Re: Arabic

 >From: David Peterson <DigitalScream@...>
 >
 >damma: A short [u], not unlike the "u" in "put"
 >kasra: A short [i], oftentimes like the "i" in "sit"
 >fatha: A short [a], like the "a" in "sofa"

        Really?!  My Algerian acquaintances make fun of me if I
pronounce fatHa that way.  They insist quite forcefull that it's
pronounced [{] (gods below, X-SAMPA is ugly) except when close to the
uvular or pharyngeal sounds.

 >dialects it does come out as a pharyngealized [z].  To pharyngealize
 >something, pretend like you're about to make an [A].  Then constrict your
 >throat in that position further and make whatever consonant sound you're
 >going to make at the same time.  That's about what pharyngealization is.

        That is by far the *most* understandable description of how to
go about making those sounds I have ever heard!

--
William Annis  -  System Administrator -  Biomedical Computing Group
"When men are inhuman, take care not to feel towards them as they do
towards other humans."                       Marcus Aurelius  VII.65