Thursday February 2, 2012
Grammar books
YOUR QUESTIONS ANSWERED by FADZILAH AMIN
YOUR QUESTIONS ANSWERED by FADZILAH AMIN
I HOPE you can help me with these queries.
1. How do you pronounce “Maranatha”?
2. Could you please recommend a simple book on phonetics?
3. More than 18 months have elapsed since I placed orders for the following books with a chain bookstore in Seremban after reading their advertisements. The books are for underprivileged students. These titles are still unavailable after many follow-ups. Can you help?
a) Mastering English the Easy Way by Milon Nandy
b) English Essentials: the Easy Way by Milon Nandy
c) Fundamentals of English Grammar by Betty Azar
d) Understanding and Using English Grammar by Betty Azar – Li-Fahr
1. I looked up the pronunciation of Maranatha, an Aramaic word, in howjsay.com, a pronouncing website, and there it is pronounced very much as it is written, with the a’s pronounced like the a’s in BM, and the th pronounced like the th in “thin”. But I don’t know any Aramaic. Perhaps someone well-versed in the New Testament could offer a more accurate pronunciation.
www.howjsay.com/index.php?word=maranatha&submit=Submit
2. Here are the details of a book you might find helpful:
Phonetics, by Peter Roach (part of Oxford Introductions to Language Study series), Oxford University Press 2001. ISBN: 978-0-19-437239-8, Pages: 128, paperback . The MPH website lists its price as RM29.90 and says it is “currently unavailable”, but I know that it is in print and available at the Amazon.co.uk online bookshop (at £15.20). I suggest you phone or write to the local branch of OUP at:
Oxford Fajar
4 Jalan Pemaju,
U1/15 Seksyen U
Hicom-Glenmarie Industrial Park
Shah Alam 40150
Selangor
Telephone: 03-5629-4000
Fax: 03-5629-4005
This is how the book is described by the publisher:
“Phonetics is an essential part of linguistics, as it is through analysing spoken language that linguistic data is collected. This book leads the reader through the main areas of phonetics, including how speech sounds are made and how phoneticians classify them in certain ways, the International Phonetic Alphabet, and how sounds are transmitted from speaker to hearer.”
3. Both the Milon Nandy books are available at MPH. You can try phoning them at their customer service hotline at Tel: 03-2938 3818.
As for the Betty Azar books, why don’t you phone or write to the publisher’s local branch at:
Pearson Malaysia Sdn Bhd (4409W)
Lot 2 Jalan 215
Off Jalan Templer
46050 Petaling Jaya
Selangor
Tel: 03-7801 2000
I know there is a 4th edition of Understanding and Using English Grammar by Betty Azar and Stacey A. Hagen. Here are the details given on their Malaysian website:
Azar Grammar Fourth Edition
ISBN: 9780132464482
Author: Betty Azar
Category: English Language Teaching
Group: Grammar
Price: RM69
Year of publication: 2009
Now in a new Fourth Edition, Understanding and Using English Grammar offers advanced learners a range of new features including warm-up activities, academic readings, full-colour illustrations, new listening exercises and expanded speaking exercises.
Understanding & Using English Grammar 4E Student Book without Key
ISBN: 9780132464482
Price: RM69
I am sure they can give you information about the other book as well, and how you can order both.
I hope the above information will help you.
‘A’ before a vowel
1. This is a sentence from a newspaper report:
... the Education Ministry has been following a “Uphold Bahasa Melayu, Strengthen Bahasa Inggeris” policy that had resulted in it...
Why isn’t “an” used before “uphold” since it starts with a vowel sound?
2. Is “people” a countable or uncountable noun? – Nash
1. You are right. “An” should have been used because “uphold” begins with a vowel sound.
2. “People” is a plural countable noun in most of its meanings. We can say “ten people” or “10,000 people”, for instance. However, in one of its meanings, i.e. “a particular nation, community or ethnic group” (Concise Oxford Dictionary, 2009), it is a countable singular noun, with the plural form, “peoples”. The sentences below illustrate the use of “people” as a singular noun and “peoples” as its plural form.
“Greeks are a proud people with powerful unions and a history of street protests ...”
www.guardian.co.uk/business/2010/feb/16/athens-greek-austerity-measures
“Hundreds of years ago, the lower north shore of Sydney was filled with forest, owned by one of the many tribes of the Aboriginal peoples.”
www.neutralbay-p.schools.nsw.edu.au/acknowledge/index.html
With or without ‘to’
Which of these two sentences is correct?
“Help me mop the floor.” or “Help me to mop the floor.”
When a fellow student wrote the sentence without the “to”, the teacher marked it as a mistake. – Student
Both sentences are correct. The verb following “help” can be either a “to infinitive” or a “bare infinitive”. Your sentences above can be written in this way: “Help me (to) mop the floor.”
You can look at examples of such sentences on the following web page:
oald8.oxford learnersdictionaries.com/ dictionary/help
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