Re: semantics question

JS Bangs wrote:

> Andreas Johansson sikyal:
>
> > I'm aware that Mr Ryan, in certain circles at least, is considered an
out and
> > jumping UFO, but he can apparently imagine a change [x]>[g^w]. Is there
any
> > andewisms for this? And while at it, is there any known language which
> > distinguishes aspirated from plain nasal stops?
>
> I don't see how there could be. "True" aspiration would require a very
> fast voice-voiceless-voiced transition, which is unlikely, and never
> occurs with regular stops. "Voiced aspirated stops" are really breathy
> voiced. I can imagine a breathy voiced nasal (it wouldn't be surprising at
> all, actually), but I wouldn't analyze that as aspiration.
>
But within the phonological system of a language, it could be _called_
aspiration even if, phonetically, it wasn't (just like Indic "voiced
aspirates").