Re: question on vowel tensing, fronting, backing, ect.

On Dec 12, 2007 9:40 AM, Daniel Prohaska <daniel@...> wrote:

>
>
> Mark,
>
> You are partially correct post vocalic Middle English post vocalic /r/ is
> replaced in English English (most varieties except the rhotic ones),
> NZ/AUS/SA English and Welsh English by the preceding vowel with
> compensatory
> lengthening. However in the example kin: king : keen, this does not hold
> true since neither originally had /r/.

Right; I didn't intend to say otherwise.  I was just making the general
observation that length tends to be phonemic in non-rhotic dialects and
non-phonemic in rhotic ones.

I would argue that the primary difference between "kin" and "keen" is the
vowel quality, and that the primary difference between either of them and
"king" is the final nasal, with any length differences being subphonemic in
this particular case.  Even in dialects where length is phonemic, it also
sometimes ain't - just as vowel quality sometimes ain't (as in [I] vs [i] in
"king" IML).




--
Mark J. Reed <markjreed@...>