Re: yeah (was Re: Moraic codas)

Andreas Johansson wrote:

> >It's [j&:] for me. But when I see "yea" in a literary context (Elizabethan
> >dialog, for example), I read it as [jE:@] or even [jei], something with
> >relatively higher articulation. Do others make this distinction?
>
> I learnt "yea" = [je_i] in school.
>
> I rather like "yea" and "nay", prehaps because they resemble Swedish "ja"
> [jA:] and "nej" [nEj] more than does "yes" and "no".
In the US today, at least, I believe they are entirely relegated to use in
counting votes in governmental bodies -- hence, CSPAN's count of the
"yeas" and "nays" in Congress.  Does anyone else know of other languages
that have register distinctions like this?

===================================
Thomas Wier | AIM: trwier

"Aspidi men Saiôn tis agalletai, hên para thamnôi
  entos amômêton kallipon ouk ethelôn;
autos d' exephugon thanatou telos: aspis ekeinê
  erretô; exautês ktêsomai ou kakiô" - Arkhilokhos