Re: Semitic rhotic questions

On Saturday, November 8, 2003, at 12:03  AM, John Cowan wrote:
> Adam Walker scripsit:
>> So what do Sephardic and other dialects have for resh?
>
> [4] ~ [r].  But what Yemenite Jews do, I have no idea.
>
> --
> Deshil Holles eamus.  Deshil Holles eamus.  Deshil Holles eamus.
> Send us, bright one, light one, Horhorn, quickening, and wombfruit.
> (3x)
> Hoopsa, boyaboy, hoopsa!  Hoopsa, boyaboy, hoopsa!  Hoopsa, boyaboy,
> hoopsa!
>   -- Joyce, _Ulysses_, "Oxen of the Sun"       jcowan@reutershealth.com
I think [4].  Next time I go to the local Yemenite synagogue I'll make
sure to pay attention better to their |r|s.  I can tell you, though,
that they pronounce |vav| as [w], |patahh| (/a/) and |segol| (/E/) as
something like [&], and non-geminated /t/ as [T].  And /o:/ as some
kind of mid-central rounded vowel which is almost, but not quite,
forwards enough to sound like a rounded [e].

But in actuality there are (if i remember correctly) 5 separate
Yemenite dialects.

-Stephen
  "i am against big cities; they bring out the worst in men."
      ~ david ben-gurion