Re: Not phonetic but ___???

On Fri, Apr 16, 2004 at 06:00:22PM +0300, Steg Belsky wrote:
> Now [&e] is what sounds Texan to me!
Well, I'm in Georgia, which isn't too far off accentwise. :)  Overall I
don't have much of a typical Southern accent, but I suspect that the
alteration of /&/ before voiced velars is indeed due to Southern
influence: "back" /b&k/ is [b&k], but "bag" /b&g/ is [b&eg]; "ban" /b&n/
is [b&n], but "bang" /b&N/ is [b&eN].  In fact, my "bang" sounds a lot
like that of the B-52's in

  o/~ Bang, bang!  On the door, baby!  Bang, bang!   You're what?  o/~

:)

> The vowel used in N'Yawk that i wrote as [e@] probably actually starts
> in between [e] and [E], but that's definitely what it sounds like to
> me.
Either way, it sounds more Suthun than New Yorkish to me.

> There are places out on Long(g) Island where all their vowels sound
> like either [e@] or [O@]  :)
Oh?  And which one of those is the first vowel in "(g)Island"? :)

> is there any way to write the vowels midway between [e]~[E] and [o]~[O]?
Sure.  You can put _l (lowered) on e and o (or 2, @\, 8, and 7, for that
matter), and o; or you can put _r (raised) on E and O (or 9, 3, 3\, and
V).  The choice depends on height the vowels you're seeking are closer
to.  If you're feeing masochistic, you could instead use something like
the series [@++], [@++_o], [@+], [@+_o], [@-], [@-_o], [@--],[@--_o],
where + means "advanced" (further forward in the mouth), - means
"retracted" (further back in the mouth), and _o means "(more) rounded".
:)

-Mark

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