User:Kate.mackay10/sandbox

• What is the "grade," if any, that the article has.  What is its indicated importance?

In importance within the confines of linguistics I would rate Apophony (on a 1-10 scale) probably 9. It’s my understanding that Indo-european languages especially undergo ablaut and vowel gradation. To understand the minute pronunciation (and inherently, spelling) differences in words such as [rècord] / [recòrd] or [tooth] / [teeth] (as well as examples in other languages) is highly important for those learning the language secondarily, as it can change the tense, aspect, the part of speech, transitivity, and the number.

• Is each fact referenced with an appropriate, reliable reference?Is everything in the article relevant to the article topic? Is there anything that distracted you?

While the passages seemed well written and extensive, there lacked significant in-text citations in my opinion. Charts were sourced, but there was nothing in the way of at least one recommended in-text citation every paragraph/passage, as stated in the training. The sources thatt were provided however seemed reliable, and everything within the article was relevant to the topic, as well as very interesting. A neatly organized and informative article.

• Is the article neutral? Are there any claims, or frames, that appear heavily biased toward a particular position?

This article seemed entirely neutral.

• Where does the information come from? Do these seem to be neutral sources? Choose three sources cited, and find them yourself.

All of the sources seemed to come from various scholarly articles, belonging to linguistic academic journals. The Wikipedia page was set up in such a way that links were not “clickable”, neither were clickable there in-text citations to read more.

• Are there viewpoints that are overrepresented, or underrepresented?  If your answer is "yes," (a) indicate what viewpoint(s) you think might qualify as overrepresented,  and (b) what viewpoint you think might be underrepresented.  What leads you to this conclusion?

I don’t believe any viewpoints expressed within this article to have been overrepresented. The article author(s) evenly and thoroughly discussed all subtopics.

• Check four citations. Do the links work?  Is there any close paraphrasing or plagiarism in the article?

Most sources led me to a journal site where I was unable to physically enter a portal to see the source, but could view the table of contents, at least. With none of the sources being “clickable” as aforementioned, I could never actually follow a direct link to any sources.

• Select and list up to three major topics or issues raised about the article from the Talk page related to the article.   Do you agree with what the contributors say, or not?  Why?  

Umlaut or Ablaut? this discussion centers of whether the this concept should be referred to as Ablaut, or the German Umlaut. I’m indifferent on the topic, as Umlaut and Ablaut both don’t ring as closely with me as does Apophony.

Indo-eurpoean vs. Non Indo-European Languages and their use of Apophony.

Whether Ablaut or Apophony is the more common word. Again, there’s discussion over what this article should be entitled. They’re all interesting stances but it sounds to me like they’re all terms that could mean the same thing, it’s just a matter of preference, context.

Gradation caused by stress is referred to as quantitative, and that of pitch is referred to as qualitative. Pitch and stress are both aspects of accent, which plays into the cause of gradation, specifically front and back vowels.

Goldmann, J. M. (2004). Germanic verbal ablaut and optimality theory (Order No. 3146857). Available from ProQuest Dissertations & Theses Global: The Humanities and Social Sciences Collection. (305210469). Retrieved from http://libproxy.csun.edu/login?url=http://search.proquest.com.libproxy.csun.edu/docview/305210469?accountid=7285

I would add this segment of information into the apophony article since the section referencing Prosodic apophony and alternating stress patterns looked a little underdeveloped compared to other sections. Not much information was given on the stress pattern involving english prosodic alternations such as [convìct] / [cònvict] etc.