Re: 'mouth noises' bad? [was: Re: YAPT]

On Tue, 4 Jan 2005 11:26:51 -0800, Gary Shannon <fiziwig@...> wrote:

>It doesn't matter if you say "lets play a game" or
>"lits ply a gyme." I still understand you.
And what if somebody says _yet's pyay a game_ or _less flay a kame_? Or what
if somebody ceases from distinguishing /s, z/ from /T, D/ (most languages
don't distinguish them). Consonants are sounds as well!


>My other reason for believing that specifics of mouth
>noises are of little importance is the fact that the
>mouth noises of any language are the part of the
>language subject to the quickest changes over time.
That's not true. The quickest changes happen in vocabulary, that is, in the
meaning of words. In Italian or in Spanish, for instance, the pronunciation
has changed very little for hundreds of years (in Spanish except for a few
consonants), whereas the vocabulary has made huge changes.

The velocity of sound change seems to vary from language to language:
Italian is still pronounced more or less the same as in the Middle Ages,
whereas English has changed dramatically.

gry@s:
j. 'mach' wust

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