Re: Pronouncing new sounds in new languages

Andreas Johansson sikayal:

> Daniel44 wrote:
> >My French is not perfect, but I think the 'y' sound in Uusisuom is very
> >similar to the 'u' sound in the word 'lune'. I also realised yesterday that
> >the 'u' sound in Uusisuom is very similar to the 'u' in the Italian word
> >'pUnto'. In short, the 'u' sound is shorter and more 'tense' than the 'y'.
>
> GAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAK! AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARGHHHH! OUCH!
> [falling to my knees, banging my head in concrete floor]
Oh, I sympathize with you.  This whole {y} v. {u} discussion has gotten
entirely out of hand.

Daniel, if you have any intention of telling us how to pronounce Uusisuom,
please please PLEASE learn some IPA.  That's the *International Phonetic
Alphabet* and it can solve all of our problems.  No more confusion over
your (mis)interpretation of French sounds their relation to English
vowels.  No more arguments about tense and lax.  Just one, universally
agreed upon standard that can describe most sounds unambiguously.  Then,
once you know some real linguistics, come back and explain Uusisuom to us.
You'll be able to do it clearly and without all of this arguing, and you
won't drive poor Andreas to suicide.

> But I won't try to understand anything about Uusisuom
> phonology until you've attained a firm command of IPA and X-SAMPA. Just in
> order to keep my nerves intact.
Exactly.

Jesse S. Bangs jaspax@u.washington.edu

"If you look at a thing nine hundred and ninety-nine times, you are
perfectly safe; if you look at it the thousandth time, you are in
frightful danger of seeing it for the first time."
--G.K. Chesterton