Re: CHAT: (no subject)

> Also, I appreciate the X-SAMPA chart. However my primary problem was not
that I didn't have access to the conversion tables, but rather that I don't
understand the sound descriptions. They don't tell me which sounds are which
in terms which I could possibly understand, such as "This symbol represents
a as it is pronounced in Spanish," or the equivalent thereof. So if anybody
could give me some of the basic sounds, I would be very appreciative.

Such is fairly impossible. Some dialects of English pronounce "merry",
"marry", and "Mary" all differently. Mine does not. So if someone says "it's
like the 'e' in 'merry'", it does not tell me anything.

Incidentally, I have the same problem you have with a lot of the sounds. I
need to relate them to sounds that I actively know (usually in English).

There are a few websites floating around where they have someone pronouncing
all of the sounds. I found it rather helpful. If you google ipa enough you
should find something.

-Keith