Re: word derivation in sabyuka (some principles)

On 14 July, Nik Taylor wrote:

> Christophe Grandsire wrote:
> > How do you pronounce 'r' in Sabyuka? Because I cannot even think of a
> > pronunciation of 'r' that would be impossible to pronounce after 's'.
>
> Trill would be my guess.  An s followed by a trilled r is very
> difficult.  Tap is also difficult after a /s/.
For speakers operating within an English phonological system, perhaps.
I, myself, when speaking Hebrew, pronounce 'sr' all the time! Most
Hebrew heard on the streets uses an 'r' in the back of the mouth.
But for those who use tongue-tip 'r', words such as |srog| (= knit)
and |masrek| (=comb) are no problem. I tend to use both types
of 'r' in my speech, but for some reason, I usually use an
apical-tap/short-trill
after 's', although I am quite capable of following an 's' with
a velar-approximant/uvular-trill.

 > I find myself inserting
> a schwa when I try to pronounce /s*/
Insertion of vowels into un-English coarticulations by English speakers
is well-known over here. One of the more common examples
is the word |pgisha| (= meeting), where English-speakers tend to put a vowel
between the coarticulated 'p' and 'g' so that it comes out something
like  [pIgiSa].

 I, personally, would have trouble imagining an 's' followed by
a _retroflex_ 'r', such as are found in langs spoken in India.
It's too far, IMHO, for the tongue-tip to travel quickly and efficiently.
I would suppose that an 's' would show an allophonic
retroflex form before a retroflex 'r'.

Dan Sulani
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likehsna rtem zuv tikuhnuh auag inuvuz vaka'a

A word is an awesome thing.

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