Japanese small tsu (was Re: Tsuhon: tentative phonology)

On Thu, May 03, 2001 at 10:31:14AM -0700, SuomenkieliMaa wrote:
> I just have not come to understand the variations that
> occur at the end of some words.  Don't have details,
> just heard that once...  Well, in Japanese they have
> the small kana "tsu" intercept in the event you want
> to make the following syllable's initial consonant
> doubled.  So, "matto" is spelled with the small kana
> "tsu" after "ma" and before "to" -- and the double "t"
> would be said with aspiration prior to it.  Now, that
> to me is (among other things in J.) atrocious!
Aspiration? I've never noticed that. Can anyone else corroborate this?

Anyway, I quite like geminate/doubled/long consonants*, but I find that the
trouble with them is that I often feel like replacing e.g. /t/ with /tt/
where it doesn't belong, when saying things in Italian or Japanese. It seems
odd to me, for some reason, to have intervocalic voiceless stops that aren't
geminate/doubled/long.

* Yeah, I know there's a difference, but I don't remember offhand what that
difference is. But one should not be tempted to explain the difference to
me, as it's been gone over much on this list already; I can simply look it
up :)

--
Eric Christopherson / *Aiworegs Ghristobhorosyo

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