Re: Harsh vs. Soft Sounds

On Fri, Aug 29, 2003 at 09:35:38PM +0200, Andreas Johansson wrote:
> Quoting "H. S. Teoh" <hsteoh@...>:
[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.
>
> I've always felt that voiceless stops are "clearer", or "purer", than voiced
> ones. Similarly with spirant frics, but for some reason not sibilants - [z]
> and [Z] sounds at least as nifty as [s] and [S].
[snip]

A matter of upbringing and personal taste, I guess. I find [s] a pleasant
sound (although not when used excessively), but [S] and [Z] are just
"sloppy" to me. On the scale of "harshness", however, [s] ranks as "harsh"
whereas [S] and [Z] are soft and softer, in that order.


T

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