Professional Documents
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Primer Parcial Phonology
Primer Parcial Phonology
Index Pág.
1.1. Introduction 3
1.2. Phonology 4
1.3. Phonemics 4
1.4. Phonetics 5
1.5. Allophones 6
Complementary Resources 12
Bibliography 12
Phonology 2
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Introduction
The study of the language started many years ago in India and Korea with
the simple fact of studying and analyzing the grammar of languages. Panini was
a pioneer in studying Sanskrit grammar systematically. King Sejong of Korea was
another booster in Language study. He hoped his people were literate, but it was
too difficult to know the existing (Chinese-based) system. He created by himself
a new brand scientific alphabet based on speech and named this alphabet
‘Hong Minzhong U’, ‘The correct voice educates the people’. His letters were
almost ignored until the 20th century. Now it is widely used in South Korea and
North Korea (Katz, 1991).
All these contributions made French teachers create the IPA, International
Phonetic Alphabet, a sound representation system that is widely used currently
by linguists, language teachers, book and dictionary makers and so on. That is
the way how this science evolves through time until being known at present as
Linguistics. Therefore, Linguistics is considered as the science that studies the
scientifically the language. Modern Linguistics has classified his field according
to the type of grammar it studies; Thus, Phonology, Morphology, Syntax are
primarily analyzed.
Phonology 3
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Contrastive Phonology
Phonology studies the sound systems, patterns and rules of the language.
Kennedy (2017) considers that “phonology is the study of the organization of
sounds in human languages. It is a subfield of Linguistics concerned with
understanding how languages use certain sounds and combine them to build
meaningful units, essentially, words” (p.1).
Phonology starts with the observation on how the language use the fixed
sound systems, the vowel and consonant inventory, and the sound combination
patterns. The area of interest of phonology is the contextual variability of what are
in some senses the same sound units. However, when two or more languages
are analyzed to find out similarities and differences in their sound inventories,
Contrastive Phonology arises, focusing on Spanish as L1 and English as L2.
Contrastive Phonemics
The unit of Phonemics is the phoneme. Brooks (2015) specifies that “Phonemes
are disctinctive speech sounds; that is, they make a difference to the meanings
of words” (p.1.4). Phonemes are to be used between slant lines and do not use
diacritics. Phonemes are divided into two categories: vowels and consonants.
Examples: <pero> /ˈpeɾo/ <poro> /ˈpoɾo/, <pata> /ˈpata/ <bata> /ˈbata/, <peso>
/ˈpeso/ <beso> /beso/; <man> /mæn/, <men> /mɛn/, <bad> /bæd/, <pad>/pæd/.
Phonology 4
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Contrastive Phonetics
Phonetics studies the sounds of the speech which are totally perceived
and reproduced. Phonetics was considered as an indispensable foundation for
the language study by Henry Sweet whose point of view is as valid today as it
was a hundred years ago.
Allophones
Phonology 5
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https://images.app.goo.gl/3UkCJgyHsJid1HQcA
https://images.app.goo.gl/8mrfHVJSuUP4oJyn7
Phonology 6
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Complementary Resources
• Figure 1. An example of an English Phoneme. Source:
https://images.app.goo.gl/3UkCJgyHsJid1HQcA
• Figure 2. An example of a Spanish allophone. Source:
https://images.app.goo.gl/8mrfHVJSuUP4oJyn7
Bibliography
Works Cited
Phonology 7
Theme 1: Phonology https://evirtual.espe.edu.ec/programas_scorm.cgi?id_curso=21412&id_unidad=240800&id_pkg=80...
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5. What is phonetics?
Phonetics is a branch of the language that studies how humans think and perceive sounds.
Phonetics is the science of linguistics that reviews how humans produce and perceive sounds.
Phonetics is a branch of linguistics that studies how humans produce and perceive sounds.
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The three branches of phonetics are: Articulatory phonemes, Auditory phonetics and Acoustic phonetics.
The three branches of phonetics are: Articulatory allophones, Auditory phonologies and Acoustic phonetics.
The three branches of phonetics are: Articulatory phonetics, Auditory phonetics and Acoustic phonetics.
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Phonetics is considered the study of the description of sounds produced by the human voice, meanwhile phonemics
deals with the study of sounds of a specific language.
Phonetics is considered the study of the description of consonants produced by the human voice, meanwhile
phonemics deals with the study of description of a specific language.
Phonetics is considered the study of the analysis of vowels produced by the human voice, meanwhile phonemics deals
with the study of sounds of a specific word.
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8. What is a diacritic?
A Diacritic is a point which is located over, through or under the phonetic symbol.
A Diacritic is a hyphen which is located over, through or under the phonetic symbol.
A Diacritic is a mark which is located over, through or under the phonetic symbol.
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Tema 2
Index Pág.
1.3. Cavity 4
1.4. Articulators 5
Complementary Resources 12
Bibliography 12
Non-movable organs
Movable organs
Articulatory Diagram
The articulatory diagram deals with the organs that are part of the speech
production and are related to the cavities, articulators and point of articulation
where sounds are uttered.
Cavities
Cavities are the zones or chamber where the air flow goes through. They
are mainly the nasal (nose) and oral (mouth) cavities as pictured in figure 1.
Articulators
The articulators are the movable organs that reach certain point of
articulation to utter a sound. The major English articulators are the lower lip, the
tongue, and the lower jaw.
Point of Articulation
Complementary Resources
Figure 1.- The Organs of Speech. Adapted from (Vilhiamas, 2018)
Figure 2. Cavities. Cleghorn (2011).
Figure 3. Articulator. Cleghorn (2011).
Figure 2. Point of Articulation. Cleghorn (2011).
Hadar. (2019, Jun 25). Understand American English Vowels I Pronunciation
Master Class. YouTube. https://youtu.be/4KDkHvvksAE
aBIBLIOGRAPHY
Brooks, G. (2015). Dictionary of British English Spelling System. UK: Open
Book Publisher.
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Self-assessment
The Organs of Speech are classified into movable and non-movable organs
The Organs of Speech are classified into eatables and breathable.
The Organs of Speech are classified into movable and eatable.
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Self-assessment
We can produce sounds with the combination of a movable and a non-movable organ along with the nose.
We can produce sounds with the combination of a movable and a non-movable organ along with the air stream.
We can produce sounds with the transformation of a movable and a non-movable organ along with the air stream.
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The articulatory diagram deals with the organs that are part of the sound production.
The articulatory diagram deals with the organs that are part of the speech audition.
The articulatory diagram deals with the organs that are part of the speech production.
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The sounds are uttered in the tongue, articulators and point of articulation.
The sounds are uttered in the cavities, articulators and point of articulation.
The sounds are uttered in the mouth.
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All of the mouth parts that we use to produce speech sounds are called the articulatory sound.
All of the body parts that we use to produce speech sounds are called the articulatory system.
All of the body parts that we use to produce speech sounds are called the articulatory system.
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It is called a subfield of phonetics which studies articulation and also the ways that humans produce speech in order to
communicate or express an idea.
It is called a subfield of phoneme which studies articulation and also the ways that humans produce speech in order to
communicate or express an idea.
It is called a subfield of phonetics which studies articulation and also the ways that animals produce speech in order to
communicate or express an idea.
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Cavities are the holes or tubes where the air flow goes through.
Cavities are the zones or chamber where the air flow goes through.
Cavities are the points of articulation where the air flow goes through
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The articulators are the unmovable organs that reach certain point of articulation to utter a sound.
The articulators are the movable sounds that reach certain point of articulation to utter a sound.
The articulators are the movable organs that reach certain point of articulation to utter a sound.
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What is Contrastive Analysis
The word contrastive implies that is it more interested in the differences and similarities
between languages than being interested in languages families and history.
Fisiak (1981) defines CA as "a sub- discipline of linguistics concerned with the comparison
of two or more languages or subsystems of language in order to determine both the
differences and similarities between Them."
In other words, CA is a branch of applied linguistics that is concerned with studying and
finding the similarities and differences between a pair of languages or more based on the
assumption that languages can be compared then applying these findings to the area of
teaching and learning languages.
Robert Lado's formulation of the "Contrastive Analysis Hypothesis" in his “Linguistics across
Cultures” (1957) is considered the greatest contribution in the field of CA studies.
Both comparative and contrastive linguistics compare and contrast languages. But the
scope, goals, and methods of each are different. Comparative linguistics compares and
contrasts genetically-related languages diachronically (over time), whereas contrastive
linguistics compares and contrasts languages which are culturally related (whether they’re
genetically related or not!). This is because the goals are much different!
Moreover, the goals of comparative linguistics and contrastive linguistics are different.
Comparative linguistics mainly informs the linguistic theory in its diachronic aspects. Though
it may inform the linguistic theory in some way, contrastive linguistics has pedagogical goals
in the field of translation and second language acquisition.
1.1. Alphabets 3
1.2. Latin Alphabet 4
1.3. International Phonetic Alphabet, IPA 4
1.4 Spanish Phonetic Inventory 5
Complementary Resources 6
Bibliography
Alphabets
The word Alphabet comes from the Greek Words Alpha and Beta.
Alphabets might be classified into Orthographic and Phonetic Alphabets. An
orthographic alphabet is a group of standardized symbols which represent vowel
or consonant letters, while the Phonetic Alphabet is a set of standardized symbols
that represent a specific vowel or consonant sound.
Latin Alphabet
Both Spanish and English use the Latin or Roman Alphabet which might
lightly vary in their orthographic symbols. The modern Latin alphabet is used to
write hundreds of different languages. Each language uses a slightly different set
of letters, and they are pronounced in various ways. Some languages use the
standard 26 letters, some use fewer, and others use more (Ager, 1998).
world. Therefore, it means that not all the symbols are used in Spanish nor in
English.
Complementary Resources
• Table 1 ISO Basic Latin Alphabet, Source:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ISO_basic_Latin_alphabet
• Table 2 The International Phonetic Alphabet (Revised to 2020) Source:
https://www.internationalphoneticassociation.org/IPAcharts/IPA_chart_ori
g/pdfs/IPA_Kiel_2020_full.pdf
• Table 3 American English IPA Chart – Consonants, Source: (IPA, 2020)
• Table 4 Spanish IPA Chart – Consonants, Source: (IPA, 2020)
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Ager, S. (1998). Obtenido de Omniglot Encyclopedia:
https://omniglot.com/about.htm#what
Tema 4
1.1. Transcription 3
1.2. Phonetic Transcription 3
1.3. Phonemic Transcription 3
1.4. Transcription Features 4
Symbols used for Transcriptions 4
Bibliography 5
Transcription
Phonemic Transcription
It is featured because slant lines are used. Consequently, only phonemes are
inserted in-between. There is much to be said for making use of phonemic transcription
as a teaching aid to reinforce analytically the information which the learner may have
received imperfectly by hear. Phonemes are always the same, they have no variations
in symbols (Morris-Wilson, 1984). ie; <cartón> /kaɾˈton/, <tropa> /ˈtɾopa/, <marinar>
/maɾiˈnaɾ/; <apple> /ˈæpəl/, <church> /͡tʃəɹ͡tʃ/, <desire> /dɪˈzajəɹ/, <famous> /ˈfejməs/,
<feature> /ˈfi͡tʃəɹ/
Phonetic Transcription
Transcription Features
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Ager, S. (1998). Obtenido de Omniglot Encyclopedia:
https://omniglot.com/about.htm#what
It is represented by a specific symbol found out in the English or Spanish IPA chart.
Transcription differs depending on the fact that phonemes or allophones are used.
Phonetic transcription transcribes what is heard or pronounced with every single detail
The unstressed syllable usually carries out a short and reduced vowel sound /ə,ɪ/
Symbols are very necessary to make transcriptions in order to stablish the difference
Tema 5
Index Pág.
Complementary Resources 5
Bibliography 6
Vowels 2
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Vowels
Every language has vowels as part of its spoken or printed words. A vowel
is the nucleus of a syllable and it is always voiced because the vocal folds are
adducted and vibrating, besides the vowels use completely the mouth cavity.
American English has ten monophthongs and five diphthongs while Spanish has
five monophthongs and fourteen diphthongs. All of them are primarily defined by
the tongue position; however, some other features are considered such as: area,
muscle tension, and lip shape.
Due to English language variation because of the geolects and sociolects, the American
Phonetic Association presents the vowel quadrant as Mejía (2013) represents:
Vowels 3
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/ʌ/
Vowels 4
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Complementary Resources
• Figure 1.- IPA Vowel Chart (updated to 2020), Source: (IPA, 2020)
• Figure 2.- English Vowel Quadrant, Source: (Mejía, 2013)
• Figure 3 Spanish Vowel Quadrant, Source: (Mejía, 2013)
• Pronunciation Master Class. YouTube. https://youtu.be/9E6F57s-V7U
• Bibliography
Works Cited
Lorenz, F. (2013). Basics of Phonetics & English Phonology. Berlín: Logos. Mejía, P. (2013).
Olive, J., Greenwood, A., & Coleman, J. (1993). Acoustics of American EnglishSpeech. USA:
Springer.
Vowels 5
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Self-assessment
Because at the moment of pronouncing the vocal folds are adducted and
vibrating
4. How many monophthongs and diphthongs are there in the English language?
5. How many monophthongs and diphthongs are there in the Spanish language?
The area shows the front, central and back part of the oral cavity
The lip shape shows the spread, neutral and rounded position of the lips
The tongue position describes if the tongue is high, mid or low placed.
Vowels 6
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Tema 6
Index Pág.
Complementary Resources 6
Bibliography 7
Vowels 2
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Vowel Description
To describe Spanish and English vowels, some aspects are to be taken
into account. These are: Voicing) as previously mentioned, every vowel is voiced;
Vowel Quality) this has to do with Monophthongs and Diphthongs; Tongue
Position) law, mid, high; Area) front, central, back; Muscle tension) tense or lax
in English; however, Spanish vowels are all tense, and Lip Form) spread, neutral,
rounded. The description of monophthongs is detailed in table 2.
Tongue
Vowel Area Muscle tension Lip Form
Position
/i/ High Front tense (diphthongized) Spread
/ɪ/ High Front lax Spread
/ɛ/ Mid Front lax Spread
/æ/ Low Front lax Spread
/a/ Low Central lax Neutral
/ə/ Mid Central lax neutral unstressed
/ʌ/ Mid Central lax neutral stressed
/ɔ/ Mid Back lax Rounded
/ʊ/ High Back lax Rounded
/u/ High Back tense (diphthongized) Rounded
Note: Remember that every vowel is voiced and oral.
Vowels 3
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As Spanish is mostly a phonetic language, it has just five vowel letters which are
pronounced as they are.
Tongue
Vowel Area Muscle tension Lip Form
Position
/i/ High Front Tense spread
/e/ Mid Front Tense spread
/a/ Low Central Tense neutral
/o/ Mid Back Tense rounded
/u/ High Back Tense rounded
Source: (Mejía, 2013)
Vowels 4
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Another feature that Spanish vowels assume is that /e/ and /o/ might be
opened, [ɛ] and [ɔ], when they are part of any closed syllable, with the [ɛ]
exception which never opens when the syllable is closed by <d, n, s>; [ɛ] and [ɔ]
become open when they are before or after the trill sound [r] (the first that occurs):
e.g. <herramienta> [ɛraˈmjẽn̪ ta], <marrón> [ marɔ̃ŋ], <errores> [ɛroɾes]; [ɛ] and [ɔ]
become open when they happen exclusively before the voiceless dorso velar [x]:
e.g. <mejoría> [mɛxoˈɾia], <ojal> [ɔxal], and finally, [ɛ] and [ɔ] become open when
they are part of a falling diphthong: e.g.; <reino> [ˈrɛi̯ no], <Eugenia>
[ɛu̯ˈxenja].
Table 4 Spanish Vowel Allophones
Complementary Resources
• Table 1.- English Vowel Description, Source: (Mejía, 2013)
• Table 2.- English Vowel Allophones, Source: (Mejía, 2013)
• Table 3 Spanish Vowel Description, Source: (Mejía, 2013)
• Table 4 Spanish Vowel Allophones, Source: (Mejía, 2013)
• Pronunciation Master Class. YouTube. https://youtu.be/9E6F57s-V7U
• Bibliography
Works Cited
Vowels 5
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Brooks, G. (2015). Dictionary of British English Spelling System. UK: Open
Book Publisher.
Olive, J., Greenwood, A., & Coleman, J. (1993). Acoustics of American English
Speech. USA: Springer.
Vowels 6
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Self-assessment
The description of the vowel /i/ is: high, front, tense (diphthongized)-
spread
Vowels 7
Tema 7
Index Pág.
3. 1. 2 Triphthongs 7
Complementary Resources 8
Bibliography 9
Vowels 2
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Diphthongs
There are five diphthongs in American English. All of them are voiced and
tense, and have two allophones: the lengthened and non-lengthened.
Vowels 3
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Hereby, it is quite important to mention that the glide sounds /j/ and /w/ become
the semivowels [ -ʊ̯] and [ -ɪ̯ ]; therefore, the diacritic ‘ ̯ ‘ is required. Let’s remember that
diphthongs become lengthened when a voiced consonant sound follows it; otherwise,
diphthongs will be unlengthened. Besides, diphthongs must be part of a stressed
syllable.
On the other hand, Spanish diphthongs are fourteen and are classified as Falling
diphthongs (a strong and a weak vowel) and Rising diphthongs (a weak and a strong
vowel). Figure 12.
Vowels 4
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The approximant sounds /j/ and /w/ when happen as part of a falling diphthong
become semivowels and have to use a diacritic.
The approximant sounds /j/ and /w/ when happen as part of a rising
diphthong become semiconsonants.
Table 5 Weak Spanish Diphthongs
It is remarkable to mention that both Spanish and English use the approximant
sounds /j/ and /w/ to build up diphthongs and triphthongs. When the approximants
happen in a falling diphthong, approximants become semivowels and a diacritic (a
semicircle) must be used under them. Notice the symbols to be used in Spanish as well
as in English. Spanish: [ -i̯ ] [-u̯ ]; English: [-ɪ̯ ] [-ʊ̯ ]. However, when the approximants
happen in a rising diphthong, approximants become semiconsonants and they don’t
Vowels 5
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assume any change in their symbols. Spanish and English use the same
semiconsonants; [ j- ] [ w- ].
/ aw / [au̯] [kau̯sa]
/ ew / [ɛu̯] [ɛu̯feˈmizmo]
/ ja / [ja] [ˈbjaxa]
/ je / [je] [ˈbjene]
/ jo / [jo] [ˈpjoxo]
/ wa / [wa] [ˈkwãn̪do]
/ we / [we] [ˈpweðe]
/ wo / [wo] [ˈkwota]
/ jw / [ju̯] [sju̯ðaˈðano]
Note: These diphthongs include at the same time a semiconsonant as well as a semivowel.
So far, it has been clearly identified Spanish and English diphthongs and
their allophones.
Vowels 6
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Triphthongs
Vowels 7
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Complementary Resources
• Figure 1 English Diphthong Construction, Source: (Mejía, 2013)
• Figure 2 Spanish Diphthong Construction, Source: (Mejía, 2013)
• Figure 3.- American English Triphthongs, Source: (Blizzard, 2012)
• Bibliography
Works Cited
Vowels 8
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Olive, J., Greenwood, A., & Coleman, J. (1993). Acoustics of American English
Speech. USA: Springer.
Vowels 9
self-assessment
● What is a diphthong in English?
a diphthong is a combination of a weak and a strong vowel sound
● How are diphthongs in Spanish classified?
Spanish diphthongs are classified as falling diphthongs (a strong and a weak vowel)
and rising diphthongs ( a weak and a strong vowel)
● When do the sounds /j/ and /w/ become semi consonants?
the approximant sounds /j/ and /w/ when happen as part of a rising diphthong
become semiconconants
● What is a triphthong?
a triphthong is a sequence of three vowels making up one syllable
● What do we need for a triphthong to exist in spanish?
for a triphthong to exist, two weak vowels <i> or <u> and between them an open
vowel <a>, <e>, <o>
● What is the description of the vowel sound /aw/?
the description of the vowel /aw/ is: low-front becoming high-back spread becoming
rounded
● What is the description of the vowel sound /aj/?
the description of the vowel /aj/ is: low-front becoming high-front spread
● What is the description of the vowel sound /ɔj/?
the description of the vowel /ɔj/ is:mid-back becoming high-back rounded becoming
spread
● What is the description of the vowel sound /ej/?
the description of the vowel /ej/ is:mid-front becoming high-front spread
● What is the description of the vowel sound /ɔw/?
the description of the vowel /ɔw/ is:mid-back becoming high-back rounded
Program > Unit > Evaluation
voiceless
voiced
lengthened
non-lengthened
What is a triphthong?
two consonants
three vowels
a strong phoneme
a single phoneme
a weak phoneme
a double phoneme
The aproximant sounds /j/ and /w/ when happen as part of a falling diphthong
become...
semiconsonants
consonants
semivowels
vowels
The approximant sounds /j/ and /w/ when happen as part of a rising diphthong
become...
consonants
semivowels
vowels
semiconsonants
Should
Boy
Blood
Through
show
Though
Said
High
Says
Hour
Player
Mower
Fire
Employer
Tired
Veinte
Paisaje
Pleito
Feudo
Traiga
Laura
peine
aire
piano
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