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Re: Lax counterpart of [&]?

From:Isidora Zamora <isidora@...>
Date:Saturday, September 13, 2003, 14:14
[See below for transcript of several messages exchanged.]

Now I'm really confused!  From looking at the charts, I was under the
impression that [&] was a low front (tense) *rounded* vowel.  But I'm
pretty certain that I don't pronounce "path" and "pat" with a rounded
vowel, but with an unrounded one.  I've always thought that it was [{] that
I used for those.

BTW, Americans from the state of Wisconsin, besides giving the impression
of pronouncing the name of their home state at "Wizgonsin", have a definite
tendency to pronounce "bag" as "beg", from what I can remember, which is
similar to the South African example given below.

Another by the way...Can anyone help me out by giving me the transcription
and/or the phonetic description of the pronunciation of the Danish slashed
o?  (Koebenhavnsk dialects preferred, since that is what I am familiar
with.)  In looking over the vowel charts, I found two separate non-high
front rounded vowels ([9] and [&]) and would like to know which I have been
hearing and pronouncing.  And, while you're at it, could you kindly provide
the transcriptional symbol and/or phonetic description for the Danish ae
ligature?

Isidora


At 02:35 PM 9/12/03 -0500, you wrote:
>John Cowan wrote: > >>Isidora Zamora scripsit: >> >> >> >>>(I haven't yet decided whether I'm using [a] or [A], as >>>a matter of fact, I am none too clear on what the diference in sound is >>>between those two vowels. Can anyone point me in the right direction? >>> >> >>Well, if you listen to the difference between the Boston and RP versions of >>most words that other Americans use [&] for, like "path", "grass", etc., >>you will hear [a] in New England and [A] in Old England. >> >> >> >>>BTW, I looked through the various vowel charts at the back of the _Phonetic >>>Symbol Guide_, and I could't find anything that looked like it could >>>possibly be a lax low front rounded vowel. >>> >> >>The articulatory facts are that [&] only exists in ATR form, and the RTR >>equivalent >>is [E]. No matter how low your jaw gets, you only produce [E] until you >>add ATR >>as well. This is probably why modern RP has switched for the most part from >>[&] to [E] in rendering /&/, while moving /E/ up a bit -- it's easier to say. >>American as usual remains more conservative. >> >> >I thought accents like South African had [&] to [E] so they make <pat> >sound like <pet> > >David Barrow

Replies

Mark J. Reed <markjreed@...>
Isidora Zamora <isidora@...>