Re: Diom Phonetics

Roger Mills wrote:
>
> David Peterson wrote:
>
> >In a message dated 6/1/01 5:14:43 PM, dstokes@BLOOMINGTON.IN.US writes:
> >
> ><< Preposistions tend to be single consonants attached to their object with
> >an apostrophe (There's another use for you, Yoon Ha). Ex. t'aron "to the
> >woods", s'amaren "with friends". These are pronounced with a short break
> >between the preposistion and the word. The preposistions sound like a
> >short, intense puff of air. When I say them it feels like I build up the
> >air pressure behind my tounge for a moment before releasing the sound. >>
> >
> >    The first time I saw it, I thought it was consonant+glottal stop.  But
> >what you're describing sounds either like an ejective or intense aspiration
> >(like the Klingon aspirate sounds).  I'd have to hear, though, to tell.  An
> >ejective, if it helps, feels like you're holding your breath and you
> really,
> >really just shove that sound out there, despite the fact that you're
> holding
> >your breath the whole time.
>
> Yes, one would have to hear it.  First thought:  the examples given are all
> vowel-initial-- what happens before a consonant? (or are all words
> V-initial, which would be somewhat unusual).  Otherwise it sounds to me like
> an ejective or aspiration, as David says.  Or maybe, in these examples,
> [t@?aron][s@?amarem], where the [@] is VERY brief, perhaps voiceless....?
It's definitly not [t@?aron] etc.; there is no voicing at all on these,
just the aspiration. Now I also think I'll have some preposistions that
are voiced consonants and they would be pronounced with a slight /@/
followed by a glottal stop, but those aren't the ones I'm worried about.

When I try it with words that start with a consonant I get about the
same effect. There is a puff of air, a slight break, and then the noun.
Ex: s'flaetan "with a fish" (?, I don't have a whole lot of vocab yet.)
starts with a hiss of air, the sound stops very briefly, then the
consonants of word are pronounced the same as they would be on their
own. Ther break is slighter than there would be between words, but there
is a definite break and no voiceing.

When I say it in a sentence there does not seem to be any constriction
in my throat (although I can make that sound if I try). So that leads me
to believe it is an intense aspiration but not an ejective.

Thanks for the help

David Stokes