Re: USAGE: syllables
| From: | Jan van Steenbergen <ijzeren_jan@...> |
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| Date: | Friday, June 13, 2003, 10:41 |
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--- Joe skrzypszy:
> > In my understanding, the minimum phoneme for a
> > syllable is a vowel. (Then there's Russian which uses
> > single consonants as prepositions :)).)
>
> A single 'vocalic' would be a better term. Including syllabic consonants.
Except that those consonants are not syllabic at all. Since a preposition will
never appear on its own, it can easily form a close unit with the word it
preceeds (almost making it a prefix). This is ultimately proven by the fact
that in certain cases it breaks the omnipresent law in Slavic linguistics that
final yers always disappear, for example (in Polish):
_z_ "with" > _ze mnã_ "with me"
_w_ "in" > _we mnie_ "in(to) me"
In other cases, it would be incorrect to pronounce the preposition
syllabically: _w domu_ "at home" should be pronounced ['vdOmu].
In Ukrainian also the opposite exists: when preceded by a vowel, initial
consonants can become non-syllabic semivowels:
_i_ "and" > _j_
_u_ "at, with" > _v_ [w]
Correct me if I'm wrong, Yitzik.
Jan
=====
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