Re: Diving In...

From: "Almaran Dungeonmaster" <dungeonmaster@...>
> > A sample of SAMPAfication of Dutch phonemes is on this page:
> > http://www.phon.ucl.ac.uk/home/sampa/dutch.htm
> >
> > And for English English:
> > http://www.phon.ucl.ac.uk/home/sampa/english.htm
>
> According to these pages the /r/ in english "wrong" and the /r/ in dutch
> "rand" are the same, but to me, they sound vastly different.
>
> Is there something wrong with my ears, or am I misunderstanding something?
No, you're probably right.[1]  Most languages that have just one rhotic sound
have it transcribed as /r/, just for convenience.[2]  (If you do this you
generally might add a little note saying what the /r/ actually is.)

> As a matter of fact, I have problems with all the r and l sounds in the
> phonetic alphabet... is there anyone who can explain what all of them sound
> like?
Well....
the regular /r/ for its own sake is the trilled "rr" in Spanish.
The one spelled /4/ (in IPA, looks like an <r> without its upper left serif) is
a tap, like "r" in Spanish or the sound spelled <dd> or <tt> in English (brudda,
mutter, etc.)

The IPA-Help page I listed has sound files for all of them, I believe.


        *Muke!
[1] I can only say "probably" because I've never heard Dutch "r" before
personally.
[2] Really convenient in this case, since "American /r/" is such a bizarre sound
I wouldn't even begin to be able to understand how to symbolize.