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Re: USAGE: English, Masculine, Feminine

From:Joe <joe@...>
Date:Tuesday, June 15, 2004, 5:38
Paul Bennett wrote:

> On Tue, 15 Jun 2004 00:42:55 +0100, Michael Poxon <m.poxon@...> > wrote: > >> In British English (at least in my fairly-RP version) these three are >> all >> distinct: >> Mary = /me:rij/ "short" e > > Yes, that's /e:/ in CXS.
And /E:/ in my dialect.
> >> Marry = /m&rij/ > > Are you sure it's /&/? /&/ is a sound midway between /a/ and /E/, and is > actually quite rare in British English -- so much so that I mentally > assign the attribute "foreigner" whenever I hear it. There are several > non-IPA systems in which the symbol {ae-ligature} is used for the sound > that is /a/ in CXS and the symbol {a} is used for the sound that is > /A/ in > CXS (or the sound that is between /a/ and /A/ in CXS), among them the > system used for Old English (IIRC). >
Um, no, /&/ is the standard transcription for the vowel in cat. It's certainly not either /E/ or /a/. The British English version is closer to [a], but it's certainly not [a]. /&/ is the best transcription for it.

Reply

John Cowan <cowan@...>