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Re: Elvish ideas ...

From:Chris Bates <christopher.bates@...>
Date:Tuesday, August 19, 2003, 22:19
I probably am wrong.... It might be that since u & u: are allophones my
native language is getting in the way... but I could swear the vowel is
long. *shrugs* Its probably me, I stand corrected. :) Can anyone provide
recordings of u contrasted with u: on their own or with the same
consonants surrounding them?

>Quoting Chris Bates <christopher.bates@...> > > > >>I'm checking my pronunciation again... there's definately a long u in my >>"suit"... "assume" pronounced asu:m feels english but maybe with an >>american accent to me... saying prezju:m that feels like a normal >>pronunciation to me too... >> >> > >I think Mark's point was that for the vast, vast (vast...) >majority of English speakers, vowels are allophonically >lengthened before voiced obstruents. Thus, for a speaker >to have a long [u:] before a voiceless obstruent like in >'suit' is contrary to all expectation. It suggests that >you have a phonemic distinction of length (/u/ v. /u:/) >in addition to one of quality (/u/ v. /U/). > >========================================================================== >Thomas Wier "I find it useful to meet my subjects personally, >Dept. of Linguistics because our secret police don't get it right >University of Chicago half the time." -- octogenarian Sheikh Zayed of >1010 E. 59th Street Abu Dhabi, to a French reporter. >Chicago, IL 60637 > > >