Re: CHAT: F.L.O.E.S.

CG> "hi" is written with a kana of the "h" series, and
CG> "hya", "hyo" and "hyu" are written with "hi" followed by small versions of
CG> "ya", "yo" and "yu"

Dumb question: is there such a thing as "hu" in Japanese?  Not the phonemic
spelling of "fu", nor "hyu", but the syllable [hM]?  And if so, how is
it represented in kana?

CG> Note that the same is done with "chi").

AJ> I thought 'chi' was, so to speak, the 'ti' kana?

It is.

AJ> Or are you saying that 'cho' or whatever is written as 'ti-yo' with
AJ> small 'yo'?

That is the case.  Also for e.g. "jo" = "ji-yo", since "ji" is phonemically
/zi/ and the *o kana of that series is pronounced [zo].

AJ> So 'sh' and 'hy' contrast - [s\] vs [C]? IIRC it was said that 'sh'
AJ> was [s\] in the last YAJPT, but that's one fine distinction!

I don't recall seeing the [s\] comment; I thought the sh in /si/ etc
was a genuine [S].  But then I used to think that the /u/ was [u]
instead of [M], so what do I know? :)

-Mark

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