Re: CHAT: IPA Question

H. S. Teoh wrote:

>On Tue, Jan 28, 2003 at 09:26:47PM -0800, Joseph Fatula wrote:
>[snip]
>> /}/  root
>
>
>I'm confused... which vowel is this?? In *my* English idiolect, the vowel
>here would be [u], same as in "lute" or "good".
>
Central rounded high vowel, u-dashed. Most dialects of English that I'm
familiar with have the vowel in lute or root moving forward. And the
vowel in root and good are different.

>>/u/  lute
>>
I didn't think most dialects would distinguish these two, or if the did,
this would be the fronter... You speak stupid English, Joe :P

>>/8/  road
>>
>>
>Hmm. My idiolect has [oU] in "road". I was under the impression [8]
>doesn't exist in English?
>
It does in mine: /b8:d/, being bird. It's a dialectal thing! How he gets
a different vowel in 'road' and 'phone', I dunno..

>>/ou/  phone
>>
>>
>OK, to me, [oU] and [ou] are homophonous.
>
>
>
>>/@/  run
>>
>>
>I have [V] here.
>
Americans have problems distinguishing the two... listening to a song
being song my an American, I had no idea what word the singer was
saying. Turned out it was 'hurry', but he pronounced it /hr\=i/

>>/E/  bed
>>
>>
>I personally fluctuate between [E], [{], and [e] here. It's so short it's
>hard to tell which it is. :-) (Or it could be that I'm just totally
>confused w.r.t. IPA vowels.)
>
Which is why we have phonemic transcription. Be too confusing otherwise...

>>/O/  saw
>>
>>
>To me, [O] and [A] are homophonous.
>
Yeah, well, you're a freak :P

>>/{/  bad
>>/{u/  cloud
>>
>>
>Hmm. I have [au] for "cloud".
>
And I expect [au] to be the vowel in 'coat', what's it to ya?

>>/{U_G/  cow
>>
>>
>I also have [au] here.
>
Yes... I suspect the difference mightn't be phonemic but he's saying it
so...

>>/a/  f'a'ther
>>/A/  pond
>>
>>
>Same as [O] to me.
>
Like I said: freak :P

>>/r\/  bitt'ero'
>>
>>
>Is that the same as [r=]?
>
Yeah, /r\/ is an alveolar approximate. He's not noting it's syllabic,
that's all.

>>/L\/  litt'le'
>>
>>
>Is that the same as [l=]?
>
Same as before, I'm gessing /L\/ is dark l.

>>/n/  mitt'en'
>>
>>
>I notice local Canadians say [n=], but by habit I say [mit@n].
>
I say [mI4@n]

>>I'm sure you'll have some differences in your own speech, though I'm really
>>not sure where, as I'm no expert on the dialects and regional pronunciations
>>of English.  But this is my best guess at how I say things.  What I do know
>>is that it's definitely not Californish.
>>
>>
>Where is the geographical area of your idiolect? It seems rather close to
>mine, yet has some striking differences. (At least, it's easier to
>understand than Texan vowels. :-P)
>
(If you cared, I have:

/I/     bit
/@i;/   been, [i] when unstressed (e.g. family [f&:mli])
/I:/    beer, feel (often [I@])
/e/     bet
/e:/    hair
/&/     can (aux.) (being the a-e ligature)
/&i/    cane (Americans often hear this as kine)
/&:/    can (n.)
/&u/    town
/6 or a/ hut
/6i, ai/ hight (Americans often say this like hate)
/6:, a:/ heart, fAther
/O/      tonne
/O:/     gone (and only gone, stupid isolated phoneme)
/o:/     born, fawn
/u/      book
/0:/     flute [u:] before /l/ (e.g. [tu:l]) (The central high rounded
vowel, this particular representation is stolen from TIPA on the grounds
of the fact that { and } are too confusing.)
/8u/     stone [Ou] before /l/
/8:/     bird
/@/      About

And nice though it may be for borrowing foreign words (long vowels
needn't map onto dodgy diphthongs), anime, which could nicely be
/anime:/, is /&n@m&i/, and French <au> is funny: when speaking English,
words with that have to be /8u/, but if acquiring a French accent, it
becomes /o:/.

Tristan.

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