Re: Chinese Dialect Question

On Fri, 10 Oct 2003, Christopher Wright wrote:

> The fortis/lenis distinction is, most of the time, accompanied part and
> parcel by the voiced/unvoiced distinction, at least for consonants. A fortis
> consonant is usually voiceless, and a lenis consonant is usually voiced. But
> the distinction isn't voice itself. It's a tense/lax distinction.
>
> When you pronounce /s/, your tongue and mouth are held tightly in place.
> That keeps the sound even and constant; it also seems to make it louder. On
> the other hand, when you pronounce /z/, your tongue is looser and can move
> around a bit. Therefore /s/ is fortis (in English, at least) and /z/ is lenis.
Try whispering /s/ and /z/ (e.g. whisper the words /sap/ and /zap/). Can
you hear a difference?

> In CXS, we usually use _0 for voiceless things and _v for voiced. However,
> they also see use as fortis/lenis markers. Since [t] has a simple equivalent
> [d], [t_v] would indicate a lenis /t/.
I always understood [t_v] to mean a voiced fortis alveolar stop?


--
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

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