Re: Arabic Phonetics WAS Re: Primary Interjections - Unversals?

Christophe Grandsire scripsit:

> On the other hand, I usually don't aspirate initial
> voiceless stops when I speak English, because the difference is only allophonic
> and thus I was never taught it.
The trouble is, allophonic for what?  For many English-speakers,
unaspirated voiceless stops are allophones of the voiced stops, not
the voiceless ones.

> I even can pronounce clicks, at least in
> isolation :)) (next step: pronouncing them in words :)) ).
Use Rosta's Observation: it's a whole lot easier to pronounce
the *nasalized* clicks in words, because you don't have to stop and
restart the voicing.  Then the non-nasalized clicks can be done
by coarticulating a glottal stop with the click.

> I'll try that (at home, because at work people are gonna wonder what's
> happening if I begin to make choking sounds :)) ).
Even at home, I got strange looks while practicing bilabial trills.

--
John Cowan <jcowan@...>     http://www.reutershealth.com
I amar prestar aen, han mathon ne nen,    http://www.ccil.org/~cowan
han mathon ne chae, a han noston ne 'wilith.  --Galadriel, _LOTR:FOTR_

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