Re: English syllable structure

Josh Roth/ Nik Taylor replied:
>>Roger Mills wrote:
>>> /labial-w.../ occurs only in the
>>> loan 'bwana'; /Cj.../
>>
>>And the loan "pueblo", not to mention place names like Puerto Rico and
>>Buenos Aires
>
>I've never heard of "bwana", but "pueblo" is fine. Unless I'm speaking
>Spanish, I don't pronounce Puerto Rico with /pw/, I say /pOr\4/..., as if
it
>were spelled "Porto."
Yes, I forgot about those; but are there enough such (ultimately) foreign
words in Engl. to warrant saying the Engl. syllable structure has changed?
I'd like to think that {{no labial - /w/}} makes a valid generalization.

"Bwana" is a probably out of date, non-PC, pseudo-African word that I
remember from comic and old childrens' books (late 30s/40s) -- it meant
"boss, master".  Source language unknown.  I'd bet that [bw...] is an Anglo
attempt at implosive b.

>>> only if followed by /uw/, except for 'piano'
>>
>>I say /pi'&no/ for "piano".  Is that not usual?
>
>Quite usual, around here anyway.
>
>>> 'chiaroscuro'
>>
>>Never encountered that word, but I'd say /kia/.
Art-speak.  From Ital. "light - dark", referring to a technique of shading,
I think.

>Same here ... well actually /kiA/.
>
Apparently a dialect split here; I say [pj&no] [kjar...].  So for your
dialects, the rule has no exceptions. My dialect also has no /ju/ after
alveolars; others do.

Here's a dialect question:  how do people pronounce (if you do):   "sumac"
sp. of scrubby, weedy tree' (not the amazing Peruvian singer of years
back.).
Me:  ['sum&k].   Several Michiganites of my acquaintance: ['Sum&k].  I find
that odd.

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