Re: /nj/ vs. /J/ [was Re: sounds I can't find!!!]

 --- Roger Mills <rfmilly@...> wrote:
> Trebor asked:
> > Is this contrast [[n_j] vs [J]] phonemic anywhere?
> >
> _Possibly_ in French, Spanish, Italian (at least
> according to the written
> forms):
>
> [n_j] vs. [J]
> Spanish unión vs. uña '(finger)nail'
> French union vs. oignon
> Italian unione vs. ogni
>
> But I'd be willing to bet that in practice nobody
> observes it.
Well, I asked Christophe once, and he couldn't think
of an example where it was phonemic, but he
mightn't've been thinking hard... (Logically, the /nj/
IMD ought to be postalveolar or palatal, but if it is
(I'm not able to tell), it's certainly not phonemic!)

Russian, OTOH, probably has a phonemic contrast
here... at least, the impression I get is that they
overdo the palatal/palatised contrasts... :)

>
> (Retiring to a corner, having filled my quota.)
>
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