Re: Zetowvu / Ezotwuv (new conlang)

Peter Bleackley wrote:
> Staving Arthaey Angosii:
>
>> And since length is not phonemic in English, maybe I could even be
>> "Zarylse" if you're calling for me -- syllable lengthening (hehe, I
>> wanted
>> to say "lengthification" <grin>) and all that.
>
>
> Length not phonemic in English? I'll see your "Length not phonemic in
> English" and raise you two minimal pairs.
>
> Buck/Book
> rum/room
>
> It's not my fault if southerners can't pronounce them right!
Please don't do this to me, this (English pronunciation) is a forbidden
topic but hard to resist (knowing how everyone else's dialects work is
too interesting)...

Length is phonemic in some dialects of English, but not others. Because
most recognised standard dialects (i.e. General American and RP)
(theoretically) don't have phonemic length, it's generally said that
English lacks it.

However, I thought that it was a tense-lax distinction between /rUm/ and
/ru:m/ if you'd forgotten to unround and lower your short Us. Real
phonemic length is found in really southern places, like Australia,
where we have buck/bark, head/haired or bid/beard. It's hardly my fault
if notherners can't pronounce them right!

Tristan.