Neutralization, does exist in your native tongue. (and also the verb to neutraliZe.

You can check JSC!

If we don't speak the same english , It's not my fault.

So please don't be categoric ( as you did for instance the last time when you said your mother tongue was syllabic... )

Please don't confuse my brutal style with being categorical, Ina. I'm not a trained linguist and my appreciation for litterature and philosophy came late on in life.

If I said that the English language was syllabic, your post did not deny this statement, only amplify it: 'accentual-syllabic'. It's not my fault if the French have forgotton their accents (see Grammont).
In any case, you know very well that I'm rather against the habit of classifying and isolating objects that really interact.

If it is true that Oxford Concise and Collins authorize the spelling with z, I think you'll find that with an 's' is also viable. In the introduction to Collins, there are remarks about the transatlantic influence (colour => color; neutralise => neutralize) but I will not be swayed from thinking that these are unneccessary corruptions. The immediate etymological origin of the word is the french (!) neutraliser.

When I hear English teachers in France speak with an American accent, I'm always surprised. Where has the entente cordiale gone?

BTW, I did say "I think" and "it is possible". This usually means that IO haven't checked or am not sure. This is far from being categorical, Ina.

Dernière modification par JSC (29/11/2007 12:39)

Never mind!
I have stupidly lost my temper.
Let's forget that!

Hope you find it again.

JSC a écrit :

DON'T be riDICulous, Bonus!
Of COURSE there are STREsses; ENGlish is an acCENtual SYLlabic language.
You JUST don't know how to SING it

You are talking like my literature teacher !
Or maybe I have to say that you are singing like him !

He tries to get us understanding what are rhythm and metre in English poetry.
But that is extremely difficult for me to understand this English specificity...
And I am really afraid of the final exam as I do not understand much about what my teacher talks about !

However I like reading, and as I said in another place, I just finished reading "On Chesil Beach" (Ian McEwan). I really enjoyed this novel. Have you ever heard about it ?

Before the second world war, French too was spoken with stresses and inflexions. One only has to listen to recordings of famous orateurs from between the wars to understand how they used to 'sing' the language.
Maurice Grammont in his excellent book La Prononciation française (1914,  Ed Delagrave) treats accent, intonation, musical mouvment, rhythm, on 50 pages of the 200!

Concerning the novel...I'm afraid not.

Dernière modification par JSC (23/10/2008 21:56)

I just finished reading "On Chesil Beach" (Ian McEwan). I really enjoyed this novel. Have you ever heard about it?

I'm reading "On Chesil Beach" at the moment... It really is an enthralling novel! I heard about it after reading Atonement and going to the movies to see the film (the one with Keira Knightley and James McAvoy - if I remember correctly).

Dernière modification par Aurélie7 (23/10/2008 22:48)

I haven't heard much about McEwan. Maybe I'll try to read (or watch ?) "Atonement" one day. I read a few words concerning this novel on the Internet and it seems to me that both novels have the same subject : how things we do (or don't do) can change lives for ever. Am I right ?

I'm sorry for my late answer, I was in holidays.

I am surprised to see the english topic is popular again...
(I am not at all an expert in english, so let's try to be not too much demanding... with me )
I only speak here to show my approval. (I prefer the reading than the speaking, so begin to express you here... please ?  )

(PS : I am rather a sort of man who is happy when he understands "Harry Potter"  )

Good luck for your efforts !!!  (you have a lector )

Bonjour,

pourriez-vous me dire si c'est correct? pleaseeeee


I am a pupil in business school and I have to do a training course abroad.
I would have liked doing it in the United States; is it possible?
I was told that you could help us?.

Thks