Re: Ashamed of [T]? (fy: /T/ -> /t_d/?)

On Sun, 31 Oct 2004 08:54:45 -0500, Sally Caves <scaves@...> wrote:

>
> I'm not sure I'd call it "shame"; perhaps discomfort?  I'll admit to feeling
> a little silly pronouncing Spanish the Castillian way.  Cerveza and zapato
> make me feel as though I'm lisping, and having grown up with Mexican
> Spanish, it's extra work for me to remember what is an "s" and what isn't.

Indeed. It's uncomfortable to pronounce c before i and e and z as /T/
because I was taught to speak Spanish the Mexican way, with /s/. I
don't think it's too much more work for me, it's just not always
something I'd remember to do unless I heard native speakers around me
doing it.

Incedentally one of the jerkwad students I was paired with in Mexico
considered /T/ in Spanish a "hoity toity" pronunciation. In fact, the
idiot made fun of my professor's wife (who is Spanish) for pronouncing
her Spanish that way.

For me, it's a lot more uncomfortable to pronounce d as /D/ since i'm
only conditioned to use it in certain words.


> When I was in Geneva, I used to speak to one of the local shop owners who
> didn't know much English.  She was trying to thank me in English, and it was
> Tenk you.  She wanted instruction, so I told her to put her tongue between
> the tips of her upper and lower front teeth and hiss.  She burst into
> uncontrollable laughter.  I couldn't get her to make the sound, she was so
> distracted by the silliness of it.  So I guess I can relate to Dutch and
> German discomfort!
I tried teaching the above jerkwad student how to pronounce /T/. He
could get /D/ right of course, but /T/ made him appear to be gagging
or vomiting his consonant. He'd made a very comical squinched facial
expression, and force his tongue between his teeth. I had to tell him
"Pronuncia /T/ como el d entre los vocales, y pasa aire entre la
lengua y los dientes" (Pronounce /T/ like the d between vowels and
pass air through the tongue and the teeth). This worked for the other
students, but he still couldn't get it right. I laughed ALL day over
it (with anyone else i'd be sympathetic, but i hated being around him
and being paired with him because he was a jerk)


--
You can turn away from me
but there's nothing that'll keep me here you know
And you'll never be the city guy
Any more than I'll be hosting The Scooby Show

Scooby Show - Belle and Sebastian