Re: Sorting out those phonetics

Adrian Morgan wrote:

> I'm pretty sure that [&] -> cat,
I think you pronounce "cat" as [kEjt], with diphthongization.
But maybe not.

> [a] -> cut,
> [a:] -> cart, [a:] -> father, [&i] -> bait,
> [ai] -> bite (although, with the last two, I have
> trouble telling the difference between [I] and
> [i] when they occur in a diphthong). The vowel in
> 'boot', I can never remember if it's [U] or [u];
> I think it's the former. If so, then I *think* that
> [VU] -> boat.
RP, at least, is [@U], a little lower.  I think that Australian
English simply doesn't have [V] at all.  It is the vowel of
"cut" as pronounced by Americans (see your television set).

> I'm not at all clear what [A] is. The "Ah" as in,
> "Ah, so that's it!" is definately [a:], no?
Yes.  This is the vowel of "father" as again pronounced by
Americans.

> Nor
> have I grasped [E] and how it differs from [e].
It's lower than [I] and is the American vowel in "sit".

> As for [Q], I'm not sure exactly but I *think* it's
> sort of between [a] and the vowel in 'bot' (which,
> IIRC, is [O]?).
It is [A] with lip rounding: some but not all Americans
use it in "law".

> Being Australian is a distinct disadvantage when
> all sources on phonetics are British or American
You betcha.  But American and British television and movies
are everywhere; make, buy, or borrow some tapes and listen
to the way we talk.  :-)

--

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