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Re: Arabic

From:Tristan Alexander McLeay <anstouh@...>
Date:Friday, November 23, 2001, 6:24
On Thu, 22 Nov 2001, Eric Christopherson wrote:

> > That's it. I remember it being discussed here not that long ago, it's > > the sound he makes with his mouth open and his tongue hanging out, right? > > As opposed to the "mmmm... forbidden donut..." nasal sound. That > > pharyngeal sound is actually a `ayn voiced pharyngeal > > fricative/approximant sound. So if you hold the back of your tongue in > > that position while articulating whatever else, you'd come out with a > > pharyngealized sound. Of course, the _Teach Yourself Arabic_ book i > > tried to use 4 years ago said that `ayn is made with the same muscles you > > regurgitate with, so "if you feel like you're throwing up, you've got it > > correct" ;-) > > Hmm. Well, if that's true, then the force you use to tense them while > pronouncing pharyngeals must not be as strong, because when I make the > abovementioned Homer sound (yes, that's the one I meant), it doesn't feel > like I'm going to throw up.
If I breathe out at the same time as making the sound, it _definately_ feels like I want to throw up. I wouldn't want to speak a language with that sound, though, irregardless of which way I was breathing at the time ;) Tristan anstouh@yahoo.com.au War doesn't prove who's right, just who's left. - BSD Games' Fortune