Re: Allophone Problem

Hallo!

On Sat, 9 Jun 2007 01:40:33 +0200, Henrik Theiling wrote:

> Hi!
>
> Jörg Rhiemeier wrote:
> > [...]
> >
> > It is - at least in my idiolect - like this:
> >
> > Voiceless stops are not only voiceless, they are also aspirated (except
> > in clusters).  In word-final position, voiced stops are devoiced, but
> > unlike voiceless stops they are not aspirated.  So you have
> >...
>
> I find this surprising!
>
> Actually, I doubt there is, in the vast majority of German dialects,
> any difference of final -/d/ and final -/t/.  My dialect for one, I am
> sure, has a perfect merger.  If I don't know a spelling, it is
> impossible for me to judge how to write that word without checking
> related forms with a following vowel.
>
> Given that spelling mistakes are made often and that children at
> school are taught to check derived forms suggests that usually, people
> have a full merger.  I think I have never heard or read about a
> difference in German between final devoiced and final voiceless
> phones.
>
> There are many dialects out there so you never know whether *some*
> retain a difference, but I am especially surprised because I know that
> you come from quite close to my place of growing up.
>
> Are there any papers supporting you about this difference in German?
> Analyses of recordings or something like that?
No.  It was simply my own observation about the way I speak.  I have to
admit, though, that the difference isn't all that clear in my casual
speech.  I repeatedly said "Rat" and "Rad" and tried to spot a difference,
and I *think* I found the difference I posted about.  It may well be an
artifact of over-careful pronunciation, and after all, it is *just my
idiolect*.  Your mileage may vary.

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