Re: Love Those Double Vowels (was: Diving In...)

En réponse à Adam Walker <dreamertwo@...>:

>
> So there are several of them then.  English *does* have minimal pairs
> for
> /T/ and /D/.
>
> Thy / thigh
I didn't know the word 'thigh' :)

> Thin / then
I've learned /TIn/ and /DEn/. I cannot even imagine a dialect that confuses /I/
and /E/.

> ether / either
True in dialects that pronounce 'either' /i:D@(`)/. Personally, I was taught to
say /AjD@/, and most English-speaking people I know freely alternate between
both pronunciations.

> with her / wither
>
:))

> Now, admitedly, thy is archaic, the second one depends on dialect, and
> the
> last one involves reduced speech, and even the third one probably
> doesn't
> contrast in many dialects, but for my dialect I found 4 mp's in about
> 5
> mins.
>
I was just making a joke! :)) But seriously, when deciding about the phonemic
inventory of a language, the speakers' instinct is as important as the actual
contrasts existing.

Christophe.

http://rainbow.conlang.free.fr

Take your life as a movie: do not let anybody else play the leading role.

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