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Re: A break in the evils of English (or, Sturnan is beautiful)

From:Andreas Johansson <and_yo@...>
Date:Friday, April 26, 2002, 19:11
Daniel Andreasson wrote:
>Andreas Johansson wrote: > > > Does length count? Swedish (at least most variants thereof) > > have [e:], [E:] and [E], but no [e]. [E] is one of the > > commonest sounds, too. > >I've thought about this and it might be that we have [e] as >well. The prefix (now lexicalized) _be-_ in words like >_bedragen_, _besviken_ and _bemedlad_ are definitely pronounced >with an [e]. At least by me. It might be [@] (or even omitted) >in very rapid speech, but it's definitely not [E]. I say these >words: > >[be"drA:g@n] >[be"svi:k@n] >[be"me:dlad] > >Not that it can be contrasted with anything. There aren't >any minimal pairs. > >Thoughts?
In slow and careful speech I appear to have [be;'mA:gEn], [be;'sv_0i:k@n], [be;'me:dlad]. In rapid speech, I seem to have something between [e], [E] and [@] in the initial syllable. Same for the first syllable in words like "teleskop", "telefon". If pressed for an explanation, I'd claim there's an underlaying /e:/. It may be noted that my mother has an phonemic contrast between /e/ and /E/. She won't, for instance, accept that "bäst" and "best" are homophones, and indeed pronounces them as [bEst] and [best]. Presumeably a left-over from her native dialect Västgötska (her speech is pretty much "standard" nowadays). Andreas _________________________________________________________________ Chat with friends online, try MSN Messenger: http://messenger.msn.com