Re: laterals (was: Pharingials, /l/ vs. /r/ in Southeast Asia)

Javier BF wrote:
> Another pair of flaws to add to the heap.
Yes, but are there any languages that make a *phonemic* distinction
between "lateral stop" and [t]?  If so, then it is a flaw.  Otherwise,
however, it's not really a flaw, as a design principle in the IPA is
only distinguishing sounds that are contrasted in at least some
languages.  If, on the other hand, they only occur in the affricate
[tK], then there's no need to make a special character, *especially* if
the "normal" [t] does not occur.

Actually, from hearing those Haida sounds, I suspect what you mean by
"lateral stop" is "stop with *lateral release*", which is indicated in
the IPA by a superscript l.

> Sorry, that was an error of mine, because
> the normal laterals (I mean, the usual ones) are of
> course the approximant ones; unlike the normal rhotics
> which are plosive
Are you counting taps/trills as "plosive"?  Because that's what most
rhotics are.  And AFAIK, those aren't normally counted as
plosives/stops.

--
"There's no such thing as 'cool'.  Everyone's just a big dork or nerd,
you just have to find people who are dorky the same way you are." -
overheard
ICQ: 18656696
AIM Screen-Name: NikTaylor42