Re: Phonology question

On Wed, 14 Jul 1999, dirk elzinga wrote:

> On Wed, 14 Jul 1999, BP Jonsson wrote:
>
> > At 15:15 -0500 13.7.1999, Patrick Dunn wrote:
> >
> > >The tip arches up.  Make the /t/ sound, then relax and drop the center of
> > >your tongue until you get a fricative.
> > >
> >
> > Unless it sounds anything like an English "sh" it's definitely the
> > Icelandic "thorn" sound, i.e. laminal alveolar fricative.
>
> Hmmm. If it's laminal, then it can't be produced with the tip of the
> tongue; the term laminal implies the blade of the tongue. Patrick
> described this as being pronounced with the tip. Since the tip curls
> back, it's a retroflex.
>
> At least that's how I read Patrick's description ...
Oh, no, if laminal means the blade of the tongue, it's certainly not
laminal.  *wishes had could draw it out*

Here, I'll try in ascii to roughly represent the position of tongue and
teeth:

---------\/-|           This  is the hard pallet leading up to the
        /               alveolar ridge and then the teeth
======/

There's a small space between the tip of the tongue / and the alveolar
ridge \/