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Chapter 1
CONTRASTIVE LINGUISTICS
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1.1 LANGUAGES ARE DIFFERENT AT ALL LEVELS — A PREVIEW
Learners of a foreign language will soon discover that their native language (L1)
is different from the foreign language (L2). Indeed, ifyou compare two languages,
you will see differences wherever you look: phonology, grammar, vocabulary,
discourse patterns and pragmatics. Let us consider a few examples here.
PHONOLOGICAL DIFFERENCES
COMPARE /n/ AND /n/ IN ENGLISH AND HUNGARIAN. DISCUSS THE FOLLOWING
QUESTIONS.
+ Does /n/ exist as a speech sound/phoneme in Hungarian/English?
+ Whatis the difference?
+ Isthenin the Hungarian words nem, hint6, munka and sonka pronounced in the
same way?
« Can we pronounce the words harang, mereng, villong without pronouncing the
final g?
¢ Do we pronounce the Hungarian word ring in the same way as English ring?
+ How difficult is it for Hungarian learners to acquire the correct pronunciation of
this English speech sound in final and midposition, in words like sing, singer,
singing, ring, ringing?
+ Do mistakes recur at later stages?
GRAMMATICAL DIFFERENCES
TRANSLATE THE FOLLOWING SENTENCES INTO ENGLISH AND NOTE THE
DIFFERENCES. COMPARE THE USE OF THE DEFINITE ARTICLE IN HUN¬
GARIAN AND ENGLISH.
Az idő pénz. A tudás hatalom. Az élet nehéz. A farmer élete nehéz. A várost a
honfoglalás idején alapították. Az erődöt a római időkben építették. A tej fehér, a fű
zöld, a rózsa piros, az ibolya kék. A tejes letette a tejet a küszöbre. Piros bort ittam
az este. A bor, amelyet tegnap este ittam, piros volt. Túl magas a fű, le kell vágnom.
A víz túl hideg volt. Miért nő a fű, és miért üvölt az oroszlán?
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