Re: USAGE: syllables

On Fri, 2003-06-13 at 22:31, Henrik Theiling wrote:

> Tristan <kesuari@...> writes:
> > /me goes back to trying to remember when it's <then> and when it's
> > <than>... Irritating pair of homophones (IMD). Derive from the same
> > word, too.
>
> Hmm, is that a common collapse of phonemes?
Common in those two words in this area (Melbourne, Australia) at least.
Common when it's /l/, not /n/ in this area (i.e. shell and shall are
both /S&l/). But not common in this area for /&/ and /e/ in general or
before /n/. I think it's because both collapse into /D@n/ on some
occasions, and then /@/ gets stressed into /e/ (or /Den/ maybe is the
more common stressed form).

> L2 alert: I have /Ten/ and /T&n/ (at least that's the idea; both are
> not in my L1, so I have problems pronouncing them automatically).
I think that that (with your /T/->/D/ correction in place) is the
'correct' way of saying it, but I'm not sure.

--
Tristan.