OT: /x\/ (was: English and front rounded vowels)

>Mr Veoler skrev:
> > Mark J. Reed wrote:
> >> It came up because I have a Swedish coworker named Skold,
> >> and I just found out that it's really Sköld /j\2ld/ (not
> >> sure about the CXS for the sje-sound) - the Swedish word
> >> for "shield".
> >
> > As for my 'lect, I pronounce the initial consonant in
> > "sköld" as [x].
>
>Don't all sensible people? ;-)
>
>But seriously the 'sj-sound' is the most variable of all
>Swedish phonemes. I think most people nowadays have [X] --
>the Swedish sound is much backer and raspier than Russian
>[x] -- but a large minority have [S] or [s`] and thus merger
>with /rs/ -- to them _försköna_ 'beautify' and _försöka_
>'attempt' are an /n/--/k/ minimal pair! --, while some have
>[XS)] aka [x\], the radio announcers' pronunciation of
>choice, and still others have [x\p\)] with *three*
>obstructions of the vocal tract, which was my father's
>pronunciation, and some have [X_w] as I do.
>
>I'd still recommend English speakers to use their /S/ for
>the 'sj-sound' and their /tS/ for the 'tj-sound'. While
>clearly a foreign accent (except to Finland-Swedes) it
>precludes misunderstanding.
>Benct Philip Jonsson
BTW, would you happen to kno if anyone actually labiodentalizes the sound
anymore? Lingual details aside ([s`_P] ~ [f_G]...), that's what, over here
in Finland, is AIUI thought of as the "pedantical" pronunciation. (While, as
you say, "everyone sensible" here uses [S] ~ [s\] ~ [s`].)

John Vertical

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