Re: English syllable structure

On 12/6/2001, Michael Poxon wrote,

> Hmm? /tl/ potlatch... shuttling... hope you haven't caught my "failing to
> engage brain before putting mouth in gear" tendency - for which I apologise.
> It's just enthusiasm really!
I think he means /tl/ will not appear as a first-position cluster
within a syllable.  I still don't know my X-SAMPA very well at all, so
I might have some difficulty describing this, but I would pronounce
your first example as two different words - "pot latch" rather than
"po tlatch" - and your second example as three different syllables,
with the middle one ending in a schwa and somewhat "swallowed"...I
think you would transcribe it /-t@l-/.  Again, forgive the
non-standard description!

--
Steve Kramer   -=oOo=-   scooter at buser dot net
Quote for the indeterminate time period:
  Snow: "It's a strange world."
  Wagner: "Let's keep it that way."
    == from "All Over the World", _Planetary_