Re: Latin vowel inventory

On Wed, 30 Jul 2003, Andreas Johansson wrote:

> Quoting Tristan McLeay <zsau@...>:
>
> >     The less common diphthongs oe and eu are best pronounced as they are
> > written (o+e, e+u). In 'cui', 'hui' the ui is to be pronounced as a
> > dipthong, somewhat as in 'ruinous'; but 'qui:' is [kwi:].
>
> I have three syllables in "ruinous", and like to think that I in this mimic
> most nativers I've heard.
I interpreted the 'somewhat' to mean 'like the ui in "ruinous", except as
a diphthong'. (For me, ruinous is /ru.@n@s/, and could as easily be spelt
<ruernice>.)

> So, is there some (obsolete?) variety of English English that have a
> monosyllabic pronunciation of "ruin", or have I, due to people like the
> abovementioned Americans, acquired an unusual pronunciation here?
No, yours is perfecttly normal. I imagine.

--
Tristan                  <kesuari@...>

Yesterday I was a dog. Today I'm a dog. Tomorrow I'll probably still
be a dog. Sigh! There's so little hope for advancement.
                -- Snoopy