Re: THEORY: Voiceless vowels [was Re: Missing Parts]

Nik Taylor wrote:
>Word-final devoicing can only occur when the preceding consonant is
>voiceless.  Kaku can be pronounced [kakM_0], but oyogu can only be
>[ojogM] or [ojoNM] (/g/ is optionally [N] when non-word-initial).  And
>also, the devoicing is optional.  As I understand it, _su_ in such cases
>is often pronounced actually as a sort of moraic /s/, such that _desu_
>is something like [des=]
>
How about final nasal plus vowel? I'd assume no devoicing there.

What is the rule for word-medial devoicing?  My impression is "between
voiceless stops", but how about ...s__[vl.stop]... ?  I also have the
impression it involves /i, u/ more than the low vowels??
A friend once maintained that the "correct" pronunciation of _sukiyaki_ was
more like "skiyaki", (I suppose [s=kiyaki]) which seems possible though I've
never noticed it e.g. in Japanese restaurants.

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