Re: Mbasa Vowels

Tom Wier wrote:


>Quoting David Peterson <DigitalScream@...>:
>
>> In a message dated 10/5/01 4:23:35 PM, alrivera@ALUMNI.SOUTHERN.EDU
>> writes:
>>
>> << It's in rhotic Englishes too, only rhotacized.  /"b3`d/. >>
>>
>>     Which?  I've only seen the central vowel, which is the schwa with a
>> tail on the end.
>
>Officially, the rhotic vowel [3'] is used in stressed syllables
>like "bird", while the rhotic schwa [@'] is used in unstressed
>like "player". In practice, I don't think most really dialects
>distinguish them, at least phonemically.

Not phonemic (complimentary distribution), but for me a definite length
distinction:

last. syl. of "Robert"  vs. "Bert"
(for r-less speakers) last syl. of "rabbet" vs. "Bert"
Definite length in:
"burr" vs. last syl. of "robber"
"bird" vs. last. syl. of "cupboard"