Re: Diphthongs (was Re: 3 q's - X-Sampa)

On Sat, 7 Feb 2004, "M. Astrand" <ysimiss@...> wrote:

> Are there any natural languages that make the difference, having both /aj/
> and /ai/? Or /aw/ and /au/?
  My limited Japanese vocabulary doesn't allow to show you a
minimal pair, but I think, that in Japanese, it is possible for
/aj/ ~ /ai/ (and /oj/ ~ (oi/, /uj/ ~ /ui/) in non word-final
positions.

  Cf. on one hand words like <mayu> /maju/ 'eyebrows' and 'cocoon'
and on the other hand <mai> /mai/ '(Japanese theatrical) dance',
'each, every' etc.

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