Re: English {phth} (was: Hellenish oddities)

On Fri, 24 Nov 2000, Nik Taylor wrote:

> Lars Henrik Mathiesen wrote:
> > In Danish (as in English) the official pronunciation is /sf-/, but
> > (unlike English) there really aren't any word in common use where it
> > is initial.
>
> There aren't in English either.  Sphere is the *only* word that I know
> of with an initial /sf/, which is quite odd.  Not only is it the only
> case of initial /sf/, but the only case of two fricatives in an initial.
Sphagnum, sphalerite, sphenoid, sphincter, sphinx, sphygmomanometer,
and their derivatives.

--
John Cowan                                   cowan@ccil.org
One art/there is/no less/no more/All things/to do/with sparks/galore
        --Douglas Hofstadter