Boas: On Alternating Sounds
...f our language by long usage, and attain great facility in bringing our sound-producing organs into the positions in which these sounds are produced.”(p.73). In other words we think we hear sounds that are similar to something so we can relate to it, rather think of them as different sounds that we have never heard before nor are able to produce on our own. Boas also points out other places in life where this is seen, or there are great influences of practice. We see two different things at one point, and then similar things later and believe them to be the same because we relate them to what we have already seen. Boas says that this can be explained through psychology: “a new sensation is apperceived by means of similar sensations that form part of our knowledge.”(p.74). I am pretty much convinced by the argument given at hand on whether alternating sounds exist or not. I believe that they do due to the fact give that people are not going to sound the exact same and therefore over the years the language is going to alternate. Also, when dealing with different cultures and languages alternating sounds are very apparent. Someone just learning French isn’t going to sound like someone who has been speaking French all their life. Also, when they learn the language they are going to relate the pronunciation of the unfamiliar words to words and sounds in their own language; this would create alternating sounds because the English language and the French language have some sounds that are not in each ...