Re: THEORY: [i:]=[ij]? (was Re: Pronouncing "Boreanesia")

On 2 nov, Steg wrote:

>  I remember asking her if
>it's supposed to be [ji] or [(?)i] and she said something along the lines
>of  "both are used, so it doesn't matter".  The non-[j] one sounded more
>interesting, so i kept on using it. :-)
Watch out for teachers, Steg! They are, after all, supposed to
teach what _should_  be done.  Using /ji/ is probably correct,
but I have yet to hear it used in informal speech
by the man-in-the-street.

Listening to my son, a native Hebrew speaker,
I heard him use /i/ exclusively. When I reminded him
that the words are spelled with an initial "yod" (/j/), he had this to say:

"If I went around saying /ji/ <exaggeration to signify disgust:
cords and veins in neck bulging out from the effort, wierd
look on face >, people would send
me to  _you_  for therapy!"

 Seriously, he seems to think that it is
_significantly_  easier to say /i/  than /ji/. As a native English
speaker, I would disagree with him; I can't see that /ji/ is
_that_ much more difficult to produce than /i/. Ah well, different
"native intuitions".


Dan Sulani
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likehsna rtem zuv tikuhnuh auag inuvuz vaka'a.

A word is an awesome thing.