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"y" and "r"

From:J Matthew Pearson <pearson@...>
Date:Wednesday, March 28, 2001, 20:24
Raymond Brown wrote, about Uusisuom:

> We are told that "pronunciation of the letters is similar to English, with > these exceptions: > ..... > y = pronounced like 'oo' as in 'bOOt'." > > This unequivocably means that {y} = [u]; I assume {u} does not have the > same sound and that "similar to English" must mean that {u} = [V], i.e. the > 'u' in American & southern British 'but'.
Isn't [u] fronted in Scottish dialects of English, giving "boot" = [by:t]? My guess is that either the author of Uusisuom has Scottish in mind (unlikely), or he is mistaken on how the "oo" in "boot" is pronounced in Standard English.
> I'm less familiar with Russian. My understanding is that the apical trill > was the norm, but that uvular /r/, now common in German as well as French, > is becoming common among younger speakers - but I may be wrong.
I've never heard the Russian "r" pronounced as anything but a trill/flap. Matt.

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Raymond Brown <ray.brown@...>