Re: Do I say [s] correctly?

That description matches exactly the way I say /s/,
too, so if you're weird, there's two of us! :)

Geoff

--- John Crowe <johnxcrowe@...> wrote:

> What has frustrated me recently is that the
> description of a fairly common
> sound, [s] is not the way I say it. I must admit,
> many aspects of phonetics
> confuse me.
>
> My understanding of the normal description:
> The tip or blade of the tongue is supposed to be the
> articulator, which is
> placed up against the alveolar ridge (which from
> what I read is right behind the
> upper teeth) but not completely stopping airflow,
> creating high-frequency
> turbulence. Air then passes over the sharp edges of
> teeth.
>
> How I say [s]:
> First of all, the tip of my tongue is no where near
> the alveolar ridge (that's
> how it feels, at least), but rather the spot right
> behind the _lower_ teeth. (But
> it is not here where the friction occurs.) Air comes
> out through the small gap
> between the upper and lower teeth, producing the
> sound. It seems to me that
> the articulator is the lower teeth, and the place of
> articulation is the upper
> teeth.
>
> No one ever told me that I have a speech problem,
> and the way I say it
> sounds normal to me. Do I misunderstand the
> descriptions or do I say [s]
> incorrectly?
>

=====

One by one the penguins are stealing my sanity
-Graffitum spotted on a bridge in England


		
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