Rachel Akhazemea Essay

In the novel of mice and men John Steinbeck uses the two protagonists Lennie small and George Milton to show morals through-out the novella. Steinbeck uses the main characters to portrait the American dream. I realize Steinbeck vaguely gets us to explore each character feeling by feeling, but in the time of age they’re living in we get a clearer understanding of why they are the way they are. In this essay I will discuss the relationship between both George and Lennie, and why Steinbeck has decided to use two completely different characters in the same content. A rather key way in which Steinbeck introduces Lennie and George is through the use of description. In the opening of the novel, Steinbeck decides to create suspense for the characters. He uses metaphorical language to compare Lennie like an animal â€Å"the way a bear drags his paws†, the idea of Steinbeck doing this allows the reader to assumedly suggest what type of person Lennie is straight away, the imagery of the bear represents how masculine, strong and loud Lennie comes across to be, but on the other hand it could represent how sometimes a bear is unaware of its actions and is dangerous, therefore this foreshadows what happens later on in the novel. Our understanding of Lennie begins to grow as we read further on into the novel. We know Lennie is seen as a strong character physically and George is a strong character verbally, but not so much physically as Lennie. The relationship may face some challenges as they’re dialect is obviously different, you would assume two close friends would show unity in the way they come across, but Steinbeck doesn’t use this typical idea of friendship in the novel. As we read further on in the book we create an image for both characters. We start to realise how Lennie treats George as a father figure. Lennie, despite being slow and easily confused, is sure of this friendship. We see this when Lennie is subjected to answer Crooks’ joke when he says George might abandon him, Lennie jumps to reply â€Å"George wouldn’t do nothing like that† this shows that as dim-witted as Lennie seems, he will continue to reassure himself and believe that George would never leave because of the value of their relationship, from Lennie’s point of view, George is the most important person in his life his guardian and only friend. We also see that Lennie is reluctant and naà ¯ve; â€Å"but I wouldn’t eat none, George I’d leave it all for you. You could cover your beans with it and I wouldn’t touch none of it† the fact that Lennie outbursts in apology after George expresses to him his anger, goes to show the extent of earnestness Lennie has for their relationship, the idea that he is willing to sacrifice his desire (being ketchup) just shows how much he truly cares about George. We also see how much Lennie is dependant of George as he obeys George: â€Å"Yes† Lennie turned his head. â€Å"No, Lennie. Look down there across the river; you can almost see the place† Lennie obeys George† the fact that Lennie obeys George quickly shows there is a certain amount of respect for George, it shows he trusts George in whatever is being said, But we can then perceive this in two ways; a threatening, cruel way, or just the fact that Lennie understands the level of respect required with George. This also suggests to the reader that there are barriers in the relationship that affect how they treat each other, when Lennie chooses to obey George it may also show how Lennie cant decide for himself and he needs George to make his decisions for him. On the other hand, I have explored the way Lennie’s and George’s characters may change once they are around other people. We can also link this to the way George treats Lennie, George who is constructed as a responsible father-like man, and then seen as a reluctant carer to Lennie can be seen as a battle between two personalities in one person. We realise George’s personality changes when he is talking to Lennie and referring to the dream they both share: â€Å"George’s voice became deeper. He repeated his words rhythmically as though he had said them many times before. â€Å"Guys like us work on ranches†¦Ã¢â‚¬  the fact that Georges voice begins to get deeper as he starts to explain the dream shows how he feels towards it, sweet passionate George begins to reveal itself to the reader implying his interest in what he’s explaining, and it becomes more than words that he is speaking. But we then realise the contrast when George is talking amongst his work friends, George refers to Lennie as a â€Å"Crazy bastard† his dialect is a complete transition from when he was explaining the dream passionately. Describing Lennie as a crazy bastard may give the impression to the reader that George pretends he doesn’t understand the way Lennie is when he behaves unnecessary, showing how he may want to seem bigger than what he really is, in front of his work friends. George finds it hard to show his true love and compassion towards Lennie when around other people. In Chapter three George is talking to slim about the past, George explains to him how him and Lennie grew up together as neighbours, George mentions that when he first began travelling with Lennie he found it funny to play pranks on Lennie, but as they grew older they were no longer fun. We realise the relationship comes across barriers and obstacles especially because Lennie had a mental disability. â€Å"George herd Lennies whimpering cry and wheeled about, â€Å"blubbering like a baby! Jesus Christ! A big guy like you!† Lennies lip quivered and tears started in his eyes, â€Å"aw, Lennie† George put his hands on Lennie’s shoulder . â€Å"I aint taking it away for meanness, that mouse aint fresh..ect† Lennie cries like a baby, his reaction can be compared to a baby when they get told off, this may show mental weakness. The main thing about it is seeing a grown man cry, What is also interesting is now that George has made Lennie cry, George is considerably softened up by Lennies tears, Georges quick reply was â€Å"I aint taking it away jus for meanness† this shows George has a passionate side, he doesn’t want Lennie to be upset, but he still needs to show some control. We also recognize the quick transition in George as his emotions change from firm to soft, some people might perceive this is another way, the fact that George switches the way he talks to Lennie so sudden may show he is forced to put on a responsible role, George doesn’t want to be mean to Lennie, but Lennies behaviour forces him to. George’s sharp words can sometimes come across threatening to Lennie, his role of having to be responsible and caring towards him can be challenging for George. Into the second chapter as Lennie and George arrive at the camp and eventually go into meet the boss, George is very keen on being in control. His constant use of language is used to dominate the conversation. â€Å"Whats your name?† â€Å"George Milton† â€Å"and yours?† â€Å"George said, â€Å"His names Lennie small†. This shows us that George is carefully thinking about what may happen if he allows Lennie to talk, with full understanding that if Lennie says something out of content, they might loose their opportunity of working there. When we come to talk about how others may see the relationship, I find the boss’s perceiptive can be very intresting, as the boss is conversating with Small and Milton, the boss starts to suspect that George is using lennie to steal his money â€Å"he hacked his thumbs in his belt and squinted one eye nearly closed. Say what you sellin?† â€Å"huh?† â€Å"I said what stake you got in this guy† The boss miss interprets George’s authority and sees it as a way of George benefiting himself by taking Lennies money. When George knows he uses his authorative role to benefit them from losing their jobs. Later on in the novella, it is evident that George begins to feel fed up with Lennie, having to move locations all the time for every little mistake Lennie does. The fact that George ends ups killing Lennie clearly shows his lack of faith. George comes to a realisation that Lennie can not carry on the journey with him especially when he seems to be limiting him from going anywhere. I believe Steinbeck wants the reader to understand that sometimes you need to do the worst things to get the best results. He uses these two reluctant characters to portrait a hidden hope between them both, but the hope ends up getting crushed once George kills Lennie, which seemed like it was for the best. With a wider insight of what Steinbeck uses the characters for. I’ve analysed the way he uses the American dream with Lennie and George to separate them from the rest of the workmen. Lennie and George both share the same dream which keeps their hope through out their stay at their workplace. George says: â€Å"with us it aint like that. We got somebody to talk to that gives a damn about us. We don’t have so sit in no bar room blowin in our jack jus because we got no place to go, if them other guys gets in jail they can rot for all anybody gives a damn. But not us.. â€Å"the fact that George separates him and lennie from the other guys shows he sees everyone else differently, it shows they have a different mind-set to the rest of the guys and it shows they believe in something bigger and greater than in the walls of the ranch. Throughout the novel, Lennie seems to be unaware of what is right and what is wrong, and this comes across as a burden on george as he has to correct gim for every wrong thing he does. George knows just how easy his life could be without Lennie and all the confusion he causes. We understand this because at the start of the book George tells Lennie how he would get a decent job with nice guys to talk to and a good pay. Then at the end spend as much as he wanted. George’s life has been made harder because of Lennie, and until Lennie goes, he’ll forever be unhappy. When George is conversing with the boss, it’s interesting to see how Lennie can hide his strength which only emphasizes his weakness. The boss seems interested in hearing what Lennie can do, because of his masculinity and size, but now that Lennie has been forbidden to talk by George, he is afraid to communicate; â€Å"The boss pointed a playful finger at Lennie â€Å" he ain’t much of a talker, is he?† he’s sure a hell of a good worker. Strong as a bull† The fact that lennie is described as another animal for the 2nd time in this novel re-enforces Steinbecks idea of Lennie, it repeatedly foreshadows his behaviour now and what it could turn out to be, an animal has a lower mind-set than a human, less knowledgeable and less understanding. This episode also highlights’ how Lennie is weaker than George, Lennies physical build is very deceiving and he is limited by his mental ability and by his utter subjugation to George. We also realise the different types of features used such as imagery, metaphors and similes to dominate the scene or setting. â€Å"A water snake glided smoothly up the pool, twisting its periscope head from side to side, and it swam the length of the pool and came to the legs of a motionless heron that stood in the shallow. A silent head and beak lanced down and plucked it out by the head and the beak swallowed the little snake while its tail waved frantically† the great imagery here is used to begin section 6 to describe a setting like the ‘Garden of Eden’ this gives the reader a hint of what the scene may look like, a paradise heaven. The sliding snake represents the tempting serpent from the Garden of Eden, this symbolism is used to suggest the predatory nature of the world foreshadowing Lennies quick death. The innocent snake narrated in the beginning of the novel is now un-expectedly taken from the world and soon Lennie’s life will be taken from the world just as un expected as the snake. The idea that the snake is classed in a lower category than the Heron shows the difference between George and Lennie, George representing the predator and Lennie as the prey. We can often question ourselves on the way Steinbeck decided to end the book. The ending was certainly optimistic and interesting and especially un-expected. I believe Steinbeck wanted to get across to the readers that in order to pursue our dreams, we have to get rid of what’s stopping us from achieving, and in this case Lennie was topping George. Steinbeck also wants us to realise the amount of determination you need when you desperately want something. A successful way in which Steinbeck ends the novel is in the way he links it to the American Dream. The two protagonists lennie small and george Milton clearly help structure the hole idea of the American dream and the deep morals that come along side it. The American dream tells us that everyone is equal and everyone has same rights to achieve success, as long as effort is put into it. In this case, Lennie and George would love to persue their dream together, but Lennie’s mental ability and slow mindset holds them both back from achieving and becoming successful, Steinbeck clearly show this by proving – in order to persue your dreams, you need full submission, meaning getting rid of anything that is holding you back, and in this case, Lennie. Another way in which we could perceive the way Steinbeck uses the characters to portrait the American dream, is through their characteristics. Pursuing something great requires a lot of determination and a right mind set, it wasn’t that Lennie and George had no determination but lennie wasn’t in the perfect mind state to pursue the dream, so by George ending Lennies life, it allowed the extra stress to be released of Georges shoulders. Steinbeck simply uses this to show the reality side of things. The idea that the dream was reachable, but once George gave up on Lennie the dream became no longer attainable. The American dream was for anyone stable enough to work for what they want and to achieve it, but the purpose of the ending was another way of telling people that having a dream and striving for it is definitely not easy, he also gets us to understand that even though everyone around you may not believe in what you do, it does not mean you should stop believing in it. The main core of this novel was the suspense built between Lennie and George to show having a strong desire for something isn’t impossible.

Cricket Essay

History of Cricket Early cricket was at some time or another described as â€Å"a club striking a ball†. The ancient games of club-ball, stool-ball, trap-ball, stob-ball†. Cricket can definitely be traced back to Tudor times in early 16th-century England. Written evidence exists of a game known as â€Å"creag† being played by Prince Edward, the son of Edward I (Longshanks), at Newenden, Kent in 1301 and there has been speculation, but no evidence, that this was a form of cricket. Many other words have been suggested as names for the term â€Å"cricket†. In the earliest real reference to the sport in 1598, it is called â€Å"creckett†. Given the strong old trade connections between south-east England and the County of Flanders when the latter belonged to the Duchy of Burgundy, the name may have begun from the Middle Dutch kricke, meaning a stick ; or the Old English cricc or cryce meaning a crutch or staff. In Old French, the word criquet seems to have meant a kind of c lub or stick. In Samuel Johnson’s Dictionary, he derived cricket from â€Å"cryce, Saxon, a stick†. Another possible source is the Middle Dutch word krickstoel, meaning a long low stool used for kneeling in church and which resembled the long low wicket with two stumps used in early cricket. According to Heiner Gillmeister, a European language expert of Bonn University, â€Å"cricket† derives from the Middle Dutch phrase for hockey, met de krik ket sen â€Å"with the stick chase†. Dr. Gillmeister believes that not only the name but the sport is of origin. During the 17th century, numerous references indicate the growth of cricket in the south-east of England. By the end of the century, it had become an organized activity being played for high stakes and it is believed that the first professionals appeared in the years following the Restoration in 1660. A newspaper report survives of â€Å"a great cricket match† with eleven players a side that was played for high stakes in Sussex in 1697 and this is the earliest known reference to a cricket match of such importance. The game went through major development in the 18th century and became the national sport of England. Betting played a major part in that development with rich  patrons forming their own â€Å"select XIs†. Cricket was popular in London as early as 1707 and large crowds flocked to matches on the Artillery Ground in Finsbury. The single wicket form of the sport attracted huge crowds and wagers to match. Bowling became popular around 1760 when bowlers began to pitch the ball instead of rolling or skimming it towards the batsman. This caused a revolution in bat design because, to deal with the bouncing ball, it was necessary to introduce the modern straight bat in place of the old â€Å"hockey stick† shape. The Hambledon Club was founded in the 1760s and, for the next 20 years until the formation of MCC and the opening of Lord’s Old Ground in 1787, Hambledon was both the game’s greatest club and its focal point. MCC quickly became the sport’s premier club and the custodian of the Laws of Cricket. New Laws introduced in the latter part of the 18th century included the three stump wicket and leg before wicket. The 19th century saw underarm bowling replaced by first roundarm and then overarm bowling. Both developments were controversial. Organization of the game at county level led to the creation of the county clubs, starting with Sussex CCC in 1839, which ultimately formed the official County Championship in 1890. Meanwhile, the British Empire had been instrumental in spreading the game overseas and by the middle of the 19th century it had become well established in India, North America, the Caribbean, South Africa, Australia and New Zealand. In 1844, the first international cricket match took place between the United States and Canada, although neither has ever been ranked as a Test-playing nation. Cricket entered a new era in 1963 when English counties introduced the limited overs variant. As it was sure to produce a result, limited overs cricket was lucrative and the number of matches increased. The first Limited Overs International was played in 1971. The governing International Cricket Council (ICC) saw its potential and staged the first limited overs Cricket World Cup in 1975. In the 21st century, a new limited overs form, Twenty20, has made an immediate impact. Equipment and Changes over Time Ball- A red or white ball with a cork base, wrapped in twine covered with leather. The ball should have a circumference of 23 cm (9.1 inches) unless it is a children’s size. Bat- A wooden bat is used. The wood used is from the Kashmir or English willow tree. The bat cannot be more than 38 inches (96.5 cm) long and 4.25 inches (10.8 cm) wide. Aluminium bats are not allowed. The bat has a long handle and one side has a smooth face. Stumps- 3 wooden poles known as the stumps. Bails- Two crosspieces are known as the bails. Sight screen- A screen placed at the boundary known as the sight screen. This is aligned exactly parallel to the width of the pitch and behind both pairs of wickets. Boundary- A rope demarcating the perimeter of the field known as the boundary. History of the Cricket Bat- (The only known piece of equipment that has changed, has only been the bat.) 1624 – This is the first time that we have any mention of a cricket bat. An inquest was carried out after a fielder was killed. The batsman had tried to prevent him from catching the ball, and had presumably whacked him on the head in the process! Originally bowlers used to bowl the ball underarm. The cricket bat was therefore shaped very much like a hockey stick. 1770’s – The laws were changed to allow â€Å"length bowling†, which was still performed underarm. The cricket bat became roughly parallel with a maximum width of 4.25†³. This is still the same today. They were extremely heavy, with the â€Å"swell† at the bottom. 1820’s – Round arm bowling was allowed, instigating more bounce so the cricket bat became lighter with a higher â€Å"swell†. 1830’s – Until this period all cricket bats were one piece willow. However, because of increased breakages and shock as the ball travelled faster, cricket bat makers started to â€Å"splice† handles into bats. Handles were either solid willow or ash. 1835 – The length of a cricket bat  was restricted to 38†³, which is still the same today. 1840 – The first recorded use of a â€Å"spring† being inserted into the handles of the cricket bat. These were initially whalebone (as used in ladies corsets) and some years later India rubber. 1853 – Thomas Nixon, a Notts cricketer, introduced the use of cane in handle making in cricket bats. 1864 – The laws were altered to allow over- arm bowling so there was a further lightening and more refined shaping of the blade. Handles became intricate constructions and were nearly all made of cane with Indian rubber grips. 1870’s – The shape of today’s cricket bat evolves.

Bedside Shift Report Essay

Policies and procedures are review, revamp and implement constantly in health care facilities to ensure safe patient care is being deliver. Effective communication is a critical part in providing safe patient care. Usefulness communication is essential during shift report in order to provide safe care and meet goals for the patient. There is a trend where hospitals are bringing shift report to the bedside in order to improve the effectiveness of communication between the nurses. At Kaiser Santa Clara, the facility I currently work at, has a standard policy and procedure regarding the handoff communication during shift change, according to the policy the two nurses are to review information that is standardized to the following: †¢Diagnoses and current condition of the patient †¢Medications given or due †¢Isolation status †¢Recent changes in condition or treatment †¢Anticipated changes in condition for treatment †¢What to watch for in the next interval of care The purpose of the policy is to provide an interactive dialogue that allows for up-to-date information on the patient’s care. The policy is referenced to the Joint Commission-mandated focus on improving patient safety through effective caregiver communication. According to the Joint Commission, as estimated 80% of serious medical errors are attributable to miscommunication between caregivers when transferring responsibly for patients (Wakefield, Ragan, Brandt & Tregnago, 2012). Shift report happens two, three, or more times in a day, but nurses receive little formal training in this vital responsibility. Nurses may be found legally liable for failing to report necessary information during handoffs (Riesenberg, Leitzsch, & Cunningham, 2010). Therefore, it is imperative for a handoff procedure incorporate an effective way to communicate in order to provide safe patient care. Review of the Literature Traditionally, shift report has been performed away from the bedside either at the nurse’s station or outside of the patient’s room where patient  information is exchanged in an informal way varying from nurse-to-nurse. According to Laws and Amato, information provided, and the actual status of the patient were two different stories when the on-coming nurse came into the room to assess the patient after shift report (2010). Shift report often lack care planning and goals for the shift; these issues often leave the nurses with incomplete data to provide patients with the best possible care (Baker, 2010). Numerous studies and articles have been written in how to improve shift report to coincide with the Joint Commission national patient safety goals, there seems to be an array of information on facilities transition to bedside report, as in giving shift report right next to the patient’s bed. At the University of Michigan Hospital and Health Center, a quantitative study was conducted to improve the practice of nursing shift-to-shift report by taking it to the bedside. Over a six month period, a group of nurses were observed during shift change to determine how the implementation of bedside reporting was being received by the nurses and patients. The results collected between the observation and a brief questionnaire filled out by the nurses, showed that there was a decrease in report time from 45 minutes to 29 minutes due to that nurses that did not have the privacy of socializing at the nurses station, which decreases crucial time to give a report on a patient. Nurse satisfaction with report process increased from 37% to 78% when moved to the bedside because nurses could give and receive much more accurate handoff without distractions. An intervention to relocate shift report to the patient bedside resulted in improved satisfaction for nurses and increased direct care ti me to patients (Evans, Grunawalt, McClish, Wood, & Friese, 2012). A critical care quality committee at Regions Hospital in St. Paul, Minnesota, was concerned with an audit that showed 39% of medication errors were found after shift report. This evidence supported the development and strength for bedside report. A qualitative study was conducted by surveying the 69 nurses on two different critical care units. The report’s finding indicated improved communication at the bedside along with allowing the nurses to double check on the intravenous medications that were being  administered to the patient. 84.2% of the nurses felt they were more confident about their report when giving it at the bedside because it gave them an opportunity to provide objective information versus subjected information on the patient (Triplett & Schuveiller, 2011). However, through-out the article there was no information regarding if the 39% of medication errors decrease after the implementation of bedside report. There was a mentioned that 55% surveyed did find errors at the bedside during report; however it was not discussed how these errors were addressed. Overall, bedside report has significantly affected nursing practice in a beneficiary way by nursing staff (Triplett & Schuveiller, 2011). In an effort to improve patient satisfaction, an inpatient nursing unit in a Midwest academic health center made a decision to bring shift report at the bedside. A quantitative was conducted by surveying inpatients and 32 nurses on a step-down unit. A yes or no survey was given to the inpatients regarding the quality of the report that was given at the bedside, and 72% were satisfied with the information that was exchanged between the nurses (Wakefield, Ragan, Brandt & Tregnago, 2012). Following the implementation of bedside report there was a significant increase in patient satisfaction scores. While scores improved, transition to the bedside was not well received by nurses. Data collected showed that nurses were not following the new process of bedside report. 60% of the nurses did not do report at the bedside, however decrease by extensive planning, training and gradual implementation (Wakefield, Ragan, Brandt & Tregnago, 2012). The studies strikingly prove that effective communication at the bedside provides safe patient care that has been well received by patients and nurses in most cases. The research proved that bedside report offered several benefits such as an increase in the following: †¢Nurse-to-nurse accountability †¢Patient satisfaction scores †¢Quality of care ratings †¢Patient safety scores (Wakefield, Ragan, Brandt & Tregnago, 2012). Description of the Process There is a considerable amount of information and studies that support bedside reporting. Bedside reporting has shown to increase patient participation and satisfaction, increase nursing teamwork and accountability, and most importantly improve communication between nurses. Kaiser Permanente prides themselves as being innovated in the health-care industry and keeping patients satisfaction scores high. Based on evidence, Kaiser could continue reach their goals by modifying their shift report policy to incorporate bedside report. In order to modify or implement a new policy, the process seems straight forward with Kaiser; there is a protocol that allows the policy to be handled by the appropriate committee group. For changes in handoff communications, I would have to approach the director of patient safety with my recommendations based on evidence, and then this information is turned over to the nursing policy and procedure committee for review, which then is approved by Chief of Nursing or Services. Why bedside report? Sounds simple, but many nurses are set in their ways and may be resistant to this new technique for number reasons. Let it be known, not only does evidence show that bedside report brings patient safety, it always brings ownership and accountably among the staff. Bedside report allows an opportunity for real-time conversations and transfer of trust of patient care in front of the patient. A clinical nurse leader (CNL) would play in a vital role in seeing the implementation goes smoothly among the nurses. A CNL can help the process by making sure the staff is engaged by providing the appropriate knowledge on how the system is going to be implementing, along with the evidence that supports this new change. The key to successfully implementing bedside report is clearly defining the role of the nurses, standardize what is communicated, and allow for time for the patient’s input. A CNL can follow up on the success of the implementation by rounding on the patients and nurses for feedback and  reporting back to nurses with opportunities or wins, which allows the nurses know how they are doing. In conclusion, it has been provided by evidence based information to show that bedside report is a win-win situation for both the nurses and patients and meets the patient safety goals for Joint Commissions.

Business law case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Business law - Case Study Example Imperial could find itself with a sudden, severe decrease in its cash flow. It might also have to layoff employees and have equipment sit idle. Simply put, litigation, regardless of the outcome could do irreparable damage to both parties. In this case negotiation would be the appropriate form of alternative dispute resolution to pursue. The two parties need to sit down face-to-face. They need to lay out there understanding of the ambiguous clause in the contract, seek common ground, and perhaps by consent share any costs or losses involved in their differing interpretations of the clause. If negotiation proves fruitless they should move to mediation. Then an objective and disinterested third party could assist them in understanding one anothers position and finding a middle ground. (Marsh, 2008) Due to the complexity of the case collaborative law would be the best approach. The case, too complex for a jury, might also be too complex for a mediator or arbitrator, regardless of their qualifications and experience. Therefore, the parties would be wise to sit down together, with their lawyers accompanying them, and work towards an agreement in camera with trained lawyers, able to understand the complexity of the case. If they were to negotiate in good faith, in this private environment with expert legal advice they stand the best chance of resolving the dispute in a fair manner that also takes account of the legal complexities of the situation. Collaborative law would also ensure that the case never ended up in court. Collaborative law is â€Å"cost effective and discrete†, and with trade secrets involved that is precisely what each party needs. (Newitt, â€Å"Shot before dawn†) It is an unusual proposal for a business dispute, but most appropriate in this instance. In this case it is plain that Empire Corporation wishes to avoid a court case There is the danger of disadvantageous precedent being set if the case does go to trial. Also, the company may find

Principle of Mental Health Nursing Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Principle of Mental Health Nursing - Essay Example Fluctuations ranged from elation or sadness and are influenced by a number of biological, medical or social factors including work, family, and social responsibilities. People normally behave this way; however, when mood fluctuations become chronic and overwhelming that it already affects the activities of daily living, this becomes a clinical disorder. This is the case that happened to Simon Smith, a 49-year-old married man who was diagnosed with clinical depression five months ago after experiencing a number of unfortunate life events over the last eight months. According to the World Health Organization (WHO) (2012), clinical depression or simply depression refers to a common mental disorder that presents with depressed mood, loss of interest or pleasure, feelings of guilt or low self-worth, disturbed sleep or appetite, low energy, and poor concentration which can become chronic or recurrent and lead to substantial impairments in an individual's ability to take care of his or her everyday responsibilities (n.p.). Clinical depression is apart from temporary feelings of sadness, confused thinking, and somatic complaints. General practitioners, nurses, and other members of the health care team play a crucial role in the early recognition and treatment of Mr. Smith’s clinical depression using the appropriate assessment tools and interventions that is client-centered and based on the current evidences. Initial Assessment To identify the triggering factors that cause imbalances in the mental state of Mr. Smith and to identify the diagnosis and severity of depression, a psychiatric mental health nurse should conduct a comprehensive psychiatric/psychosocial assessment. Psychosocial assessment includes getting the patient history and evaluation of patient’s mental and emotional status (Varcarolis, 2011, p. 5). It also includes assessment of the triggering factors that led Mr. Smith to develop clinical depression. Triggering factors of depression are neg ative events or situations which play a vital role in the initial and persistent development of depression, examples of which include early loss, trauma, abuse, disruption of relationships, and other negative experiences (Moore and Garland, 2003, p. 52). In Mr. Smith’s case, the triggering factors of depression are his mother’s diagnosis of Alzheimer’s disease, niece’s admission to an Assessment Ward, son’s diagnosis and treatment of acute myeloid leukemia, involvement in a car crash with National trust property pressing for compensation, and difficulties with the insurance company. Meanwhile, standardized diagnostic tools also assist both the general practitioner and the nurse in identifying the signs and symptoms, diagnosis, and severity of clinical depression. The International Classification of Diseases (ICD), 10th Revision and the American Psychiatric Association’s (APA) Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fourth Edit ion: DSM-IV-TR guide psychiatric practitioners in the diagnosis of mental disorders. In the APA criteria for major or unipolar depression, Mr. Smith should have at least four or more signs or symptoms listed in the criteria for a period of two weeks to meet the diagnosis of clinical depression (APA, 2000, p. 349; Patel and Jakopac, 2012, p. 138) while in the ICD-10, Mr. Smith should demonstrate specific number of

Leadership Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 22

Leadership - Essay Example He gives other people the credit of success instead of taking it himself, and is brave enough to accept his mistakes and amend them when needed. Leader B is very organized and believes in preset rules and regulations. The case mentions that he believes in a clear hierarchy and proper division of work. He also practices empowerment and delegation of tasks to employees but then they are held accountable for good or bad performance, and then are treated accordingly. Good performance leads to appreciation whereas poor performance leads to punishment. These are the prime characteristics of a transactional leader. Transformational leaders create followers because of their inspirational personalities who work hard in the interest of the organization regardless of their personal interests. Leader C also inculcates a sense of pride amongst the employees and does not want to dominate them but be their mentor instead of boss. This ultimately creates a more comfortable working environment. He also induces in them a passion to work towards the success of the organization. The impact of leader B’s appointment as CEO would have a negative effect on overall performance of the company. Employees would become hesitant at giving their ideas or working according to their will with the fear of being punished for bad performance. Their quality of work would be hindered and the inflexibility of leader B would lead to producing average managers in the company instead of leaders. On appointment of leader B, the kind of environment that would be created in the organization would be dull, strict and the employees would lose the passion to work. It will become a half-hearted attempt for them. Overall impact on company performance is likely to be negative if Leader B gets appointed. If Leader C gets appointed, his flexibility of being a mentor instead of boss will allow employees to take

Organizational behaviour Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Organizational behaviour - Essay Example Team-based working is not same as group-working; the latter usually refers to two or more individuals that come together to achieve a common goal or share similar interests whereas the former entails and instills synergy through collective working and striving towards achievement of a common goal and usually results in enhanced performance. Katzenbach and Smith (1993; qtd in DeCarlo, 2010) define a team as, â€Å"a small number of people with complementary subject matter expertise who are committed to a common purpose, set of performance goals, and a common approach for which they hold themselves mutually accountable.† Teams can be of various types such as cross-functional teams, self-managed teams, virtual teams and problem solving or project teams. Accenture uses all these structures of teams to achieve its varied goals in diversified businesses across multiple locations. From a sociological and evolutionary perspective, it is true that ‘man’ is a social being a nd cannot live in isolation for longer time and achieve his desired goals. The same holds true in terms of his/her actions and performance. On another note, as pointed out by West and Markiewicz (2004; p.2), â€Å"To live, work, and play in human society is to cooperate with others.† These reasons are sufficient to advocate team-based working in highly competitive business environment. In an ideal state, team-based working is meant to bring together different people with diverse skills, attitudes, and experiences to come together and work towards a common goal. Such working is seen as an advantage by business leaders as it fosters innovative ideas, reduces erroneous activities/work, improves emotional statuses of employees and reduces individual stress. At Accenture, complex and... This paper says that team-based working involves grouping individuals that share common goals and interests; however, at an organisational level, these groups are formed on the basis of individuals’ abilities, skill-set, and job for which they are hired or job responsibilities. To sum up, the paper approves that on one hand team-based working facilitates better outcomes in less stressful manner and helps in establishing better relationships with other employees and customers and with employees across different functions. This structure improves communication process and helps in obtaining better understanding of expectations and goals, procedures and processes, and individuals’ abilities and weaknesses. On the whole, the team’s value and assets, in terms of people, knowledge, and resources, increases greatly compared to average value of individuals of the team put together. On the other side, team-based working comes with numerous challenges such as high potential for dysfunctioning of the team in the absence of right team members, effective leadership, appropriate resources and objectives, and the right approach to teamwork. Effective coordination and communication and appropriate cooperation among team members is essential to maintain harmon y among team members and in turn achieve desired objectives. Challenges surface in terms of differences at various levels such as profession, culture, personality, attitudes, roles, self-interests, and respective functional or organisational expectations.

Japan and China History Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Japan and China History - Essay Example While China has become aggressive by declaring war with Japan only to end up losing later, the latter has taken the strategy of ensuring the independence of Korea through the Treaty of Shimonoseki instead of radically annexing Korea. By this treaty, several ports in China have been opened for international trade. However, Western powers were active in China at that time, especially Russia, demanding the withdrawal of Japan from its claim over Liaodong (Duiker & Spielvogel 664). Yet instead of fighting for their claims like what China would have done, Japan ceded back their control and gave in with the demands of Russia. As a result, this strategy established diplomatic relations with Russia for a while allowing Japan to take over Korean affairs without intrusion from Russia. Japan also took advantage of this situation by collecting more war indemnity from China. The slow but sudden expansion of Japan has gradually caught the attention of other powerful Western nations such as the Uni ted States and Britain. The alliance formed with these Western powers has aided Japan to succeed in the Russo-Japanese war later in history.  

Indigenous Australian and Diabetes Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3500 words

Indigenous Australian and Diabetes - Essay Example As such, Aborigines health is very poor compared to other Australians. Statistics indicate that only about forty percent of Aborigines are in good health compared to more than 80% of other Australians. This affects the mortality rate of these people, which is more than two times the non-indigenous Australians. Poor healthcare to Aborigines and their lifestyles increase chances of getting chronic diseases like diabetes. Diabetes is one of the diseases that has increased Aborigine mortality rate in the recent years. There are few clinics and healthcare centers in regions where aborigines live and their diet is also poor. At the same time, many cannot afford medication. More than 30% of the entire Aborigine population has diabetes. In addition, the government has been doing little to Aborigine health. Less than one percent of the national budget was used on Aborigine health. This is little money and may not have a high impact on the Aborigine health. Health experts and civil rights have lobbied the government to invest more in Aborigine healthcare. This paper will discuss Australian Indigenous Health, specifically diabetes, the current trends, why Aborigines are affected more than Non-Aboriginal Australians, strategies used to mitigate Diabetes and what can be done to improve the current intervention measures and strategies. Epidemiology Diabetes is one of the most common chronic conditions in the world today. The disease is as a result of low production of insulin which is responsible for regulating blood sugar in the body. Diabetes is characterized by high levels of blood sugar and can adversely affect the general health of the patient. The condition makes the body weak making the patient susceptible to opportunistic conditions, which can even lead to death. There are two common types of Diabetes, Type 1 and Type 2. Type 1 diabetes is caused an autoimmune disease of the beta cells of the pancreas. These cells are responsible for the production of insulin, which regulates blood sugar. Type 1 diabetes is most common in young people and accounts for 5 to 10% of the total diabetes patients. Type 2 diabetes is caused by health factors that have suppressing factors on the pancreas. Excess fats make it almost impossible for the beta cells to produce insulin and regulate body sugar. In fact, more than 75% of people having type 2 diabetes are either overweight or obese. Type 2 is common in adults and accounts for 90 to 95% of all diabetic patients (Hawley and Dunstan, 2008). There is no cure for either of the two types of diabetes, but research and experiments are underway to find a cure. Currently, diabetes is management is done to mitigate the risks that are associated these conditions for example (Thomas and Nestel, 2007). Type 1 diabetes patients have to live on insulin shots. They inject insulin on their hands every day according to the physician instructions. Type 2 diabetes patients are advised to exercise to lose weight and cut fats in the body. They can also use pills if the former strategy does not work. Diabetes patients have to eat healthy and exercise often to mitigate the effects of the condition (Speight, 2013). Prevalence of diabetes in Australia is relatively high, currently ranked the fifth country. Diabetes is common among the elderly people. There is a higher prevalence of diabetes to Aborigines in Australia compared to non-Aborigines. According to Australian Institute of Health and Welfare,

Examine the character of Sir Gawain as shown in the romance Sir Gawain Essay

Examine the character of Sir Gawain as shown in the romance Sir Gawain and the Green Knight - Essay Example seem to contain elements that are anti-Arthurian, ultimately the story should be probably best be taken as a stepping stone toward parody; that is, the story of Gawain exists in relation between the traditional tales and the contemporary retellings as a method for humanizing the impossible ideal of chivalric knighthood while at the same time retaining the heroic qualities inherent in them. The stories of King Arthur and his knights have been around so long, and been burned so insistently into human consciousness that even today a movie called King Arthur can be advertised with the tagline â€Å"The Untold True Story That Inspired The Legend† (Internet Movie Database) and nobody bats an eye. While legend is generally thought to be based upon a long forgotten fact, the specifics of the legend rarely correspond to any actual fact. In a sense, Gawain may be representative of this split between the fact and the fiction. The story seems more infused with supernatural qualities than most stories of the Arthurian legend and are also clearly meant to be read with an eye toward Christian allegory, such as the beginning of the story taking place around Christmas, Gawain’s solitary trek into the wilderness to face evil, and other aspects (Andrade). If the story is meant to be taken as Christian allegory, then Gawain’s reduction toward simple humanity rather t han chivalric ideal makes perfect sense. The Christian religion does not allow for perfection among humanity; that right is reserved solely for God. Yet, we are all inspired to reach for perfection and that is what Gawain tries to do throughout the story. In his celibacy and in his sacrifice of himself for the honor of the court, Gawain is very much trying to attain a Christ-like position. That he fails by yielding to minor temptations makes him all the more human, yet also delivers him from the fate of parody. and the Destruction of Ideals† Koster compares the story of Gawain to the film Monty Python and

The Heart and Mind in Decision-Making Essay Example for Free

The Heart and Mind in Decision-Making Essay I chose â€Å"Dear Diary: My Heart is racing to buy a car† to reflect and it seems interesting to me because it is one of the very unusual and common human trait to decide upon the conflict between calls from heart and mind. This is a situation which almost every human faces one day or the other. Jamie had an average financial background though when he saw his dream car he was moved to an extent that he thought of sacrificing his professional and personal needs to live his dream owning a red Mustang with powerful engine sound. It is always challenging to decide upon the conflict that arises because of intuition and logic. I believe a good and influential leader is one who can firmly decide upon the conflict between intuition and logic and takes decisions in interest of oneself and the group of people he is leading. The decision may also be influenced by the values and behavior of particular leader. There should be a sense of balance between two calls which has to be looked upon with all perspective. I was in same dilemma as Jamie when I passed my secondary exam and I was supposed to choose major between math and biology in higher secondary. To overcome the confusion upon the choices I took help from my dad and logically we concluded that I should take math as major and look for career in engineering. The second concept which was underlined throughout the case was that though he was aware of both the pros and cons of buying of both the cars but he tried to seek help from others in deciding rather than sticking to his own decision. A good leader should have the right attitude to seek suggestion upon his/her decision if he/she is being acted upon heart versus mind conflict. A successful leader also seeks suggestion from peer groups for answers. To conclude I believe that mind analyses things logically and strives to arrive at a decision. If the analysis leads to confusion then ask your heart as it is as logical as our mind is. Information is constantly exchanged between them and the decision making depends on a lot of logic in most of the cases. If the mind adds subtracts, the heart multiplies and divides! No wonder the saying listen to your heart when in confusion may holds well at times.

What Are the Qualities That an Ideal Person Should Cultivate, Possess Essay Example for Free

What Are the Qualities That an Ideal Person Should Cultivate, Possess Essay 1. Introduction In this paper, I will discuss what qualities should be cultivated, possessed, and practiced for an ideal person according to Confucius. Although Confucius regards humanness, wisdom, and courage as the basic threefold towards being a junzi (superior man/ideal person, ), there has been an ongoing disagreement among scholars regarding the qualities that are needed to become an ideal person or a junzi. I shall accomplish my purpose by first providing a basic background of information on the topic, then identifying two conflicting interpretations of the qualities that are required by Hosung Ahn and Ha Poong Kim, adding my own critical response, and lastly offering my resolution using Antonio S. Cua’s interpretation on the topic. I will use Confucian Analects (1895) by James Legge as my primary source, along with â€Å"Junzi as a Tragic Person: A Self Psychological Interpretation of the Analects† (Ahn, 2008), â€Å"Confucius’s Aesthetic Concept of Noble Man: Beyond Moralism† (Ha, 2006), and â€Å"Virtues of Junzi† (Cua, 2007) as my secondary sources. 2. Background Information According to Chinese tradition, Confucius is one of the most outstanding thinker, political figure, educator, philosopher, and the founder of the Ru (? ) School of Chinese thought. Our textbook â€Å"The Eastern Paths to Philosophic Self-Enlightenment: An introduction to Eastern Philosophies† (2002) written by Professor Phan points out that Confucius’s thoughts are preserved in the Lunyu ( ) or the Analects, which is one of the Four Books. It is worth noting that the Analects was not written by Master Kong Zi (Confucius, ) himself, but complied by his close disciples when they recollected his â€Å"sayings† after Confucius’s death. Defined by Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, Confucius’s teachings create the foundation on most of subsequent Chinese speculation on the education and comportment of the junzi ( ), and how such an individual should live his life, interact with others, and the types of society and government in which he should participate. On one hand, in 14:20, the Master said, â€Å"The way of the superior man is threefold, but I am not equal to it. Virtuous, he is free from anxieties; wise, he is free from perplexities; bold; he is free from fear. † While on the other hand, scholars have attempted to interpret the qualities of junzi differently. In the next section, I shall examine the conflicting interpretations of Ahn and Kim. 3. First Interpretation by Hosung Ahn A. Background on Confucianism and Psychological Connotations of Junzi In Ahn’s article, he provides historical background information on Confucianism being the most efficient ideological means of medieval and modern authoritarian governments in China and Korea (Ahn, 2008). Yet, Ahn argues that in the course of quoting Weber (1968), Confucianism and Daoism could not be introduced into modern capitalism due to their â€Å"thisworldliness. † Ahn depicts Confucianism as one of the major hindrances in the road toward modernization and industrialization and considers Confucius as a stubborn and conservative moralist whose ethical codes were oppressive. By introducing Heinz Kohut, an Austrian-born American psychoanalyst, Ahn compares Kohutian psychoanalysis such as self-psychology with Confucianism’s ideal person in the Analects. Ahn provides the basic background information in the purpose of identifying Confucianism as being neither sophisticated nor systematized; yet, Ahn suggests that the Analects could be interpreted as a pre-psychoanalytic self-psychology owing to the abundant self psychological insights in the Analects. Ahn then defines junzi as â€Å"a prince literally and a gentleman ordinarily,† and that in Confucianism, â€Å"a junzi is a noble person who attempts to actualize Confucian cardinal virtues in concrete human relationships at any cost. A junzi has often been considered a conformist or a conservative† (Ahn, 2008). Furthermore, Ahn states that Confucianism being established as an ethical and political orthodoxy in Korea was a rigid and authoritarian formalistic, and of which courtesy, rituals, and humanity were the fundamental standards of being a junzi (see Shun 2002). B. Ahn’s Thesis In this article, Ahn (2008) specifically points out that â€Å"a junzi is a tragic person in the Kohutian sense. Like a tragic person, a junzi follows his or her ideals with values deeply anchored in oneself even at the expense of one’s death. † Ahn thinks the most important standards of being a junzi are courtesy and rituals; he states that, â€Å"Confucius himself severely criticizes the externalized beauty and grandeur without the internalized quality of character† (Ahn, 2008). Most importantly, Ahn addresses that the core characteristic of the Kohutian tragic person is almost identically expressed in the Analects: humanity (ren, ? ), which is the ultimate virtue of Confucianism and that a junzi would rather die than giving up his or her ideals and values; which Ahn refers to as strikingly similar to Kohut’s definition of a tragic person. In terms of Ahn’s arguments for supporting his claim, he brings out the topic of xiaoren (small man, ) and defines it as â€Å"those whose ideals and values are superficially situated on the psyche as compared to junzi in the Analects† (Ahn, 2008). Ahn then identifies the difference between a xiaoren and a junzi employing Confucius’s saying, â€Å"The gentleman (junzi) is conversant with righteousness; the small man (xiaoren) is conversant with profit† (Analects, 4. 16). Ahn points out that because a xiaoren focus on what is beneficial to him or her only, he or she cannot but be vulnerable to the external vicissitudes. Similarly, according to Kohut, a xiaoren would â€Å"quickly and opportunistically adjust his or her convictions under the influence of external pressures† (cited in Ahn, 2008); whereas a junzi is determined to â€Å"adhere to the good (Way) until death† (Analects, 8. 13). Ahn then considers this determination as courage, and he quotes Kohut (1985) that â€Å"The culminate peace (in his death) achieved by the hero is†¦the ultimate ascendancy of a firm and life-affirming self† (p. 27). Ahn further proves that Confucius has expressed the same idea through: â€Å"If a man in the morning hears the right way, he may die in the evening without regret† (Analects, 4. 8). Thus, Hosung Ahn summarizes that a junzi, according to Confucius, is a person who searches for â€Å"the achievement of a psychological synthesis at all costs† (Ahn, 2008). In other words, Hosung Ahn interprets that Confucius thinks the quality an ideal person should cultivate, possess, and practice is the spirit of achieving a psychological synthesis or preserving his or her ideals and values at all costs. 4. Second Interpretation by Ha Poong Kim A. Background on Aesthetic Concept of a Noble Man In Kim’s article, he provides historical background information of the Analects being narrowly and moralistically interpreted. Kim points out that Confucius’s remarks such as from â€Å"the Book of Songs and Music† are commonly given an ethical meaning owing to the tradition of Confucius’s key term ren (humanness, ? ) as being an ethical term. Through offering a historical basis as a foundation, Kim attempts to broaden Confucius’s humanistic interpretation of ren as humanness or the human spirit. In details, Kim (2006) addresses that â€Å"while the word ren only rarely occurs in the pre-Confucian literature, it is used in works such as the Songs and the (Book of) History, essentially as a synonym of ren. † To demonstrate that Confucius’s teaching ren for the first time as the supreme principle of human existence and that Confucius is the discoverer of the human spirit in Chinese civilization, Kim introduces and explains other meanings and definitions of ren used in other Confucius or Mencius materials. Also, Ha Poong Kim offers the background information of â€Å"one-dimensional image of the Confucian junzi as a rigid moralist, a man whose distinguishing mark is just a fastidious observance of li (rites, ? )† (Kim, 2006). With all the background information and explanation provided by Kim, he expresses the fact that some of Confucius’s sayings in the Analects are purely aesthetic and any attempt to moralistically interpret them distorts their meanings. B. Kim’s Thesis Kim (2006) agrees with the normativity of Confucius’s concept of ren, yet he argues that the ground of its normativity is fundamentally aesthetic. In supporting his claim, Kim applies Confucius’s teaching: â€Å"Recognize beauty in abiding in ren. If one chooses not to stay in ren, how can one be considered to have attained wisdom? † (Analects, 4:1) Kim interprets this saying as Confucius stressing the recognition of the beauty of ren as a necessary condition of human wisdom, which is equivalent to the awareness of the human spirit. Kim defines this recognition as an aesthetic awareness. Then, through applying Confucius’s saying: â€Å"To become a junzi Ru (noble scholar, ), not a xiaoren Ru (common scholar, )† (Analects, 6:11); Kim points out the difference between a junzi and a xiaoren ultimately comes from the noble man’s awareness of the beauty of ren, which the small man (xiaoren) lacks. Kim explains that since a junzi has this aesthetic sensibility of humanness, he naturally desires, loves, and delights in ren and every manifestation of it. For the purpose of backing up Kim’s claim, he states Confucius believes that by studying the Songs, one would be best awakened, which then explains why Confucius repeatedly urges his pupils to study the Songs. Kim argues that Confucius’s teaching is to help the students become a junzi, who is a lover of ren, through arousing humanness that is obtained through the study of music. In this particular main argument, Kim (2006) summarizes that â€Å"for Confucius’s spiritual awakening, specifically the aesthetic awakening to ren, is the presupposition of the education of junzi. Without this wakening, the learner or scholar will remain a xiaoren Ru, no matter how well versed he may be in ritual subjects, and regardless of how blameless he may be in his ethical conduct. † Next, Kim offers another important argument that during Confucius’s years of wandering from state to state in search of a good ruler, he rarely parted with his lute. Sima Qian, an Ancient Chinese historian, revealed that once, surrounded by two hostile armies, Confucius and his disciples ran out of provisions in the wilderness between the states of Chen and Cai. With some of his disciples falling ill and being unable to get up, Confucius calmly continued singing songs and plucking his lute. Kim regards Confucius’s act as a man capable of forgetting everything else while enjoying music. Thus, in Kim’s point of view, what fundamentally separates Confucius’s junzi from the rest of humanity is the junzi’s aesthetic sensibility to ren. In other words, Kim believes that according to Confucius, the quality a junzi should cultivate, possess, and practice is the aesthetic awareness. Nevertheless, Kim mentions that through stressing the junzi as an aesthetic man, he is not denying a junzi’s many-sidedness. 5. Critique I agree with Hosung Ahn’s claim regarding junzi as a noble person who attempts to actualize Confucian cardinal virtues, and that courtesy, rituals, humanness, and courage are important criterions of becoming a junzi. Moreover, I agree with Ahn’s claim that a junzi would follow his or her ideals and values deeply anchored in oneself even at the expensed of death. However, I strongly disagree with Ahn’s opinion of Confucius’s teaching or his classification of a junzi as a tragic person. In my point of view, Ahn has made an inaccurate interpretation of one Confucius’s saying from the Analects. In 4:8, Confucius teaches that â€Å"If a man in the morning hear(s) the right way, he may die in the evening without regret. † Ahn interprets this saying as Confucius’s advocating of a junzi who must search for â€Å"achievements of a psychological synthesis at all costs† (Ahn, 2008), and this remarkably resembles a tragic person. As the exercise we conducted in our philosophy class on textual hermeneutics of the Confucian Dao in the Analects, this Confucius’s saying represents the importance of the Dao (way, ? ); which according to Confucius, with the experience of hearing the Dao, one could die without regrets afterwards. Thus, this person or this junzi would be a happy person since he contains the very important factor â€Å"Dao†, and that he is absolutely not a tragic person as Hosung Ahn considers as. In terms of Ha Poong Kim’s interpretation of a junzi, I agree with Kim regarding the fact that Confucius repeatedly urges his disciples to study the Songs and Music because it would indeed help his pupils awaken and broaden their minds, enjoy the six arts, and commit to the Dao. I also agree with Kim that a junzi is many-sidedness. What I do not agree with Kim is his differentiation of a junzi and a xiaoren through aesthetic awareness. As I mentioned above, Kim (2006) summarizes in this particular main argument that â€Å"†¦without this wakening, the learning or scholar will remain a xiaoren Ru, no matter how well versed he may be in ritual subjects, and no matter how blameless he may be in his ethical conduct. † In my opinion, apart from pointing out Confucius advocates his pupils to study the Songs and Music, Kim has not given sufficient evidence to support this claim. He has not shown any Confucius’s teaching that could demonstrate the fundamental difference between a xiaoren’s and a junzi’s aesthetic awareness, but rather Kim provides claims simply from his own exploration of Confucius’s thoughts. To further prove that Kim’s interpretation is inaccurate, there are numerous examples of junzi lacking of musical talents and xiaoren being extremely talented in aesthetic. In my opinion, Confucius does believe that music could change one’s mind, adjust one’s mood, smooth one’s qi (energy) and etc. , but Confucius certainly does not identify a junzi from a xiaoren based on aesthetics. 6. Resolution: Interdependent and Dependent Virtues of Junzi According to Antonio S. Cua, junzi is a paradigmatic individual who sets the tone and quality of the life of ordinary moral agents, and a junzi is a person who embodies ren (humanness, ? ), yi (righteousness, ? ), li (rites, ?). In addition, unlike Ahn or Kim, Cua recognizes that except the basic, interdependent, and cardinal virtues of ren, yi, and li, a junzi also involves particular dependent virtues such as filiality (xiao, ? ), magnanimity (kuan, ? ), trustworthiness (xin, ? ), and courage (yong, ? ). Cua regards these as dependent virtues in the sense that their ethical significance depends on connection with the basic, interdependent, and cardinal virtues; and Antonio S. Cua further stresses that dependent virtues are not subordinate or logical derivatives of the basic virtues. In 14:30, the Master said, â€Å"The way of the superior man is threefold, but I am not equal to it. Virtuous, he is free from anxieties; wise, he is free from perplexities; bold, he is free from fear. † As we interpreted in class that according to Confucius, to become a junzi, one must be morally good, intellectually wise, and psychologically brave. In my point of view, I highly agree with Cua’s claim and I think although Confucius identifies humanness, wisdom, and courage as the superior man’s three core virtues, interdependent virtues and dependent virtues work together to form the junzi. To clarify, Antonio S. Cua borrows Xunzi’s distinction, a Chinese Confucian philosopher who lived during the Warring States Period and contributed to one of the Hundred Schools of Thought, the cardinal virtues ren, yi, and li are generic terms, and dependent virtues such as xiao, kuan, xin, yong are specified terms. In other words, â€Å"specified terms are terms that specify the concrete significance of the cardinal virtues in particular contexts of discourse† (Cua, 2007). To demonstrate further, in the Analects, we could find fragments of Confucius’s remarks that mention both cardinal virtues and dependent virtues in the same contexts. For example, â€Å"There were four things which the Master taught: letters (wen, ? ), ethics (xing, ? ), devotion of soul (zhong, ? ), and truthfulness (xin, ? ). † Confucius, The Analects, 7. 25 And in 14:28 we could find Confucius’s teaching of ren, zhi (wisdom, ? ), and yong (courage, ? ); in 3:19 li and zhong; in 13:4 li, yi, and xin and so on. For heuristic purposes, Cua regards dependent virtues as two different groups: supportive and constitutive virtues. Cua explains that the distinction between are that the former are â€Å"genial or helpful, though not necessary, to the development of the cardinal virtues such as ren, yi, and li;† whereas the latter, are those that are â€Å"both supportive and constitutive of the quality of the cardinal virtues actualized† (Cua, 2007). Also, depending on the character and temperament, a constitutive and supportive virtue varies, that is, what is merely a constitutive attribute in one person may be a supportive merit for another. Thus, Cua believes that Confucius’s idea of the junzi is flexible or adaptable, and I highly agree with him. To sum up, in my point of view, according to Confucius, what qualities a junzi should cultivate, possess, and practice is the unity of virtues that consists of ren, yi, and li as the basic cardinal virtues, and combining with other qualities such as xiao, yong, zhong, xin, kuan, etc. Depending on each different person and situation, the mapping of the virtues of junzi is in the distinction between basic, cardinal, interdependent and dependent, supportive and constitutive virtues, which may be referred to â€Å"the way of the superior man is unityfold. † 7. Conclusion On this paper, I provided background information of the topic; I discussed and dissected two interpretations made by Hosung Ahn and Ha Poong Kim. In response to Ahn’s and Kim’s argument, I have made a personal critique that a junzi is not a tragic person and that a junzi is not required to possess aesthetic awareness. I then offered my resolution along with employing Antonio S. Cua’s interpretation of this topic. In short, by presenting a map of junzi’s virtues that consists of both interdependent and dependent virtues; it reveals that the Confucius’s conception of junzi is a unity of virtues with flexibility. Works Cited Ahn, Hosung. Junzi as a Tragic Person: A Self Psychological Interpretation of the Analects. Pastoral Psychology, 57. 1/2 (2008): 101. Academic Search Premier. EBSCO. Web. 1 Apr. 2012. Confucius (Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy). Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. Metaphysics Research Lab, CSLI, Stanford University, 3 July 2002. Web. 1 May 2012. Cua, Antonio. Virtues of Junzi. Journal of Chinese Philosophy, 34 (2007): 125. Academic Search Premier. EBSCO. Web. 28 Mar. 2012 Kim, Ha Poong. Confuciuss Aesthetic Concept of Noble Man: Beyond Moralism. Asian Philosophy, 16. 2 (2006): 111. Academic Search Premier. EBSCO. Web. 28 Mar. 2012 Kohut, H (1985). Self psychology and the science of man. In Humanities and self psychology: Reflections on a new psychoanalytic approach (pp. 73-94). New York: Norton. Legge, James. Confucian Analects. In Vol. I of Chinese Classics. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1895. Print. Phan, Cha? nh Co? ng. The Eastern paths to philosophic self-enlightenment: an introduction to Eastern philosophies. Dubuque, Iowa: Kendall/Hunt Pub. Co. , 2002. Print. Shun, K. -L. (2002). Ren ? and li ? in the Analects. In B. W. Van Norden (Ed. ), Confucius and the Analects: New essays (pp.53-72). New York: Oxford University Press. Weber, M. (1968). The religion of China (H. Gerth, Trans. ). New York: Free Press. [ 2 ]. The numbering of the book/chapter of a passage from the Analects follows James Legge’s in his translation of the text (1895). [ 3 ]. The cited phrase comes from The religion of China by Weber, M. [ 4 ]. Ren ? and li ? in the Analect. Confucius and the Analects written by K. Shun, as cited in Hosung Ahn’s article.

How Changes Of Family Structure Affect Society

How Changes Of Family Structure Affect Society Many countries have experienced very significant changes in patterns of family formation and family structure. Great Britain is one of the countries where these changes have been particularly marked with the result that British families have become less stable . The roles of women and men with the parents or within the family have also changed. The last 100 years have seen changes in attitudes and expectations. Bruner, J. (1985) Vygotsk, the last 100 years have been seen in the structure of technology, attitudes and expectations. Families are mix of cohabiting parents, stepfamilies, single parent families, those living apart together and civil partnerships, as well as the traditional family. it was necessary to prove that in one of five ways such as unreasonable behaviour, desertion, adultery, two years separation with consent, five years separation without consent. The changes in marriage, divorce and cohabitation have contributed to the growing number of new types of family. Two in five of all marriages are now remarriages, which makes stepfamilies one of the fastest growing family forms in Britain. In the decade to 2006, the number of single parent families also increased to 2.3 million, making up 14% of all families. Consequently more and more children are now growing up in single parent families, and in stepfamilies. A growing number of couples are also now living apart together, often following failed marriages or cohabitations. Initial estimates suggest that around two million people have regular partners in other households excluding full-time students and people who live with their parents. In most cases this is due to working in a different location to the family home or because the relationship is still in the early stages . However, womens focus on their career may also be a factor. As women choose to focus on their career before set tling into a committed relationship, they are getting married and having children later in life. Finally civil partnerships between same sex couples have created a new type of family. By the end of 2007 there had been 26,787 civil partnerships since the law was introduced in December 2005. Teenage motherhood is one of the most distinctive features of British Demography. Without teenage pregnancies, Britains rate would fall from 1.8 to 1.68 (Coleman and Chandola, Chapter 2; also Coleman 1997). Teenagers throughout Europe both East and West now engage in sexual intercourse at earlier ages than their parents or grand-parents. In disapproval pre-marital sex . Marriage was broken, little remained to prevent young people who are physically ready to have sex from doing so. The analysis of European social attitudes data (Chapter 3; also Scott, Alwin, and Braun 1996) provides information about attitudes to pre-marital sex in various countries in 1994. In these information ,52 per cent were opposed to men, and 63 per cent opposed to women, having any pre-marital sex. Only a small number believed that pre-marital sex was natural (McKibbin 1998: 296) For teenage men and women in Britain today, the average age at à ¯Ã‚ ¬Ã‚ rst intercourse is 17. But whereas in most of Western Europe, rates of teenage motherhood have fallen as teenage sexual activity has risen. Demographically, Britain more closely resembles to Eastern Europe, where a tradition of marriage has long meant high teenage fertility rates (Coleman and Chandola, Chapter 2; also Coleman 1996b: 23).Almost all of the East European births are inside marriage while all of the Western are outside marriage with a large number being outside partnership as well. In Britain, teenage births account for just over one-à ¯Ã‚ ¬Ã‚ fth of all non-marital births 21 per cent while 80-90 per cent of teenage births are outside legal marriage. In 1996, there were 44,700 babies born to women aged 15-19. Although this represents a rise over the previous year. However, it is also the case that the number of teenage girls in the population was falling from the early 1980s onwards and that the rate at which 15-19 year olds become pregnant and remain pregnant .The conception rate and the abortion rate was stable or rising throughout the period and into the late 1990s (ONS 1997d: 62). Figure shows changes in the abortion rates for selected years since 1974.There was a large drop from 1974-84 when teenage births fell steadily. From 1984 onwards, however, conceptions have à ¯Ã‚ ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å¡uctuated around 60 and abortions around 35, per 1000 women aged 15-19. The stability of both the conception and abortion rates gives few grounds for thinking that in the short term at least . British teenagers will behave different than they have in the past. And as their numbers in the population are set to rise over the next decade and number of b abies born to teenagers (Craig 1997). Britain is also distinctive for its high divorce rate. Thirty years ago, there were two divorces for every 1,000 marriages. Liberalization of the divorce laws in the 1970s was sharp rise in divorce and by the mid-1980s about 1,000 marriages ended in divorce a rate (Pullinger 1998). The rate of increase is slower now than in the 1970s and early 1980s largely because the married population contains fewer of those at high risk (Murphy and Wang, Chapter 4). Nonetheless, 40 per cent of marriages will end in divorce measures of divorce per 1,000 marriages or per 1,000 population. Moreover, people are divorcing after shorter periods of marriage. One in ten marriages which took place in 1981 ended in divorce within 4.5 years, compared with one in ten divorcing within 6 years in 1971 and after 25 years in 1951 (Roberts 1996: 2). Early marriage have long been understood to be strongly associated with marital breakdown. The younger the age at marriage, the greater the likelihood of the marriage ending (Kiernan and Mueller, Chapter 16). Between 1971 and 1996, people under age 25 experienced the greatest growth in divorce rates with rates increasing for men and women (Pullinger 1998). The problem of lone motherhood is poverty. Research suggests that, as a group, lone mothers have few chances of obtaining other than low-paid work, often because they enter the labour market disadvantaged by their low level of qualià ¯Ã‚ ¬Ã‚ cations (Bryson, Ford, and White 1998). The majority, however, have young children to care for and thus need jobs which provide enough income to meet the costs of child care. Consequently, lone mothers in Britain are less likely to be employed than in most other case countries and in the 1970s and their employment rate has declined. The difference in economic activity between married and lone mothers is particularly sharp between women with children under age 5. In the 1970s, lone mothers with preschool children were more likely to be in work than married mothers This changed during the1980s, and during the 1990s married mothers with young children have been twice as likely as lone mothers to be economically active. During the1990s one in two m arried mothers with pre-school children have been in employment compared with fewer than one in four comparable lone mothers (Kiernan, Land, and Lewis1998: 128). Most of the fall in employment among lone mothers has come in full-time work while the full-time employment of married women has risen with part-time work remaining stable. People live alone for a variety of reasons. For example, living alone may be a permanent choice and for others , it may be a temporary. While there are more people living alone at all ages and the largest increases since 1971 have come among men and women under retirement age, particularly those aged under 40 (Hall and Ogden 1997). The increase in solo living among people under pension age rejects the way in which household change is some-times linked to economic change. Since 1970s ,the number of lone-parent families has been increased in Britain and also the proportion of children raised in such families (Coleman and Chandola, Chapter 2). In the late 1990s, 1.6million families in Britain with dependent children. During the 1960s, divorce overtook death as the primary source of lone-parent families while in the 1970s and 1980s, sharply rising divorce rates and falling remarriage rates furthered their growth (Kiernan, Land, and Lewis 1998; Murphy and Wang,Chapter4). From the mid-1980s, however, most of the growth in lone-parent families has come from never-married mothers as changing attitudes towards pre-marital sex. Nonetheless, there has been a substantial increase in the number of single women who become mothers while not living with a partner (Berthoud, McKay, and Rowlingson, Chapter 15). Since in 1990s, women who had never married before becoming mothers (Pullinger 1998). The parents who were working and busy of whole day to day responsibilities, grandparents could spend more time with their grandchildren and develop a special bond (Weissvourd, 1998). Children and their grandparents each were close to each other and were able to offer mutual support for each other. There were lot of facilities on the parents to teach their children even that grand parents played important role in this situation. This gave scope for reciprocal social relationships and joint interaction in learning and contrasts with the role of the parents as well as grand parents in learning (Bruner, 1985). In the context of the family, mutual trust and respect for each members perspective (Rommetveit, 1974, 1979) was a important to this process. Government has moved away from financial support for marriage towards families. Legislative changes have given families more flexibility to maintain their home and work lives and have a degree of choice in their options. The public would like to see support made available to families and delivered to the service provider and providing additional cash. In recent years the amount of money spent by government to support families has increased significantly but it has also been dramatically re-targeted which has the effect of shifting support from one type of family form to others. Up until 1999 the three key family benefits were Child Benefit (which began in 1975), Family Credit for low-income working families, Married Mans Allowance (it became the Married Couples Allowance in 1990). Family benefit as it is available to all those in employment with a low income including single people with no dependants. However, couples and single parents do get additional credit and there is a childca re element for those that have children.

fuctions of management Essay -- essays research papers

Out of the four topics I would say the first step in the four functions of management is organizing. Organizing The first step of organizing would be self-organizing and time management. Without self-organizing your team will not be organized and will start going to other places for leadership. Once the self-organizing is done then the manager can start organizing the team. Time management for your team should be a priority the team leader. The next step would be to develop a matrix and a chain of command. A clear chain of command will help organize the team. In my opinion Planning is the second step. Without proper planning the team or workers will start making their own plans and those plans may not be want the manager wants. Planning. While I was in the Navy I taught the people that worked for me that proper planning prevents poor performance. So Planning is an important step in management and leadership. A successful manager needs to have skill in setting objectives, goals and strategies. There are plenty of software tool that a manager can use. In the Navy we used what was called PMS boards. Today I use Lotus Notes and MS Outlook to schedule tasks for myself. Once the Organization and planning is set. Leadership has to be determined and set. Without strong leadership the team will not survive and the manager will be replaced when deadlines fail, or milestones are not met. Leading. Some leaders have a natural leadership styles while others are taught leadership th...

Canada: The Quiet Revolution in Quebec :: Canadian Canada History

Canada: The Quiet Revolution in Quebec The English-French relations have not always been easy. Each is always arguing and accusing the other of wrong doings. All this hatred and differences started in the past, and this Quiet revolution, right after a new Liberal government led by Jean Lesage came in 1960. Thus was the beginning of the Quiet Revolution. Lesage had an excellent team of cabinet ministers which included Rene Levesque. The Liberals promised to do two things during the Quiet Revolution; one was to improve economic and social standards for the people of Quebec, and the other was to win greater respect and recognition for all the French people of Canada. The Liberals started a program to take control of hydro-electric power companies. French-Canadian engineers from all over Canada returned to Quebec to work on the project. Slogans during these times were "we can do it" and "masters in our own homes". The government also started to replace programs the Church previously ran, which included hospital insurance, pension schemes and the beginning of Medi-Care. For these programs, the Quebec Liberals had to struggle with Ottawa for a larger share of the tax dollars. One of the greatest reforms was the modernization of the entire school system. The Church used to own the schools of Quebec. Most of the teachers were Priests, Nuns and Brothers. They provided a good education but Quebec needed more in business and technology. Lesage wanted a government-run school system that would provide Quebec with people in engineering, science, business and commerce. With the new freedom of expression, lots of books, plays and music about French culture were all developed in Quebec. French contemporary playwrights were very famous during that time. However, not all was going well in Quebec. The French-English relation was going bad. Many studies showed that French-Canadian Quebecers were earning the lowest wage in all of the ethnic groups in Canada. Other complaints were that the top jobs in Quebec were given to English speaking Canadians. Canada was going through the worst crisis in its history, and unless equal partnership was found a break-up would likely happen. Some Quebecers thought that separation was the only solution. They thought that as long as Quebec was associated with the rest of Canada, French-Canadians would never be treated equal. The FLQ (Front De Libà ©ration Du Quà ©bec) was founded in 1963. It was a smaller, more forceful group of separatists. They were a collection of groups of young people whose idea was to use terrorism to

Overcoming Barriers To Effective Communication Essay -- Communication

Overcoming Barriers to Effective Communications Everyone has experienced, at one time or another the frustration of feeling misunderstood and being unable to make ourselves understood by another person. Anything which, blocks the meaning of a communication, is a barrier to communication. Effective communication is like a house built one block at a time. First to build a house trust must be built; trust is not a group process it is created in one to one connections with each individual. Second, be bold and open, better communications are clear, direct, respect, reflective and frequent. And finally, strive to continually overcome the barriers to effective communication, challenge others to grow and educate your self. There are many barriers to effective communication, we will examine four of the main ones, stereotyping, language, showing approval or disapproval, and becoming defensive. One of the greatest barriers to communication is stereotyping. A stereotype is defined as "A conventional, formulaic, and oversimplified conception, opinion, or image"(www.dictonary.com). When an individual has a preconception about another individual, it makes it difficult for the individual not to view the other individual's communication with prejudice. Within stereotyping there are many facets in which one hold's bias views to another individuals message. Of these there are stereotypes for race, religion, and gender. To better understand how stereotyping can hinder effective communication each area needs to be scrutinized in greater detail. To this day, some people are still judging others by the color of their skin. Racial stereotyping is an extremely detrimental facet of stereotyping. It can very well pave the road to out right racism. R... ...uickly bringing any major conflicts into the open and resolves them as a team; build common ground. Since there has been many different examples expressed of barriers related to everyday communication, whether at home, or at work, you now have the tools to overcome these barriers. Just remember to be patient, listen and make yourself more effective at communicating. What it is you want to say? Build a house strong and others will follow. References htÂ…/fulltext.assp?resultSetId=R00000000&hitNum=5&booleanTerm=effective%20 communication&fuzzy/Term 10/12/2000 htÂ…/fulltext.assp?resultSetId=R00000000&hitNum=6&booleanTerm=effective%20 communication&fuzzy/Term 10/12/2000 http://www.mediate.com/articles/foster.cfm?plain=t 10/12/2000 http://www.health.ufl.edu/nursing/fall99/nur3065c/hx/tsld014.htm 10/12/2000 www.dictonary.com

Compare and contrast the writing styles Essay

Writers are characterized by three factors. These factors are style, tone, and purpose. William Byrd and William Bradford were two colonial writers however they took completely opposite approaches toward writing. During these times, journals, diaries, and sermons made up the literature. Byrd and Bradford were no exceptions with their works of A History of the Dividing Line and Of Plymouth Plantation respectively. Whether it was the difference in writing styles, the different purposes for writing the stories, or simply each writer’s tone, their techniques were far from similar to one another. One difference between Bradford and Byrd was their writing styles. Bradford used the plain style to record and to describe his account of the New World. Plain style writing is the form of writing used by the Puritans. This writing style tended to stay away from figures of speech and tried to keep it plain, simple and right to the point. A great example is when the settlers first arrived and Bradford noted that the people â€Å"had now no friends to welcome them nor inns to entertain or refresh their weather-beaten bodies; no houses or much less towns to repair to, to seek for succor† (31). This statement explained how difficult it was to arrive to such a barren land even after all the hardships assail. Bradford did an excellent job in his writings to give the real and accurate accounts of what happened. On the other hand, Byrd wrote his perception of the New World in sharp contrast to the writing style of Bradford. Byrd used forms of ridicule to record his account of what took place in the new colonies. A classic example of this technique was when Byrd called the sudden immigration of people to the New World a â€Å"modish frenzy† (50). This statement shows that Byrd thought it to be just a modern fad to start a life in the New World. Byrd wrote using his own perception of colonial life and struggle, therefore making it less historically accurate than Bradford’s writings. These two styles characterized each man and greatly attributed to the huge contrast in their writing preference. One of the three factors that characterized both writers was purpose. A large contrast in the writings of Byrd and Bradford was the purpose for which they were written. The main reason that Bradford wrote his story was to inform the reader about the hardships and struggles of Puritan life in the New World. He also wrote his story to show God’s hand in their experiences. Many Biblical references to God such as, â€Å"but they cried unto the Lord, and He heard their voice and looked on their adversity† (31), were used in his writing for this very reason. This as well as many other religious references showed how much of an impact religion had on the Puritans. Bradford wanted to convey this dependence on and impact of God and religion throughout his writings. Byrd’s writing was more biased and opinionated because he wrote it to amuse the reader. Read Also:  Topics for Compare and Contrast Essay For example, all throughout his story he constantly made fun of settlers. He mentioned during the story that the settlers â€Å"built a church that cost no more than fifty pounds and a tavern that cost five hundred† (52). This little tidbit served no purpose other than to criticize the colonial settlers and had no historical significance whatsoever. He made fun of the settlers to explicate change in the settlers’ way of life. Bradford’s purpose greatly contrasted with that of Byrd. The last contrast between Byrd and Bradford was their attitude or tone towards the subject they wrote about. In â€Å"Of Plymouth Plantation†, Bradford used a serious tone. His tone remained simple and unbiased throughout the story. The fact that he chose to use this tone is because Bradford was a very religious man that closely followed the Puritan way of life. Most of all, he wanted to record the true accounts of what took place without mixing personal thoughts or ideas with fact. On the other hand, Byrd used a very satirical and humorous tone. This satirical tone was conveyed throughout his entire story. An excellent example of satirical writing was when Byrd explained how colonists were too lazy to plant their own crops, so instead they â€Å"were forced to take more pains to seek for wild fruits in the woods than they would have taken in tilling the ground† (52). This quote by Byrd clearly showed his frustration with the colonists very. Byrd’s tone differed from Bradford’s, because Byrd’s story was never meant to be an accurate historical account of colonial times. Byrd possessed different feelings toward matters that took place, and this dramatically changed his tone. To conclude, writers are never the same. There are many different types of writers all across the world, from ancient to modern times. William Byrd and  William Bradford were no exception to this. Their style, tone, and purpose totally changed the outcome of their writings which were based upon similiar incidents in history. People have their own views and beliefs of a certain situation, and more often than not, that view will be different from person to person as clearly shown in comparing Byrd to Bradford.

Academic Research Akunna Onyedum

ASPECTS OF THE PHONOLOGY OF GUNGANCHI LANGUAGE BABATUNDE, Oluwatobi Olayemi 07/15CB045 A RESEARCH PROJECT SUBMITTED TO THE DEPARTMENT OF LINGUISTICS AND NIGERIAN LANGUAGES, FACULTY OF ARTS, UNIVERSITY OF ILORIN ILORIN – NIGERIA IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE AWARD OF THE DEGREE OF BACHELOR OF ARTS (B. A. Hons) IN LINGUISTICS MAY, 2011. CERTIFICATION This essay has been read and approved as meeting the requirements of Department of Linguistics and Nigerian Languages, University of Ilorin, Ilorin, Nigeria. _________________________________________________ DR. (MRS. ) B. E. AROKOYODATE Project Supervisor ________________________________________________ PROF. A. S. ABDUSSALAMDATE Head of Department _________________________________________________ EXTERNAL EXAMINERDATE DEDICATION This project work is dedicated to the Almighty God, the Alpha and Omega, who gives wisdom and excellence. My dear father, Engr. O. A. Falade, who has been there for me up till this tim e. You are my hero. May God reward you. ACKNOLWEDGEMENTS My profound gratitude goes to the Lord for seeing me through my studies at the University of Ilorin. He has been the Alpha and Omega, my help, inspiration and the source of knowledge and wisdom. He alone deserves my appreciation. Also, my gratitude goes to my lovely parents, ENGR. AND MRS. O. A. FALADE for their love, care, advice, guidance and for providing for all my educational needs. The Almighty God will grant you long life, and enable you to reap the fruits of your labour (Amen). You are the best parents in the world, I love you dearly. I also appreciate the great efforts of my able supervisor, Dr. (Mrs. ) B. E. Arokoyo, who guided me through in my research work, she gave me her time and motherly assistance despite the inconvenience. May the Lord be with you and reward you (Amen). I also appreciate all my lecturers. I want to also appreciate the love and prayers of my kid brother BABATUNDE JOHN TEMITOPE. And my aunts Mrs. O. Y. Philips and Miss Olushola Faniyi. I also want to appreciate the effort of Ogunbiyi Abayomi. You all have been wonderful. My sincere gratitude goes to my informant Corporal Labbo Alkali who helped me in acquiring all necessary information about Gunganchi. May the Lord reward you richly (Amen). Also, I appreciate my friends: Bakare Bimbo, Olagbenro Bola, Dikko Oluwaseun, Adebayo Funke, Saka Tokunbo, Ogunbowale Tobi, Adekoya Oluwaseun, Ajagunna Gideon, Bamidele Bukola, Oyeniran Gbolagade Adebayo Adewale. I also appreciate the effort of my pastor, Pastor Tunde and those who have in one way or the other contributed to the success of this research. Thank you all. TABLE OF CONTENTS Title Pagei Certificationii Dedicationiii Acknowledgements iv Table of Contentsvi CHAPTER ONE: 1. 0Introduction 1 1. 1General Background1 1. 2Historical Background of Gunganchi People2 1. 3Sociocultural Background or Profile of the Gunganchi People4 1. 4Genetic Classification of Gunganchi10 1. 5Scope and Organization of Study 11 1. 6Data Collection12 1. 7Data Analysis13 1. 8Review of the chosen Theoretical Framework13 CHAPTER TWO: BASIC PHONOLOGICAL CONCEPTS . 0Introduction 21 2. 1Phonology21 2. 2Sound Inventory of Gunganchi24 2. 3Phonological Description of Gunganchi Consonants and their Distribution 28 2. 4Vowels42 2. 5Distribution of Vowels45 2. 6Distribution of Nasalized Vowels51 2. 7Tonal Inventory54 2. 8Syllable Inventory 56 2. 9Distinctive Features 59 CHAPTER THREE: PHONOLOGICAL PROCESSES IN GUNGANCHI 3 . 0Introduction 70 3. 1Phonological Processes70 CHAPTER FOUR: TONAL PROCESSES AND SYLLABLE PROCESSES 4. 0Introduction 78 4. 1Tone System in Gunganchi78 4. 2Functions of Tone in Gunganchi82 4. 3Tonal Processes83 4. 4Syllable Structure85 4. 5Syllable Structure Rule in Gunganchi89 CHAPTER FIVE: SUMMARY, FINDINGS/OBSERVATIONS, RECOMMENDATIONS AND CONCLUSION 5. 0Summary93 5. 1Finding/Observations94 5. 2Recommendations95 5. 3Conclusion96 References97 CHAPTER ONE 1. 0INTRODUCTION This chapter is aimed at discussing the case study of the Gungawa people who speak Gunganchi language. It will note their general background, historical background, sociocultural profile, the genetic classification of Gunganchi language. This chapter will also discuss the scope and organization of study, the chosen theoretical framework, data collection, and the data analysis for this project work. 1. 1GENERAL BACKGROUND The Gunganchi people are a tribe that are also called the â€Å"Bareshe† people by their Hausa neighbours which means â€Å"Island Dwellers†, it was told they were given this name due to their closeness to lakes and rivers. Among themselves, they are commonly called â€Å"Gungawa, Tsureja, Bareshe or Yaurawa† people. Their language has different names like: Gunganchi, Tsureshe, Gunga or Tsureja and the name given to their land is either Reshe or Gungu. The present Gunganchi people are the tribe who fled to the nearby Island of Niger in the mid nineteenth century and eventually settled in a new site called Gungu or Yelwa. The Gunganchi people are said to be the original inhabitants of Yauri. During the British regime, the state of Yauri as an emirate and the state of Yelwa as the seat of the Emir of Yauri confirmed that both Yauri and Yelwa became Hausarized as a result of their contact with the Hausa people. Today, the Yauri people speak mostly Hausa language. The Gunganchi people lived in islets (very small islands) and shores of the Niger above Bussa until the creation of Kainji Lake in 1974 which disrupted their settlement and their living outside Kebbi State. 1. HISTORICAL BACKGROUND OF GUNGANCHI PEOPLE According to oral history, the Gunganchi people has different histories that has been narrated which associated with their origin that will be discussed below. In the nineteenth century, a descendant of a warrior called ‘kasira’ who is also known as ‘Kachin’ allied with the Hausa soldiers to conquer the territory in the extreme North who later settled with his co-fighters in the present Yauri town. A native speaker of Gunganchi who is known as â€Å"Agmalafiya† believe that the Gunganchi people came from Kabbawa. He said they were hunters from Katsina State and further explained that some people said the Gunganchi people are from the other Yauri’s ethnic groups which are Shangawa, Kambari, Kabbawa or Sarkawa, Dukawa etc. Another history told us of their trace to the Songhai warriors who came from Mali to seek territorial control and they eventually settled in Yauri and parts of Lopa and Laru (Gunganchi’s neighbouring areas). From the histories narrated above, it is obvious that the Gunganchi people has no specific history concerning their origin. They are divergent in their historical roots. 1. 2. 1Population The Gunganchi people were about forty to sixty thousand in 1993. About thrity-five percent lived outside Yauri Local Government in Kebbi State, sixty percent lived in Yauri town, nine percent in Kotangora, Bussa and Borgu Local Government and one percent in Kiama Local Government Area in Kwara State. Back to 1990, the population of the speakers in Yauri were referred to as Yaurawa or Reshewa in Hausa language. According to Agmalafiya who was mentioned earlier, the Gunganchi people were called Yaurawa by Queen Amina of Zaria but generally called Gungawa among the Gunganchi in Diaspora and sometimes call themselves Bareshe, which is the plural, or Ureshe, which is the singular. 1. 3SOCIOCULTURAL BACKGROUND OR PROFILE OF THE GUNGANCHI PEOPLE According to the Oxford Advanced Leaner’s Dictionary, culture is the way of life, the customs and beliefs, art and social organization of a particular country or group. The Gunganchi people have a social and cultural profile that is similar to that of their neighbouring ethnic group, Hausa. It is said that their lifestyle is centered on the Emirate’s system. The Gunganchi people have their sociocultural beliefs which are expressed in their culture, mode of dressing, occupation, religion, festivals, marriage system, naming ceremony, burial ceremony, their education system and political administration. 1. 3. 1Culture The Bareshe (Gunganchi) people are highly cultured which reflect in their mode of dressing, greetings, occupation and body adornment like decorating the woman’s legs with tattoos and heavy tribal marks on her face during the wedding ceremony. . 3. 2Mode of Dressing The Gunganchi people’s mode of dressing in the olden days is different from their dressing in these modern days. In the olden days, they used to dress in animal skin, while in these modern days, they dress in ‘Banbariga’ which is the traditional dress for men while the women dress in loose covered clothing with a local embroidery scarf which is tied around the woma n’s body to wade off the sun. They are mostly dressed in loose robe for relaxation. 1. 3. 3 Occupation The Gunganchi people are mostly farmers and fishermen. Their major crops are guinea corn, beans, rice, and onions while the fishing equipment which is a fish cage is called ‘Suru’ and ‘Hauwuya’ in Gunganchi language. The people are also known for their canoe and mat making. 1. 3. 4 Religion The Gunganchi people are mostly Muslims and few traditional worshippers and very little Christians. 1. 3. 5Festivals The festivals done in Gunganchi are called ‘Anipo’ festival and ‘Idembe’. Festival. The blood of animals like goat or bushmeat is used as sacrifices to their gods during the festival. During the festival, a round seat is created by the people when eating. Such sittings are also formed at events like wedding, naming ceremony, sallah festival and at relaxation joints. 1. 3. 6 Marriage System of the Gunganchi People The Gunganchi has a distinct way by which marriage is done. It shows a lazy man cannot marry any Gunganchi lady because marriage is said to be a bit difficult most especially for the men. Firstly, a man must inform his parents if he is in love with a lady. Then, the man’s parents must make their son’s interest known to the lady’s parents. He will then farm for the lady’s family he intends to marry from before giving their consent. The farming duration is not specified, the man is said to stop the farming when lady’s father is satisfied and the final consent will be given to the man’s family. The lady’s family will then inform his relatives formally about their daughter’s courtship with the man before the wedding date is chosen. According to Muauzu, the marriage or engagement ceremony is based on Islamic rites whereby the bride price (Zadaki) will be paid. The bride will be decorated with tattoos on her legs and heavy tribal marks on her face. Foods eaten at the ceremony are guinea corn pap, which is served in the morning and rice with fish soup and burukutu is served at dusk. Their sitting position is related to that of the festival’s as mentioned earlier they sit round a dish of guinea corn pap on a mat, their sitting culture is the same with the Hausas. Hence, the Gunganchi people inter marry with the Hausas. 1. 3. 7Naming Ceremony The Gunganchi do their naming ceremony seven days after the child’s birth and its hair will be shaved. Rice or guinea corn pap is served at the ceremony with people sitting round the food. Therefore, the child will be circumcised after ten years. 1. 3. 8Burial Ceremony Like most tribes, the Gunganchi celebrate the death of aged person and mourn the death of a young person. They investigate sudden or unusual death by consulting the oracle called â€Å"Gigo† (true god) or â€Å"Ujigo† (a god of thunder and rain). The oracle will make the spirit of the deceased to revenge for his or her death by killing the person who is responsible for his or her death. However, this practice is peculiar to the local or extreme Gunganchi people. 1. 3. 9Education System The Gunganchi value the Western education, they give education to both their male and female children. They have schools; they also make use of their personal houses as schools. 1. 3. 10 Political Administration The Gunganchi adopted the system of their neighboring tribe (Hausa) which is the Emirate’s system because it is a multi-ethnic area that consist Yelwa, Lopa, Yauri, Laru people which co-exist with them. The Emir’s palace is situated in Yelwa, thus, the Gunganchi are the first settlers in Yauri. The appointed Emir is the ruler of all the ethnic groups under Yauri. During the British regime, recognition was given to the Yauri emirate and Gungu (Island) district of the Yauri Local Government which are now the center of Reshe (Gunganchi) population. In the political administration of the Gunganchi people, succession is not by hereditary because the Emir must be appointed, despite the fact that a Gunganchi man was the first Emir of Yauri. The Emir must have some qualities before he can be appointed, like; he must be an elderly person, famous and respected among the ethnic groups made up of Yauri. When a new Emir is appointed, turbaning will be done as a sign of leadership. The Emir rules the territory with his local chiefs called â€Å"Sariki† in areas like Gungunsariki, Banha, Rekubolo, Toro, Zamari, Jalubabu etc. Presently, the Local Government Chairman is responsible for the executive function of Yauri and other governmental activities are executed by the Kebbi State Government. However, most of the Gunganchi people are bilingual, (they speak both Gunganchi and Hausa) but the majority speaks Gunganchi at home especially the youths. Thus, the language of the emirate is Hausa with high prestige. . 4GENETIC CLASSIFICATION OF GUNGANCHI Genetic classification is the sub-grouping of all relevant languages into genetic nodes (group of languages in each of which one language is more closely related to the other in that group than to any language outside the group). The basis for genetic classification is the idea that group of languages that share certain systemic resemblan ces have inherited those similarities from a common origin. Thus, genetic classification makes two statements. First, it affirms that certain languages are infact related to each other (i. e. hare a common ancestor). Second, it specifies how the languages are interrelated in the form of a branching diagram. Gunganchi language falls under the Niger-Kordofanian language family. African Language Afro-AsiaticNiger KordofanianNilo SaharanKhoisan MandeNew Benue Congo AtlanticVolta Congo Kordofanian OkoDefoidKainjiIdomoidEdoidWolof Western KainjiEastern Kainji KamukuKainji LakeGunganchi (Gungawa)KambariBassaLopa 1. 5SCOPE AND ORGANIZATION OF STUDY This work is limited to the aspects of the phonology of Gunganchi language and it is divided into five chapters. Chapter one deals with the introductory part, which includes the general background, historical background, sociocultural profile of Gunganchi people, genetic classification of Gunganchi language, scope and organization of study, data collection, data analysis and the review of the chosen theoretical framework. Chapter two deals with the basic phonological concepts that involves the sound inventory of Gunganchi language whereby the tonal inventory and syllable inventory of the language of study shall be discussed and the sound distributions which includes distinctive features. Chapter three is based on the phonological processes found in Gunganchi language. Then, chapter four will focus on the tonal and syllable processes of Gunganchi language. Chapter five will summarize and conclude the work. 1. 6DATA COLLECTION In this research work, the method used for our data collection is the direct translation method from English language to the project language which is Gunganchi based on the Ibadan 400 wordlist. There was a direct interview with the language helper, thus, data elicitation was carried out with the wordlist recorded on audio cassette. Informant’s Data: Name:Corporal Labbo Alkali Occupation:Soldier Age: 40 years Religion:Muslim Languages spoken apart from Gunganchi: Hausa and English Number of years spent in Reshe (Gunganchi): 20 years 1. 7DATA ANALYSIS To ensure an accurate data analysis in this research work, all the data collected were carefully and correctly written, tone marked and transcribed. The data collected were used according to how the native speaker used them without imposing any extra rules or norms. 1. REVIEW OF THE CHOSEN THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK The framework adopted for this research work is Generative Phonology, which was developed by Chomsky and Halle in the early 1950s; it is a component of generative grammar. This framework assigns the correct phonetic representations to ‘utterances’ in such a way as to reflect a native speaker’s internalized grammar. According to Oyebade (2008: 9), Generative Phonology is a theory which is built on the insight of taxonomic phonemics e ven while remodeling the focus of phonological analysis. The major motivation for this theoretical framework was the clash between theoretical assumptions and linguistic data under the theory of classical (taxonomic) phonemics. Generative phonology took off at maximum speed in the 1960s, following the works of Chomsky and Halle (published in 1968 as â€Å"Sound Pattern of English (SPE)†. This theory argues that the taxonomic approach of classical phonemics was not adequate enough to address appropriately the phenomenon of human speech. The proponents of this new school of phonology suggest that an adequate theory of phonology must account for: a) The phenomenon of language acquisition b) The puzzling fact that man can still understand the speech of another even when this speech is defective; and c) The native speaker’s intuition about the physical make-up of the speech of his language. 1. 8. 1The Structure of Generative Phonology Generative phonology assumes three very crucial components: the underlying representation, the phonetic representation and the rules which link the two together that is called the phonological rules. These components will be reviewed below. 1. 8. 1. 1Underlying Representation Oyebade (2008: 12) assumes underlying representation to be an abstract representation existing in the linguistic competence of the native speaker. The underlying representation is the most basic form of a word before any phonological rules have been applied to it. Underlying representation shows what a native speaker knows about the abstract underlying phonology of the language. At this level, items with invariant meaning have identical representation. The underlying representation is also known as â€Å"the phonological representation†, thus, the ability (competence) of a native speaker to compute a sentence is referred to as the phonological representation and this competence can be scientifically investigated. There is an assumption of an underlying level where there is a one-to-one correspondence between form and meaning and which is exactly the same from one competent speaker to another which explains the puzzling reaction of children in the acquisition process. Since the child shares the same competence (and therefore the same underlying representation) as the adult, it is reasonable to assume that the child will expect the same output as the adult will expect. The child may not be able to produce such an output since his production capability is slower in the acquisition process than his competence. The assumption of an underlying representation which accounts for the rapid processing of defective input. Both interlocutors have a shared competence which is accurate and invariant; the decoder part participant thus has a prototype with which he can restructure the defective utterance of the encoder. Also, the underlying representation has the property of being encoded in â€Å"distinctive features† (these features will be discussed in the next chapter). This assumption is motivated by the fact that language seems to target these features in making its choices rather than segments. 1. 8. 1. 2 The Phonetic Representation The phonetic representation is the form of a word that is spoken and heard. It is also known as â€Å"the surface level†. Phonological structure reflects the linguistic competence of the native speaker to compute a phonetic representation for the potentially infinite number of sentences generated by the syntactic component of the grammar. We can say that there is no speaker of a language that has heard all the sentences in his language but speaker has the ability to understand any sentence heard. Phonetic representation indicates how the lexical item is to be realized in speech. It is characterized by degree of narrowness such that, at the very least, any two sounds that are distinguished in any human language are differently represented. Generative phonology seems to consider this level as being trivial and not worth too much attention except, perhaps as a source for the verification and justification of the proposed underlying representation. 1. 8. 13 Phonological Rules Phonological rules map underlying representation onto phonological representations. They delete, insert, or change segments, or change the features of segments. They are said to show the derivational sequence or path of an item in its journey from the underlying level to the phonetic level. They must be able to capture the phonological phenomenon in the simplest form. There are two types of rules in phonological rules: feature changing rules and fill-in rules. The feature changing rules change the features of the input to that of the output. However, the other kind of rules called fill-in rules are rules, as the name implies, which fill in empty slots. Phonological rules have to be precise in a scientific account of linguistic phenomena. It was therefore suggested that the rules should have their own format. For instance, a rule can say insert a high front vowel between a cluster of consonants and we can have another rule which says insert a high front vowel after a word-final consonant. These rules can be formalized thus: a. O(i/C____C b. O(i/C____# As you can observe from the formalization of the two rules, they are identical in input and output. Furthermore, they have a lot of similarities in the environment. If the rules are left like this, that is, as two separate rules, the implied claim will be that these are two separate and distinct processes. This is intuitively incorrect and it loses a linguistically significant generalization. These two rules can then be collapsed into one and to capture the linguistically significant fact that we are dealing with the same process. Thus (a) and (b) can be combined as in (c) below: C c. O(i/C—— # that is, a high front vowel is inserted either between two consonants or after a consonant at word final position. In phonological rules, notational devices are applied. They are conventions which make it possible to combine distinct but related phonological rules in a single statement; rules may be collapsed in this way only if they involve the same process. In other words, notational devices are abbreviation conventions aimed at reducing several rules into one. The purpose is to present more economically the facts of language. There are notational devices like: brace notation ({}), angled bracket notation (), variable features or alpha notation ((), multiple variable notation ((,(, ? , etc. ). The role of these devices is to make it possible for the phonologists to precisely and unambiguously state in rule form and the process that is taking place in language when a pattern is observed. Secondly, it makes linguistiscally significant generalizations and claims about the way language works. Finally, and perhaps most trivially, it provides a shorthand abbreviatory method by which a complex process can be captured as briefly as possible. CHAPTER TWO BASIC PHONOLOGICAL CONCEPTS 2. 0INTRODUCTION This chapter is based on the phonology of Gunganchi language. The sound inventory which involves the tonal inventory and the syllable inventory will be discussed. It also focuses on the sound distribution of Gunganchi language where the distinctive features will be discussed. 2. 1PHONOLOGY According to Davenport and Hannahs (2005: 2), phonology deals with how speech sounds are organized into system for each individual language: for example: how the sounds can be combined, the relations between them and how they affect each other. In phonology, the root ‘phone’ relates to ‘voice’, sound and ‘logos’ which means ‘word; speech’ originates from the Greek words. Phonology as a subfield of linguistics is the study of the rules behind the way sounds encode meaning in language. Also, it is the study of sounds and patterns in a language. It can be said that phonology seeks to discern the sounds made in all human languages. In addition, phonology studies how sounds alternate that is the minimal meaningful sounds which are ‘PHONEMES’. However, phonemes are sets of phones, which function as one unit in a language, and provide contrast between different words. It is also a sound segment of words or syllables. In human language, a phoneme is the smallest structural unit that distinguishes meaning. The phonemic inventory of a language is the set of phonemes it possesses. In the IPA (International Phonetic Alphabets), phonemes are conventionally enclosed in forward sashes (//) and speech sounds that are not phonemes are placed in brackets ([ ]). For example, the /t/ sound in the English words ‘tip’, ‘stand’, ‘cat’ and ‘water’ are conceived of as being the same sound, despite the fact that in each word they are pronounced somewhat differently; the difference may not even be audible to native speakers. One of the most important tools for examining phonemes is the ‘minimal pair’ which means different words but differ as a result of one sound, that is, a pair of words which differ only in one segment. In a minimal pair, one can be sure that the difference between words is phonemic in nature, because the segments in question are surrounded by the same environment and this cannot be allophones of each other. Examples of minimal pair in Gunganchi are: [ut(i]‘tree’ [at(i] ‘firewood’ [hina]‘cow’ [wina]‘tail’ [ureta]‘right(side)’ upeta]‘medicine’ [kwubanoh]‘open’ [kwubaloh]‘close’ [itamia]‘push’ [igamia]‘sweep’ A phoneme may encompass several recognizable different speech sounds called ‘PHONES’. In phonetics, the smallest perceptible segment is a phone. In the examples stated earlier, the /t/ in ‘tip’ is aspirated [th], whi le the /t/ in stand is unaspirated [t]. Thus, phones that belong to the same phonemes are called allophones such as [th] and [t] are allophones of the phoneme /t/ given in the examples given earlier. Allophones are often conditioned by their environment. For example, the English phoneme /t/ is realized as a tap [r] between vowels in normal speech when not preceeding a stressed vowel as in ‘butter’. In a case like this we can say that the stop [t] and tap [r] which are allophones of the phoneme /t/ are in ‘complementary distribution’, as every environment selects for either one or the other, and the allophones themselves may be referred to as ‘COMPLEMENTARY DISTRIBUTION’. 2. 2SOUND INVENTORY OF GUNGANCHI Human sounds can be grouped into two basic classes whereby they are found in Gunganchi. They are: 1. Consonants 2. Vowels 2. . 1Consonants Consonants are sounds produced with an obstruction of the air passage somewhere along the vocal tract. A consonant in terms of sound production is a sound which is obstructed in some way by the tongue or lip contact e. g. in Gunganchi, sounds like /k/, /p/ as in; /k/([ka? ina]‘reply’ /p/([puteta]‘forget’ as opposed to the unobstructed sound of a vowel. Consonant sounds require a certain degree of constriction of the vocal tract in their production, therefore, at some point, diverting, impeding or completely shutting off the airflow of air in the oral cavity. This constriction of the vocal tract may involve complete closure or partial closure. In terms of the sound system, the consonant is a sound that typically occurs at the beginning or end of the syllable rather than in the middle of it, thus contrasting with vowels. Thus, the organs of speech that obstruct at some point in the oral cavity are known as the ‘articulators’. From the glottis, past the velum, the hard palate and alveolar ridge and the tongue, to the teeth and lips. The consonant sounds are classified by; a) Voicing b) Place of articulation c) Manner of articulation 2. 2. 1. 1 Voicing Consonants may be voiced or voiceless. As the airstream comes to or from the lungs, it passes through the opening between the glottis. If the vocal cords are open, the air passes through without obstruction and the sounds that are made in this way, are described as ‘voiceless’. If the vocal cords closed, then the air passing through the glottis causes them to vibrate producing ‘voiced’ sounds. Some of the consonant sounds in Gunganchi come in pairs that differ in being voiced or voiceless e. g. /b/ and /p/ ( /b/ is voiced and /p/ is the voiceless consonant in one pair. /k/ and /g/ are found in another pair, /k/ is voiceless and the voiced sound is /g/. Also, it applied to /d/ and /t/, /d/ is voiced while /t/ is the voiceless consonant which forms another pair. 2. 2. 1. 2 Place of Articulation It is the point of articulation where both the active and passive articulators meet or contact to produce the desired consonant. Here, we have to do with the position of the tongue and lips. The places of articulation in Gunganchi are; bilabial, alveolar palato-alveolar, velar, labial-velar, palatal, glottal, palatalized velars and alveolar, labialized-alveolar and velars. 2. 2. 1. 3 Manner of Articulation Manner of articulation makes reference to the type of stricture which the articulators are making to produce the consonant sounds. The obstructions made may be total, intermittent, partial or narrow enough to cause friction. The manners of articulation in Gunganchi are stop, nasal, fricative, affricate, trill, lateral and approximant. However, it is observed that there is the presence of consonant clusters in Gunganchi language that is consonants occurring together side by side e. g. [riadda]‘matchet’ [ubalkari]‘male’ [kwa] ‘take(one thing)’ Thus, the consonants attested in Gunganchi are: /p/ /b/ /t/ /d/ /tw/ /dw/ /dj/ /k/ /g/ /kw/ /gw/ kj/ /gj/ /gb/ /r/ /m/ /n/ /s/ /z/ /(/ /h/ /hj/ /ts/ /t(/ /? // /l/ /j/ /w/ /r/. 2. 2. 2. 1 Gunganchi Consonant Chart |Bilabial |Alveolar |Labialized |Palatalize |Palate-alveolar |Palatal |Velar | | | | |alveolar |alveolar | | | | |High |+ |- |- |- |- |- |+ | |Low |- |- |- |+ |- |- |- | |Round |- |- |- |- |+ |+ |+ | |ATR |+ |+ |- |- |- |+ |+ | 2. 9. 4Segment Redundancy for Gunganchi Consonants Redundancy is the principle that helps in predicting some features from the presence of other features; thus, the feature that predicts the feature of the other is said to be redundant. Gunganchi language attest to a number of features that are completely predictable at all stages of derivation. All the redundant features are expressed as fill-in rule or [if –then]. However, the output of the phonological components must specify all feature in such a way that it indicates necessary features used in derivation. i)If:[+ syll] Then:+ son – cons ii)If:[+ cons] Then:+ voice – strid iii)If:[+ ant] Then:[+ cons] iv)If:[+ nas] Then:- cont – strid + voice + son 2. 9. 5Segment Redundancy for Gunganchi Vowels | |i |e |( |a |? o |u | |High |+ |- |(-) |(-) |(-) |- |+ | |Low |(-) |- |- |+ |(-) |(-) |(-) | |Round |- |- |- |(-) |+ |+ |+ | |ATR |(+) |+ |- |(-) |- |+ |(+) | All of the predictable redundancies can be expressed as fill-in rules which are also called if â€⠀œthen segment structure constraints as done for consonants above. i)If:[+ high] Then:[- low] ii)If:[+ low] Then:[- high] iii)If:[+ high] Then:[+ ATR] iv) If:[+ round] Then:[- low] v)If:[+ low] Then:[- round] vi)If:[+ low] Then:[- ATR] vii)If:[+ ATR] Then:[- low] viii)If:[- ATR] Then:[- high] However, redundancies come from any of two sources: the first is the attempt to express the physiological possibilities (or impossibilities) of the vocal organs. For example, the constraints if [+ high] then [- low] makes the claim that the tongue cannot be raised and lowered at the same time. In other words, if the tongue is raised then it is not lowered and if it is lowered then it is not raised. Since the physiological possibilities of the human vocal tract is universal to all human beings, this type of redundancy is a universal one. The second source comes from the fact that languages do not always maximally utilize all combinatorial possibilities logically expected when features come together. CHAPTER THREE PHONOLOGICAL PROCESSES IN GUNGANCHI 3. INTRODUCTION This chapter will be discussing the phonological processes found in Gunganchi language. 3. 1PHONOLOGICAL PROCESSES Phonological processes are sound modifications motivated by the need to maintain euphony in a language or to rectify violations of well-formedness constraints in the production of an utterance. (Oyebade 2008: 61). Segments are either within the same morpheme or at morpheme boundary under various conditions may undergo certain changes. Therefore, these changes are known as ‘phonological processes’. Environment within which sounds occur may affect changes. The phonological processes in Gunganchi are: 3. 1. 1Assimilation According to Oyebade (2008: 63), assimilation is when two contiguous sounds which have different modes of production become identical in some or all of the features of their production. Assimilation is the modification of sounds in the direction of greater similarity to the surrounding phonological environment (Langacker 1972: 270). Assimilation may be either partial or total. Tonal assimilation is the converting of the changing segment to become identical to other segment and assimilation may be partial such that only some features of the changing consonant (or vowel) becomes identical with that of the initiating segment. Examples of assimilation in Gunganchi: ugika[ugjka]‘bag’ In the above example, the voiced velar stop bears the feature ‘high’ of the vowel [i]. It is observed that when the voiced velar stop occur before a high unrounded front vowel, it becomes palatalized which shows assimilation has taken place. – cont+ syll – ant([high]__________- back – cor- round + voice+ high unun[unu]‘mouth’ anuhin[anuhi]‘teeth’ In the examples above, vowels take on the feature of the alveolar nasal. Thus, vowel becomes nasalized before alveolar nasal. + syll- cont -cons([+ nas]__________+ ant + cor + nas 3. 1. 2Vowel Elision Vowel elision is another common phonological process. According to Oyebade (2008: 69), vowels are usually deleted when two or more vowels occur across morpheme boundary. When such an occurrence is introduced by morphological processes, the language may choose to drop the first or the second of the contiguous vowels. Examples in Gunganchi are: [itsuria][akatua]([itsuriakatua] ‘buy’ ‘shoe’‘buy (a) shoe’ [ikabia][uwapo] ( [ikabiuwapo] ‘money’ ‘house’‘house rent’ However, it is observed that low back unrounded vowels are deleted at morpheme boundary if the next morpheme begins with a vowel. + syll+ syll + low(O___________- cons + back – round 3. 1. 3Labialisation Labialisation is the super-imposition of liprounding on a segment in such a way that the feature of a vowel now attaches to the consonant articulated (Oyebade 2008: 66). Examples of labializationin Gunganchi language are: [utw? ha]‘ear’ [rotwua]‘neck’ [abakjrdwola]‘animal’ [ndwuwa]‘person’ The alveolar stops [t] and [d] that are not naturally, they labialized take on the feature of the rounded vowels. We can therefore, say that alveolar stops become labialized before back rounded vowels. – cont+ syll + ant([lab]_____________+ back + cor+ rounded Other examples of labialization are: [igbagwua] ‘pepper’ [ugwohua]‘kolanut’ [ribulukwu]‘cooking’ [alokwotwo]‘snail’ It is also observed that velar stops [k] and [g] become labialized before back rounded vowels. – cont+ syll – ant([+lab]_____________+ back – cor+ round 3. 1. 4Palatalisation According to Oyebade (2009: 65), palatalisation is the super-imposition of tongue raising on a segment. Here are examples in Gunganchi language: [ugjika:]‘bag’ [akjikwa]‘millet’ [inagji]‘pull’ [gjirana]‘descend’ In the above examples, velar stops are palatalized before high vowel. – cont+ syll – ant([+ high]_____________+ high – cor 3. 1. 5Insertion Oyebade (2008: 74) states that: â€Å"Insertion is a phonological process whereby an extraneous element not present originally is introduced into the utterance usually to break up unwanted sequence†. Examples in Gunganchi are shown below. [upowabetatsunia]([upowabetatsunia] ten +one‘eleven’ [upowabetat(zuwa]([upowabetat(zuwa] ten +six‘sixteen’ alosobetatsunia]([alosobetatsunia] twenty +one‘twenty one’ [alosobetajisoh]([alosobetajisoh] twenty +two‘twenty two’ 1. 3. 6Nasalisation Nasalisation is a process where by an oral segment acquires nasality from a neighbouring segment (Katamba 1989: 93). Nasalisation is significant in Gunganchi, for instance; [matsunih? ]‘surpass’ [iji]‘see’ [tsunia] ‘one’ [udaga] ‘stick’ Therefore, vowels become nasalised before alveolar nasal, that is; + syll- cont – cons([+ nas]_____________+ ant + cor + nas CHAPTER FOUR TONAL PROCESSES AND SYLLABLE PROCESSES 4. 0INTRODUCTION This Chapter will be discussing the tone system and the processes found in Gunganchi language. It will also focus on the syllable processes in Gunganchi language. 4. 1TONE SYSTEM IN GUNGANCHI Davenport and Hannahs (2005: 84-85) states that â€Å"In many languages, pitch variation is used to distinguish one word from another. Languages which use pitch in this way are known as ‘tone languages’, and the individual pitch patterns associated with words or syllables are known as ‘tones’†. According to Carlos and Haike (2005: 12), tone languages used pitch contrasts to keep words apart in the same way that languages use vowel and consonant for this purpose. Tone is the differentiation of two words with the same segmental presentation with the use of its pitch. And a language is said to be a tone language when the differences in word meaning are signaled by the differences in pitch. Tone is essentially a property of individual syllables or words and also it is typically used as a way of distinguishing between items at word level (such as minimal pairs, words which are identical except for one component). 4. 1. 1Tone Typologies There are two categories of tone; a. Level tones b. Contour tones 4. 1. 1. 1 Level Tones The tones whereby the pitch is maintained at the same rate for the duration of the syllable are known as ‘level tones’ (Davenport and Hannahs 2005: 85). Level tones are high, mid and low tones. These tones may occur on all syllables. The high tone is indicated by an acute accent (/), the low tone is marked with a grade accent () and the mid tone is represented as (-) or unmarked. Thus, the mid tone is not marked in Gunganchi. 4. 1. 1. 2 Contour Tones According to Davenport and Hannahs (2005: 85), contour tones are tones exhibiting pitch variation during their production. Contour tones consists of the falling tone (^) which is a tone that starts high and end low, and the rising tone (V) which starts low and end high. Contour tones only appear on monosyllables and on the final syllables of disyllabic words. 4. 1. 2Tonal Pattern in Gunganchi Gunganchi is a tone language and it is a level tone language which attests to the high, low and mid tones. Each syllable of Gunganchi language bears a tone. Examples of words that bears the high tone in Gunganchi are: [kwa]‘take(one thing)’ [? w? ]‘sun’ [riba]‘thing’ Occurrence of low tones in Gunganchi language can be shown in the following examples: [dja]‘here’ [riadda]‘matchet’ Occurrences of mid tones in Gunganchi are: [alahagw? mi]‘jaw’ [wuru]‘moon’ [ajaba]‘plantain’ However, there are two or more words in Gunganchi language which have exactly the same consonants and vowels but have different meaning because of a difference in contrastive pitch. These are referred to as tonemes that contrast minimally. For instance; [rotwua]‘neck’HHH [rotwua]‘belly(externall)HHM [kwubaloh]‘cover(in hand)’HLH [kwubaloh]‘close’HML Co-occurrence of tones in Gunganchi In Gunganchi, the low, high and mid tones co-occur. There is the co-occurrence of the low and mid tones, examples are; [ol? ha]‘nose’ [t(ib? ]‘town’ [hia(i]‘dust’ Examples of the co-occurrence of high, mid and low tones in Gunganchi are: [hirokwa]‘horse’ [ibulukw? ]‘he goat’ [alakana(a]‘four hundred’ 4. 2. 1 Functions of Tone in Gunganchi Tone performs two distinct functions, they are: a) Lexical function b) Grammatical function 4. 2. 1. 1 Lexical Function Tone can be used to differentiate lexical items that have identical segments. For example in Gunganchi; [kwubaloh]‘cover (in hand)’HLH [kwubaloh]‘close’HML [rotwua]‘belly(external)HHM [rotwua]‘neck’HHH Note that the different tonemes have resulted in the differences in the meaning of the words above. 4. 2. 1. 2 Grammatical Function Tone is also used to differentiate between different grammatical forms. But, this function is not found in Gunganchi language. 4. 3TONAL PROCESSES As with segments, tones are also modified by their environment. Thus, this gives rise to tonal processes. 4. 3. 1 Tone Elision This occurs when two tones are juxtaposed across morpheme boundary and the final vowel of the first word gets elided causing the tone on it to be elided too. Examples in Gunganchi are: [ikabia][uwapo]([ikabiuwapo]‘house rent’ ‘money’‘house’ [itsuria][akatua](itsuriakatua] ‘buy’‘shoe’‘buy(a) shoe’ 4. 3. 2 Tone Stability In relation to tone, the issue is that â€Å"†¦in tone languages, we find that when a vowel desyllabifies or is deleted by some phonological rules, the tone it was bearing does not disappear, rather, it shifts its location and shows up on some other vowel†. (Goldsmith1976:30). Example of tone stability in Gunganchi: [ubula] [alokat(i] ( [ubulalokat(i] ‘rainy season’ ‘rain’‘time’ 4. 3. 3 Tone Spreading This is a tonal process whereby there are more segments than tone, the tone will then spread to the segment as it is a must that the segments bear tone. This process is not found in Gunganchi language. 4. 3. 4 Floating Tone Oyebade (2008: 15) says that during derivation, segment is specified for tone but merges with vowel, thus, passing its tonal specification to that vowel. Gunganchi does not have floating tone. 4. 3. 4 Tone Contraction This is when tone segmentalization creates two identical tones on the same syllable, the two identical tones are contracted to give only one. Gunganchi language does not attest to this tonal process. However, it is observed that there is the case of nasal consonant that bears tone. Such nasal is referred to as a syllabic nasal because it is interpreted as a vowel that carries a tone. Examples of this in Gunganchi are: [nduwa]‘person’ [nduwakabi]‘old person’ In the words above, the nasal [n] bears the high tone which makes it to function the way other vowels functions. 4. 4SYLLABLE STRUCTURE The syllable is a supra-segmental unit. It can be easily recognized in a language. Davenport and Hannahs (2005: 73) states that: â€Å"One such articulatorily based attempt at the definition involves the notion of a ‘chest pulse; or ‘initiator burst’, that is, a muscular contraction in the chest (involving the lungs) which corresponds to the production of a syllable; each syllable, on this view, involves one burst of muscular energy†. Williamson (1984) defines the syllable as ‘the smallest unit of language which can be pronounced. It is a unit of sound made up of one or more segments during which there is a single chest pulse and a single peak of sonority. Hyman (1975: 188) states that ‘a syllable is made up of an onset, and a core. And the core is further divided into a peak and coda’. However, a syllable is divided into three parts: 1) The onset 2) The core or nucleus 3) The coda The syllable can be represented thus: Syllable OnsetCore Peak (Nucleus)Coda C V(C) This can be illustrated in the example in Gunganchi below: [joh] ‘stand (up)’ ( OnsetCore ConsonantPeakCoda (Nucleus) JVowel(Consonant) ( h The syllable coda and onset are made up of consonant segments while the peak is made up of vowel segment and syllabic consonants. The peak is an obligatory part of the syllable, thus, there must be a peak. The onset (beginning) and coda (end) which usually consist of consonant(s) are optional parts of the syllable. Each syllable carries at least one significant unit of tone in tonal languages. 4. 4. 1 Types of Syllable A syllable can be either an open syllable or closed syllable. It is language specific; some languages may exhibit either of the two syllable types while some languages make use of the two (open and closed syllables) like Gunganchi language. 4. 4. 1. 1Open Syllable This is a syllable in which words end in a vowel, it is a syllable without the coda. Examples in Gunganchi are: [ububa]‘leaf’ [akahoj‘village’ [babi]‘children’ [hilelio]‘elephant’ 4. 4. 1. 2 Closed Syllable Closed syllable is a syllable typology that has at least one consonant following the vowel or closing the nucleus. Examples are: [lakapitwoh]‘old(opp. new)’ [[kakaw]‘pour’ [rimonoh]‘work’ Gunganchi attests to both the open and closed syllable. 4. 5SYLLABLE STRUCTURE RULE IN GUNGANCHI This is the rule that states the possible sequence of sounds or segment in a syllable. Words differ with regard to the number of syllables contained in them. Some words have just one syllable, others may have two or more, hence, words are classified as being monosyllabic, disyllabic, trisyllabic and polysyllabic depending on how many syllable(s) such words have. The syllable structures in Gunganchi are: CV VCV N- Syllable Structure Cw- Syllable Structure Cj- Syllable Structure 4. 5. 1 CV-Syllable Structure The CV-syllable structure is the most common type of syllable structure in Gunganchi. It is mostly found in monosyllabic and disyllabic or trisyllabic and polysyllabic. 4. 5. 1. 1 CV-Structure in Monosyllabic Monosyllabic is a word having a single syllable. For instance, in Gunganchi: [dja]‘here’ 4. 5. 1. 2 CV-Structure in Disyllabic Disyllabic is a word consisting of two syllables. For example: [nana]‘come’ [riba]‘thing’ [riwo]‘corpse’ [hino]‘bee’ 4. 5. 1. 3 CV-Structure in Trisyllabic A word consisting of three syllables is called ‘trisyllabic’. Examples of such words in Gunganchi language are: [rihama]‘food’ [rirogwo]‘cassava’ [rigwula]‘knife’ [hi(aho]‘hawk’ 4. 5. 1. 4 CV-Structure in Polysyllabic Polysyllabic is a word consisting of more than three syllables. Examples in Gunganchi language are: [ribulukwu]‘cooking’ [hamatsaro]‘maize’ [[rit(at(? pua]‘chin’ [ri(iteitwo]‘hat/cap’ 4. 5. 2 VCV-Syllable Structure Examples of VCV-syllable structure in Gunganchi language are illustrated below: [uwi]‘die’ [ut(a]‘guest(stranger)’ [ubi]‘child’ [ut? ]‘father’ 4. 5. 3 N-Syllable Structure This type of syllable is a ‘syllabic-nasal’. It will be interpreted as a vowel because like a vowel, the syllabic nasal carries at tone. In Gunganchi, examples are: [nduwa]‘person’ [nduwakabi]‘old person’ [ndukami]‘man’ 4. 5. 4 Cw-Syllable Structure The [CwV] structure in Gunganchi includes the following: [hitsokwutso]‘guinea fowl’ [ukwulu]‘room’ [mutwo]‘ashes’ 4. 5. 5 Cj-Syllable Structure Examples in Gunganchi language are: [inagji]‘pull’ [(ikjitwo]‘learn’ [gjirana]‘descend’ CHAPTER FIVE SUMMARY, FINDINGS/OBSERVATIONS, RECOMMENDATIONS AND CONCLUSION 5. 0SUMMARY This research work has examined the phonological aspects of Gunganchi language. Words are said to be well-patterned and the principles of well-formedness are followed. The method used for the data collection in this research work is the direct translation method from English language to Gunganchi language based on the Ibadan 400 word-list. There was a direct interview with the informant, thus, data elicitation was carried out. The essence of using the illuminating data is to be able to make linguistically significant generalizations. This project work is divided into five chapters. Chapter one is the introductory part which dealt with the general background of Gunganchi people, their sociocultural profile, genetic classification of the language, the scope and organization of study, review of the chosen theoretical framework, data collection and data analysis. Chapter two of this work examined the basic phonological concepts. The sound inventory which involves the tonal inventory and syllable inventory of Gunganchi language was discussed, also, their sound distributions whereby the distinctive features was examined. The third chapter then discussed phonology itself, thus, examined the phonological processes in Gunganchi language. Meanwhile, the phonological processes found in Gunganchi language are: assimilation, nasalisation, labialisation, palatalisation, insertion and vowel elision. However, the phonological rules were also accounted for. Chapter four of this work discussed the tonal and syllable processes. These processes were well examined with illuminating examples from Gunganchi language. Finally, chapter five summarized the work. It also made observations, recommendations and conclusion. 5. 1FINDING/OBSERVATIONS Majority of Gunganchi speakers also speak Hausa language and it is observed that some words in Gunganchi are borrowed from Hausa language. Gunganchi language attests to both open syllable structure and closed syllable structure. Also, when some words in Gunganchi occur across morpheme boundary, the last vowel of the first word gets deleted. There is the case of consonant cluster in Gunganchi language which is another observation. It was also observed that Gunganchi attest to the level tones (high, mid, low) and these tones co-occur in words. Finally, there are some words in Gunganchi that differs as a result of tone which is tonemic contrast. 5. 2RECOMMENDATIONS Through this research, useful insight has been drawn from the phonological aspects of Gunganchi language. As a matter of fact, the language has not been exposed to thorough linguistic scrutiny. There is need for linguists to focus their attention more on the language. This project has studied the aspects of the phonology of Gunganchi language. I hereby recommend that linguists should shed more light on this aspect and other aspects of Gunganchi language. Researchers who would like to research further on Gunganchi will find this research work a reliable reference. 5. 3CONCLUSION Some aspects of the phonology of Gunganchi language have been surveyed. For want of space and time, it has not been possible to treat all aspects of the language. However, I hope this study will inspire further research in the language. REFERENCES Carlos, G. and Haike, J. (2005). â€Å"Understanding Phonology† (2nd Edition). Great Britain: Hodder Arnold. Goldsmith, J. (1976). Autosegmental Phonology. MIT DIssertion IVLC, New York: Grandland Press. Hyman, L. M. (1975). â€Å"Phonology: Theory and Analysis. 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