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Re: IPA vowels

From:H. S. Teoh <hsteoh@...>
Date:Wednesday, September 13, 2000, 2:15
On Tue, Sep 12, 2000 at 07:32:04PM -0400, Nik wrote:
[snip]
> Like an exaggeration of the difference between /i/ and /y/? That is, > like /i/ pronounced with a broad smile?
Yes, that's approximately the idea. Perhaps I should call them the "smiley" vowels :-) <--- ooh look, a smiley! (j/k)
> > u = /u/ y = /y/ > > o = /o/ i = /i/ (possible is /e/ too?) > > Eh? /y/ is rounded, but you have that for "stretched".
Actually, I got that mixed up. The entire first row are rounded vowels. The problem with labelling entire rows/columns with a particular property is that the dimensions I'm using are different from the IPA way of classifying vowels; so it's kinda confusing.
> > The top row vowels, u w y, are what I call "whistling" vowels because they > > are highly rounded and sound like whistling :-) > > Highly rounded? Then what's unrounded mean?
Unrounded = neutral, approximately. [snip]
> To be honest, I'm not sure what the sounds are!
[snip] OK, let me try to describe them again, hopefully more clearly this time :-) First row vowels: u w y u is closest to /u/ (note, I'm using SAMPA here) y is closest to /y/ w is like the rounded form of /3/ or /@/. Someone suggested it should be /3/ since the pronunciation is deliberate, and not just a "generic" vowel that the schwa sound tends to be. These are all close vowels, but w is pronounced with a wider "smile" (using your description) than u, and y is pronounced with a wider "smile" than w. (This means y isn't quite /y/, but /y/ is close enough that I'm happy to represent it that way.) Second row vowels: o 3 i These vowels are pronounced with the "medium" aperture, or neutral, if you like. So, o is pronounced with the neutral (most relaxed) rounded aperture; 3 is pronounced with the neutral, unrounded aperture, but with a slight "grin" in term of horizontal aperture; i is a tense vowel pronounced also with a neutral aperture (but could be slightly closer) -- I think it's closest to /i/ (rhymes with English "see"). Third row vowels: 0 a e These vowels are open vowels: 0 is pronounced with the same horizontal aperture as o -- basically you start with o and drop your mouth wide open :-) Note that 0 is a back vowel. a is pronounced by starting with 0 and giving it a wider horizontal aperture -- it would be somewhat like a center vowel. e is pronounced by starting with 0 and basically stretching your lips open as if you were yelling -- it's somewhat like a front vowel. Note that these descriptions are a little exaggerated in order to convey the distinctions made by native speakers. My conlang isn't just a jumble of whistling and bellowing :-) T