Re: OT: Y/N variants (< OT: English and front rounded vowels)

Mark J. Reed wrote:
>> Don't forget the very similar [a_nha]  (=yes) and [a_n?a] (=no).
>>
>
> Phonemically, those vowels are /V/, which is phonetically something like [3]
> IML but in any case quite distinct from [a] to Anglophonic ears.   What you
> have transcribed is rather "ah-ha!" ("Oh, I see!") and "ah-ah!" ("Oh, no you
> don't! You'd better not do that!").
>
> The "yes" and "no" forms are usually transcribed "uh-huh" and "uh-uh", and
> IME the nasal release is mostly limited to the negative version.
>
> We Anglophones take our grunting seriously. :)
[a?a]. You're wrong on that one. I have Anglophonic ears and I pronounce
/V/ as (central) [a], and so use more-or-less that transcription. In
England I think most people would hear [a] as /&/.

You can't take anything for granted or make generalisations about what
Anglophonic ears do!

(As for me, I have:
  [aha]  = yes
  [aha:] = oh, I see!
  [a?a] or [a?a?] = no, you're wrong
  [a?a:] = oh no you don't!
So as you can see not only do I take grunting seriously, but also length.)

--
Tristan.

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