Re: Is this a realistic phonology?

Steg Belsky wrote:

> But don't stops have to....well, stop?
> There's only so long that i can hold on to a /b/ without it dying or
> coming out by itself, but nasals can just go on forever.  or at least as
> long as your lungs can :) .
Right, but nasals *do* stop.  Think about it:  when you place
your tongue in the formation to make an /m/, you are placing
your tongue as if it were a /b/, and completely blocking all flow
of air out the mouth.  The only difference, then, is that the little
flap that controls air flow through the nasal cavity is open when
you're producing an /m/, and so, considered from the point of
view of the oral cavity, it certainly is a stop.  It's just that other
mitigating influences occur to alter the phonetic realization of
that stop.

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Tom Wier <artabanos@...>
ICQ#: 4315704   AIM: Deuterotom
Website: <http://www.angelfire.com/tx/eclectorium/>
"Cogito ergo sum, sed credo ergo ero."

There's nothing particularly wrong with the
proletariat. It's the hamburgers of the
proletariat that I have a problem with. - Alfred Wallace
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