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

From:Benct Philip Jonsson <bpj@...>
Date:Saturday, November 6, 2004, 14:03
Ray skrifaði:

> > It seems to me a slightly odd mentality to claim that pronouncing English > or modern Greek _properly_ is something to be ashamed of. When the reason > given is that [T] is a mark of 'speech defect', it seems to me just a > little insulting to those members of this list who do have various > physical disfunctions.
Indeed I would have felt ashamed not to have pronounced /T/ properly when speaking Icelandic or English, esp. as the substitytion of [t] for Icelandic /T/ is seen as the carachteristic of onetime Danish colonial administrators who didn't care to acquire a good command of Icelandic! This doesn't mean that I never slip -- I do quite frequently at least in English! --, but the occasional slip is IMO another thing than refusing to attempt a correct pronunciation based on whatever prejudice. I don't speak Modern Greek, but when reading Ancient Greek I make an effort to use [T] for theta, even though most Swedish Graecist don't bother after their initial training. -- /BP 8^) -- Benct Philip Jonsson -- melroch at melroch dot se Solitudinem faciunt pacem appellant! (Tacitus)

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Andreas Johansson <andjo@...>