Re: Syllable-Initial /N/

On Tue, Apr 01, 2003 at 08:52:27PM -0500, Sally Caves wrote:
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "H. S. Teoh" <hsteoh@...>
>
> > Initial [N] isn't at all exotic. But I can't speak for others here, since
> > my L1 is filled with these things. :-)
>
> Teonaht: ngadol, "meat." ngorik, "throat." ngallinga, "abscess."  ngordaf,
> "murder."  Mostly bad concepts.
Now, that's interesting. Initial /N/ in Ebisedian is also associated with
bad concepts or negative things: _ngaa'i_ - enmity, ill-will; _nga'fe_ -
to ensnare;  _nga'tama_ - to speak evil of; _ngar3gi'_ - heel (from the
idea of treading on one's enemy with one's heel). However, you also have
innocuous words like _ngisi'_, "nose". Nothing bad about noses, unless you
associate it with boastfulness (pointing one's nose up) -- but this
connotation doesn't exist in Ebisedian.

> dzabraned, "waver," "go back and forth"; dzabravar, "whisk, fan."  dzadr,
> "sulphur,"  a voicing of the very common initial ts sound in Teonaht.
>
> Lots of initial lr's:  lrapa, "toe"; lre, "finger"; lravvorka, "hostility";
> lreifned/rem, "draw, attract", etc.
Wow. Well, Ebisedian is cluster-shy; it has very limited clusters only,
and only boring old stuff like /kr/, /gr/, /pr/, /br/, etc.. And even
these aren't very frequent.

> Lots of voiceless nasals:  hmeo, "sir"; hman, "bread"; hmened, "must, be
> obligated to"; hmekorem, "cleanse"; hnavvoa, "tunnel, subterranean
> passage"  etc.  NOT the Welsh pronunciation.  You actually hiss through
> your nose.
How *do* you pronounce a voiceless nasal anyway?

> In some regions, the Teonaht "r" is a retroflex flap.  You curl the tongue
> back and bring it forward against your palate.
[snip]

The Ebisedian /r/ is also a retroflex flap, I believe. It's sorta like
flapping the tip of your tongue against the palate from back to front.

[snip]
> > It's not *that* alien-sounding... even English speakers do it sometimes,
> > just unconsciously. If you want alien-sounding, pronounce /v/ as [B] or
> > something (like Ebisedian does). :-P
>
> Don't boast, Teoh!  <G>
[snip]

:-P  Yeah I know, I got a bit carried away there. :-)


T

--
Bare foot: (n.) A device for locating thumb tacks on the floor.

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