Re: Phonology: How to classify /l/ and /r/

From: "Fredrik Ekman" <ekman@...>
> > Because they are two different phonemes to you. There are probably
> > sounds that sound alike to you which I find extremely different.
>
> Yes, well, I understand that. What I meant is that there has to be a
> reason why the particular sounds [r] and [l] seem to be relatively
> frequently merged into one phoneme rather than, say, [r] and [f]. Or [l]
> and [j]. I understand that this has to do with the relationships between
> different sounds, but I just do not understand what the relationship
> between [r] and [l] is.
Both are -syllabic +consonantal +approximant +sonorant +contin-artic
+contin-acous +del-rel +vox +coronal +anterior.

But [4] is +tap, while [l] is +lateral.  Not much actual difference...

    *Muke!
--
http://www.frath.net/

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