Re: NATLANG: Long/Short Variations in English

Rob Haden wrote:
> I was wondering if anyone had an explanation for some long/short
> variations
> of words in English.  Here are the words:
>
> "a": /@/ ~ /a/ vs. /e:/ (< /a:/)
This one I'm unsure about, but one does hear lots of people using [e] where
[@] would be expected.  Once upon a time, [e] was emphatic, sometimes you
can still glimpse emphasis, but not always. Sometimes, it also seems to be
replacing "an", so maybe we're getting an alternation [@] before C, [e]
before V, parallel to [D@] ~[Di].  Sais pas. A puzzlement.

> "the": /D@/ vs. /Di:/ (< /De:/)
See above. [Di:] is simply the variant called for before an initial vowel.
Individual usage does vary, but isn't "supposed" to........

"The man..." [D@'m&n], "the apple..." [Di'(j)&p@l] vs.
"_The_ man" ['Di'm&n] emphatic, OK; "the apple" ?*[D@'&p@l] not particularly
euphonious, usually requires a glottal stop [D@'?&ap@l] and frankly sounds
wrong to fuddy-duddies like me........

> "to": /t_h@/ vs. /t_hu:/ (< /t_ho:/)
> "you": /j@/ ~ /ja/ vs. /ju:/
These are simply fast/informal speech vs. slower/more formal.