A discourse on Phonemics (was: Re: E and e (was: A break

Roger Mills scripsit:

> >Okay, maybe you have to look at it from my point of view. Which may be
> >entirely flawed, but still. [i:] is about as long as the [A:] in
> >'heart'. The vowel in 'heart' is distinguished from the vowel in 'hut'
> >by one thing: length.
>
> Not in quality too?? hut [hat] vs. heart [hA:t]?? Just guessing. If so, then
> phonemically you are only contrasting [low central] with [low back], with
> the length of the latter being predictable  (compensatory length due to loss
> of the _r_). But if not, if you truly have [hAt] vs. [hA:t], then there has
> been a merger, and a real change in your phonemic system.
No, Tristan is perfectly correct:  "heart" and "hut" are [ha:t] and [hat].
Australian English has no low back vowels at all, and the length of [a]
is phonemicized.  (This on Nick Nicholas's authority.)

--
John Cowan <jcowan@...>     http://www.reutershealth.com
I amar prestar aen, han mathon ne nen,    http://www.ccil.org/~cowan
han mathon ne chae, a han noston ne 'wilith.  --Galadriel, _LOTR:FOTR_

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