Re: Questions (mostly about phonemics)

From: Leon Lin
Sent: Sunday, January 21, 2007 12:24 AM
"Hello,

These have been confusing me to the point that I start to try to figure them
out in public. People sometimes stare at me when I repeat a phoneme/word
over and over again.

1. Is it possible to distinguish two final unreleased consanants? i.e. Is
there a sound difference between "back there" and "bat there""

For me they sound very similar in rapid speech, but the articulation is
different. The <t> in "bat there" is a glottal stop with a lowered tongue
(in the [a] position), whereas with "back there" the tongue occludes in
velar position accompanied by a glottal stop. For me at least.



2. I have heard some people call words with syllabic consanants like
"button" a 'nasal release'. Isn't this just a glottal stop followed by an
/n/?

For me - yes: ["bU?n_=]



3. Is stress also accompanied by a raise in pitch (in English)?

I can't answer that just yet - my variety of English can be quite sing
songy. I haven't observed its intonation pattern enough to give you
anything.