2012) [F]ree variation, however infrequent, can be found between the realizations of separate phonemes (phonemic free variation, as in [i] and [aI] of either), as well as between the allophones of the same phoneme (allophonic free variation, as in [k] and [kË ¥] of back)...   For some speakers, [i] may be in free variation with [I] in final position (e.g. city [sIti, sItI], happy [hÃ"•pi, hÃ"•pI]). The use of final unstressed [I] is most common to the south of a line drawn west from Atlantic City to northern Missouri, thence southwest to New Mexico. (Mehmet Yavas, Applied English Phonology, 2nd ed. Wiley-Blackwell, 2012) Stressed and Unstressed Syllables There can... be free variation between full and reduced vowels in unstressed syllables, which also has to do with related morphemes. For example, the word affix can be a verb or a noun, and the form carries stress on the final syllable and the latter on the initial one. But in actual speech, the initial vowel of the verb is actually in free variation with schwa and the full vowel: /É™fIks/ and /Ã"•fIks/, and this unstressed full vowel is the same as that found in the initial syllable of the noun, /Ã"•fIks/. This kind of alternation is probably due to the fact that both forms actually occur, and they are instances of two lexical items that are not just formally but also semantically closely related. Cognitively, when only one is actually evoked in a given construction, both are probably activated nevertheless, and this is the likely source of this free variation. (Riitta Và ¤limaa-Blum, Cognitive Phonology in Construction Grammar: Analytic Tools for Students of English. Walter de Gruyter, 2005) Extragrammatical Factors The fact that variation is free does not imply that it is totally unpredictable, but only that no grammatical principles govern the distribution of variants. Nevertheless, a wide range of extragrammatical factors may affect the choice of one variant over the other, including sociolinguistic variables (such as gender, age, and class), and performance variables (such as speech style and tempo). Perhaps the most important diagnostic of extragrammatical variables is that they affect the choice of occurrence of one output in a stochastic way, rather than deterministically. (Renà © Kager, Optimality Theory. Cambridge University Press, 1999)

Impact Of Hurricane Katrina On The Healthcare System

Background The impact of Hurricane Katrina’s landfall in August 2005 had catastrophic implications to the healthcare infrastructure in portions of coastal and southern Mississippi, including hospitals being closed due to severe damage. The healthcare response system of the time relied almost exclusively on support resources from the federal government (Federal Emergency Management Agency, 2010). By design, these teams were not able to support the local healthcare system for several days, leaving a void of services for the citizens that were hardest hit by the storm. Also during this time, the healthcare system of Mississippi faced several other critical challenges including the need for rapid assessment of impacted facilities, movement of patients between hospitals, and coordination of emergency medical services (Darsey, 2013). It is important to note that the disruption of the healthcare system resulted in challenges associated with a vulnerable population’s normal routine being severely disrupted. Additional complicating factors were a high incidence of exacerbation of chronic illnesses due to environmental conditions, loss of medications, emotional stressors, and other causes associated with the interruption of their normal level of care (Currier, King, Wofford, Daniel, deShazo, 2006). These response challenges, coupled with the void in timely healthcare services, led to the creation of the State Medical Response System (SMRS) of Mississippi. SMRS Development TheShow MoreRelatedThe Second Epoch ( 1980 )1187 Words   |  5 PagesThe concern of the third epoch goes well past recommending regulations for cleaning up pollution or conventional cost-benefit analysis of their effects. 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The social behaviorRead More Hazard Mitigation Planning Essay4332 Words   |  18 Pagesproperty that might result in the occurrence of a natural of man-made hazard. Hurricanes are among the costliest and the most destructive of natural disasters. Since 1995, the United States has witnessed more intense activities by hurricanes with Mobile County in Alabama experiencing hurricane Ivan and hurricane Dennis in 2004 and 2005 (Link, 2010). In 2005, Hurricane Katrina was the costliest and one of the deadliest hurricanes to have hit the United States and was rated category three in Mobile CountyRead MoreHurricane Devastation Of Hurricane Katrina1807 Words   |  8 PagesHurricane Katrina was one of the deadliest hurricanes in United States history. Hurricane Katrina was by far the most destructive storm to strike the United States with the actual cost of Hurricane Katrina’s damage between $96-125 billion. An estimated 1,836 people died and millions of others were left homeless along the gulf coast and in New Orleans. With homes virtually destroyed, thousands of people abandoned the area which in turn caused thousands of jobs to disappear. New Orleans lost 190,000Read MoreFailure Of A Hospital Or Healthcare Facility1449 Words   |  6 Pagesone event every three years. When a hospital or healthcare facility suffers a loss of power, community trust is compromised and consequences can be disastrous. †¢ Nursing home resident mortality rates skyrocketed 218% after Hurricane Gustav in 2008 in Louisiana. †¢ During Hurricane Sandy in 2012, the backup power system failed at one of New York City’s premier medical centers, forcing evacuation of all 215 patients. †¢ Power outages during Katrina left Memorial Medical Center without power and inside

Imagery in Macbeth Free Essays

Shakespeare’s Effective use of Imagery to Display Powerful Themes â€Å"Fair is foul and foul is fair: Hover through the fog and filthy air. † (1. 1. We will write a custom essay sample on Imagery in Macbeth or any similar topic only for you Order Now 11-12). This famous chant lies in the opening scene of William Shakespeare’s tragedy Macbeth, providing dark evil imagery to evoke the senses and set a tone for the play. Images are strong sensory techniques that can be used as a basis for much further development in any piece of literature. A black cat, a dark alley and a stormy night are all modern day symbols of mystery and evil doings. Authors often times use these or similar images to embellish the plot by designing a setting or giving the characters more depth. More significantly, images provide a solid ground which gives underpinning to important themes of the writing. William Shakespeare very skillfully uses imagery to support prevalent themes of his drama Macbeth. Poison of the mind, the power of ones thoughts and hypocrisy are all significant themes carried throughout the play by effective use of imagery in reference to serpents, ghostly visions and ill-fitted clothing. Powerful images creep through the tragedy at every scene to construct a venomous atmosphere of false virtue and self-deceit. To start, Shakespeare effectively uses serpent imagery to illustrate the idea that power may act as a virus that poisons the mind and leads to moral and self-destruction. For instance, the power that Macbeth achieves through the violent act of murdering Duncan acts as a disease embedded into his mind that warps and twists his thinking. His only focus now is what evil acts must be done in order to ensure that his crown is safe. He expresses these poisonous thoughts when speaking to his wife about his idea to exterminate those threatening his title â€Å"O, full of scorpions is my mind. † (3. 2. 36). The powerful image of scorpions crawling through his brain, injecting their venomous thoughts effectively demonstrates how power can act as a poison that challenges moral thinking and sets people on a wrath of destruction. By providing a very sinister, wicked image of the diseased mind a common theme of the poison in power is successfully illustrated to the reader. Similarly, Lady Macbeth emphasizes the idea that in order to carry out those actions necessary to maintain such power they must possess poisoned blood â€Å"look like the innocent flower/ But be the serpent under’t. † (1. 5. 64-65). This striking image that compares Macbeth to a serpent enhances the suggestion that his strive to maintain authority has transformed him into a toxic creature with venomous blood. Such compelling imagery gives the reader a sense of his sickly soul, thus further amplifying the idea that supremacy acts as a sickness that infects the mind and disrupts moral judgment. In summary, the use of serpent and poison imagery firmly expresses a central idea of the play; power is a virus that contaminates the mind and leads to moral and self-destruction. In the same way that Shakespeare uses imagery to emphasize the idea of power acting as a virus, he also makes use of images to portray the theme that the physical world (reality) is not always as real as the thoughts in one’s mind. First of all, as Macbeth is preparing the murder of King Duncan his innermost thoughts come to life when his anxiety gives rise to the hallucination of a dagger, the handle pointed to him and the blade aimed at Duncan. In a soliloquy, Macbeth expresses his confusion when he is unable to clutch the blade â€Å"Mine eyes are made the fools o’ the other senses, or else worth all the rest. † (2. 1. 43-45). The vision is so strong to him that Macbeth is unable to determine whether his eyes are incorrect or his other senses (such as the sense of touch) are failing him. The ghostly vision and Macbeth’s heavy belief in what clearly isn’t there illustrates the power in one’s thoughts compared to the reality of the universe, further highlighting a key theme of the play. Furthermore, Macbeth experiences an even more passionate response to illusory thoughts when he believes to see the ghost of Banquo sitting at his place the night of his feast. At the sight of the ghost, Macbeth loses all sense of reality and begins speaking to the ghost amid all of his guests; â€Å"Prithee, sit there! Behold! Look! Lo! How say you? Why, what care I? If thou cans’t nod speak too. † (3. 4. 69-70). Once again, the way Shakespeare depicts the power of these visions to Macbeth through his ghost imagery better reinforces the strength of our internal thoughts. Shakespeare’s use of ghost imagery, and more notably Macbeth’s strong reaction to them, positively expresses the theme of one’s inner thoughts providing a stronger reality than the physical world. In a similar fashion to the way Shakespeare applies ghost imagery to depict an idea of the strength in one’s innermost thoughts, he effectively constructs the lesson that hypocrisy goes against nature and will not work in the long run with his use of clothing imagery. The clothing imagery is used to demonstrate that the persona Macbeth is attempting to possess is not actually his; the moral standards he claims to have as a loyal King do not match with his actions. For example, when Macbeth is given title Thane of Cawdor, he asks Angus â€Å"Why do you dress me in borrow’d robes? † (1. . 108-109), indicating that they are literally not his, they belong to the current Thane of Cawdor. However on a more symbolic level, the image of these borrowed robes demonstrates that Macbeth’s honors do not really belong to him. They have been borrowed, even stolen and he should not possess such a title. Thus, the clothing image helps to emphasize the idea that false virtu e is unjust, further developing a major theme in the drama. Also, the clothing imagery throughout the play aids in revealing this theme by hinting at the idea that Macbeth’s new title does not â€Å"fit† him right. For example, in act 5 when Angus speaks of Macbeth â€Å"Now does he feel his title hang loose about him, like a giant’s robe/ Upon a dwarfish theif. † (5. 2. 20-22), the reader is given a very awkward an obscure image, revealing Macbeth as a small, dishonorable man covered in garments that are unsuited to him. This advances the thought of Macbeth standing as a fraud; his clothing is not tailored to his size just as his personality is not tailored to the position he holds. He does not belong in that position of power, he should not be in that position of power and the obscure image if ill-fitted clothing really proves the idea that this is not right, it is unnatural. In short, Shakespeare’s use of clothing imagery helps to develop a central theme that hypocrisy is against nature, further emphasizing his ability to illustrate prevalent themes through images. Evidently, Shakespeare utilizes a variety of images to effectively illustrate the important themes of Macbeth. His use of poison imagery to display the virus of power, ghostly images to portray strength in one’s innermost thoughts and clothing imagery to demonstrate that hypocrisy goes against nature are all examples of the way Shakespeare employs this technique. This cunning use of words that appear to the senses give the reader a powerful picture to provide further understanding of underlying themes already present in the writing. Such a method of writing has since been used by many other authors to enhance their writing and better depict significant themes. How to cite Imagery in Macbeth, Essay examples

Board risk of committees and audit pricing - MyAssignmenthelp.com

Questions: What are the responsibilities of the client management, company directors and auditors, in relation to internal controls? Explain the impact of the auditors understanding of internal controls on the audit strategy? Identify three internal control activities in Caromas sales and accounts receivable areas. For each control identified in (1) above, explain how the control prevents or detects material misstatements? Identify key assertions addressed by each controls have identified in (1) above. Identify three internal control weaknesses in the processing of transactions of Caromas sales and accounts receivable area. For each control weakness you have identified in (4) above, identify at least one account balance at risk of material misstatement. For each account balance at risk of material misstatement, identify key financial report assertion at risk. Answers: Answer 1 It is seen that the responsibility of the clients financial reporting control is seen to consider the control environment risk as per the assessment process, information system and control activities related to the audit process. This particular aspect is further seen to be related to the monitoring controls (Sun and Liu 2014). Answer 2 The auditor verifies the understanding of the overall risks of the process of the company for selecting and testing of the controls which will be able to adequately answer the risk of misstatement to each relevant assertion. Understanding of the flow of the transactions are depicted with relevant assertions. This is seen to include the transactions which are initiated, authorized, processed, and recorded appropriately. The understanding is further seen to be conducive for identifying the potential misstatements and the factors related to the unauthorized acquisition use of the assets of the company. The auditor needs to also understand the way IT affects the companys flow of the transactions (Boritz, Kochetova-Kozloski and Robinson 2015). Answer 3 The three internal controls in the Caroma sales activities and accounts receivable areas are seen with: Pre- numbering of the sales invoice and producing more copies only based on it. Use of the sales invoice to make an entry in the sales journal and update the same in accounts receivable subsidiary ledger is seen to be conducive in terms of accounts receivable section Use of the sales invoice to make an entry in the sales journal and updating the same in sales ledger. Two officers are selected to receive the payment of the customers, they are responsible for checking the electronic bank receipts and record the receipts in the prelist Sales return and allowances are processed after the authorisation of the financial controller. The designated officers are responsible to match the receipts in terms of the remittance advice and forwarding the same to the accounts receivable officer (Cao, Li and Zhang 2015). Answer 4 Pre- numbering of the sales invoice prevents any conflicts pertaining to future sales returns which may take place due to excess quantity shipped, Excess quantity ordered, Goods shipped too late or Wrong items shipped The preparation of the sales invoice has been able to ensure the maintaining appropriate records which will be conducive in preventing any future possibility of material misstatements Authorisation of the financial controller for the sales return and allowances are seen to be based on control measures which will be able to match the relevant items put forward for sales returns The updating the accounts receivable journal has been conducive to prevent any sort of material misstatement in the which may take place in the accounts receivable ledger Checking the electronic bank receipts and record the receipts in the prelist is seen to be able to provide the assistance regarding the cash in bank and other liquid assets Matching the receipts in terms of the remittance advice and forwarding the same to the accounts receivable officer is seen to be helpful for recording the appropriate remittance which are made in advance (Hines et al. 2015) Answer 5 The main assertions addressed with each control have been identified as follows: The necessary assertions need to be maintained as per making the necessary changes in the sales invoice Sales journal and sales ledger needs to be addressed for making use of the sales invoice The necessary adjustment for the sales return and allowances needs to be made in the sales account and sales return account Accounts receivable subsidiary ledger needs to be updated appropriately for using of the sales invoice to make an entry in the sales journal The electronic bank receipts and record the receipts in the prelist needs to be maintained in the cash flow statement Remittance advice and forwarding the same needs to be ensured in the accounts receivable (Gunin-Paracini, Malsch and Paill 2014) Answer 6 The three internal control weaknesses in the processing of transactions of Caromas sales and accounts receivable area are stated below as follows: Inappropriate sales prices, discounts and credits Sales being incorrectly recorded or not recorded Non-receiving of the payments (Rahmina and Agoes 2014) Answer 7 The account balance risk for sales prices, discounts and credits has been considered with range of discounts offered without the management approval In case the sales were manually entered, there may be several instances associated to prenumbering of the invoices The non-receiving of the payment is needed to ensure that the receivables are credited and corrected on the customers account receivable (Amir, Kallunki and Nilsson 2014) Answer 8 The key financial report assertion of the risk needs to be taken into consideration with appropriate discounts and credits which will be prevent any instance of further material misstatement The manual entry of the sales data need to ensure with maintaining an appropriate Accounting Information System, this will be able to ensure proper numbering of the invoices The non-receiving of payment needs to be maintained by issuing a continuous reporting method which will be able to prevent any delay in the customers account receivable account (van Buuren et al. 2014) Reference Amir, E., Kallunki, J. P. and Nilsson, H. (2014) The association between individual audit partners risk preferences and the composition of their client portfolios, Review of Accounting Studies, 19(1), pp. 103133. doi: 10.1007/s11142-013-9245-8. Boritz, J. E., Kochetova-Kozloski, N. and Robinson, L. (2015) Are fraud specialists relatively more effective than auditors at modifying audit programs in the presence of fraud risk?, in Accounting Review, pp. 881915. doi: 10.2308/accr-50911. van Buuren, J., Koch, C., Amerongen, N. van N. and Wright, A. M. (2014) The use of business risk audit perspectives by non-big 4 audit firms, Auditing, 33(3), pp. 105128. doi: 10.2308/ajpt-50760. Cao, L., Li, W. and Zhang, L. (2015) Audit mode change, corporate governance and audit effort, China Journal of Accounting Research, 8(4), pp. 315335. doi: 10.1016/j.cjar.2015.05.002. Gunin-Paracini, H., Malsch, B. and Paill, A. M. (2014) Fear and risk in the audit process, Accounting, Organizations and Society, 39(4), pp. 264288. doi: 10.1016/j.aos.2014.02.001. Hines, C. S., Masli, A., Mauldin, E. G. and Peters, G. F. (2015) Board risk committees and audit pricing, Auditing, 34(4), pp. 5984. doi: 10.2308/ajpt-51035. Rahmina, L. Y. and Agoes, S. (2014) Influence of Auditor Independence, Audit Tenure, and Audit Fee on Audit Quality of Members of Capital Market Accountant Forum in Indonesia, Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences, 164, pp. 324331. doi: 10.1016/j.sbspro.2014.11.083. Sun, J. and Liu, G. (2014) Audit committees oversight of bank risk-taking, Journal of Banking and Finance, 40(1), pp. 376387. doi: 10.1016/j.jbankfin.2013.12.015.