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Re: New Try from a New Guy

From:Josh Brandt-Young <vionau@...>
Date:Saturday, December 14, 2002, 19:27
Quoth H. S. Teoh:

> The IPA is not intended to represent every possible sound, since there is > practically an infinite number of variations, differing from person to > person, from region to region, etc.. AFAIK, a sound is only included in > the IPA chart if there is a known natlang which makes a *phonemic* > distinction between that sound and the next closest sound.
...and with the vowels, it's even less "true to life"--the positions of IPA vowels were chosen not because of their inclusion in natlangs, but because of their geometric position. [i], then, is defined as the vowel absolutely maximally high and front (max F1 and F2, technically), [u] is the vowel maximally high and back and rounded, etc.; but the creators of the chart weren't basing these values on extant forms in any language--they were just trying to create some stable reference points. -Josh ---------- Josh Brandt-Young <vionau@...> "After the tempest I behold, once more, the weasel." (Mispronunciation of Ancient Greek)