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Labiodental nasals

From:Mark J. Reed <markjreed@...>
Date:Friday, April 23, 2004, 14:25
Today I was thinking about assimilation, specifically [n] -> [m] before
bilabials (e.g. <NPR> = /En.pi.ar\/ -> [Em.pi.ar\] modulo 'lect), and
started considering the case of [n] followed by labiodentals.  I figured
it would assimilate to [F], which got me thinking about [F] in general.
The fact that it has a symbol in the IPA makes me suppose that, unlike
the corresponding labiodental plosive, it is contrasted with [m] and [n]
in some language?  Which one(s)?  I can, if I concentrate, distinguish
[F] from both [m] and [n] - it sounds about halfway between them, in
fact, and I imagine I'd be about equally likely to hear it as either
[m] or [n] in normal speech depending on which I was expecting to hear.

-Mark

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Henrik Theiling <theiling@...>