Danish, English _g_ shifts (was Chinese Dialect Question)

Hello,

Isidora, on Danish:
> I could just swear that /d/ doesn't become a real [D].  It sounds an
> *awful* lot like one, but I don't think that it's truly
> interdental;[...]
The overview of Danish that I have on hand claims it's a 'vocoid', which
seems to say it's an approximant.

> I'm trying to think of a word with a post-vocalic /b/ so that
> I can hear what you wrote about it becoming [w].
Videnskab. Debat.

> (OTOH, I am quite familiar with the
> slightly bizarre phenomenon of Danish /g/ --> [w] or [j].
> It's astonishing
> that that consonant can turn into either of the glides, but it most
> certainly does.
English did that as well, of course - g > [G_j] >  j / _V [+front] - so
_eage_ > _eye_, Swedish _öga_, *_gard_ > _geard_ > _yard_, Sw. _gård_.
Also, g > [G] > w / V_V [- front], so English _own_, Sw. _egen_ (don't
remember the Old English).

Pavel
--
Pavel Iosad               pavel_iosad@mail.ru

Nid byd, byd heb wybodaeth
                 --Welsh saying

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