Re: USAGE: ei and ej (was: Front vowel tensing)

tristan alexander mcleay wrote:

> Anything to do with australian or british phonemics i've seen uses /ai/
> as a single syllable. /naif/ vs /naiji:v/ is what i have, /p&i/ vs
/p&ijIN/.
> And, IME (experience), the brits use /eI/ for 'pay', unless they are
> northern and use [e:].
I don't know why but the phrase "unless they are northern" made me giggle.
You seem to imply that all non-RP dialects are "northern". Also, I would
think of /pe:/ as much more of a posh pronunciation than my /p&@j/.

> And so its /peI/ vs /peIIN/, I think.
/p@jIN/, actually, if people are civilised and come from the midlands. Bear
in mind that most English people (the distinction is still preserved in
Wales and Scotland IIRC) pronounce the verb ending -ing as /In/, anyway.

Dan

----------------------------------
La plus belle fois qu'on m'a dit
          "je t'aime"
                   c'était un mec
                             qui me l'a dit...
Francis Lalane
----------------------------------
----- Original Message -----

Replies