Re: Vowels?
| From: | Chris Palmer <cecibean@...> |
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| Date: | Wednesday, January 23, 2002, 21:56 |
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On Wednesday, January 23, 2002, at 01:12 , Christophe Grandsire wrote:
> Well, you ask a difficult thing, for the simple reason that such a
> definition
> doesn't exist. In fact, there is a continuum between pulmonic sounds,
> from the
> most closed or most consonant-like (the stops) to the most open or
> vowel-like
> (the low vowels).
Now, now, don't confuse the man. :) There is a clear break between vowels
and consonants, and that is physical contact between articulators. We can
draw a clear line between, for example, /i/ and /c,/ (c cedilla, a palatal
fricative).
> In between, there is a blurred frontier of sounds that can be
> used both as vowels or consonants (the so-called semi-vowels or semi-
> consonants).
The sole phonetic difference between /i/ and /j/ is whether or not they
are the head of a syllable (the former is, the latter is not). It's a
matter of rhythm (prosody), not articulation. The only blurred frontier is
between shades of phones as they are performed, but phonemically, the
boundaries between consonants and vowels are usually quite clear.
Having said that, I'm sure someone will pipe up with an anecdote about a
language that has both /i/ and a syllabic /c,/...
--
Chris
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