Re: Harsh vs. Soft Sounds
| From: | H. S. Teoh <hsteoh@...> |
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| Date: | Friday, August 29, 2003, 18:56 |
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On Fri, Aug 29, 2003 at 11:36:13AM -0700, JS Bangs wrote:
[snip]
> But in any case, "harsh" vs. "soft" is a pretty subjective distinction,
> and you haven't really defined it.
Indeed it is.
> I prefer "soft" sounding languages, by which I mean languages dominated
> by voiceless sounds and without too many velars or other "gutterals".
[snip]
To me, voiceless sounds are "harsher" than voiced sounds. Velars aren't
harsh by my standards unless they are devoiced. Aspirated sounds are
always harsh. Quite the opposite of your definition of "soft"; except that
I also agree that "gutteral" sounds are harsh.
So to have any meaningful discussion of "harsh" or "soft", one really
needs to define it precisely, as you point out, rather than assume that
others would share the same subjective perception.
T
--
Help a man when he is in trouble and he will remember you when he is in
trouble again.
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