tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Sun Feb 08 23:23:14 1998
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Re: Letter sounds question
- From: [email protected]
- Subject: Re: Letter sounds question
- Date: Mon, 9 Feb 1998 02:22:57 EST
In a message dated 98-02-05 13:54:44 EST, Marc Reuhlander writes:
<< then I've been taught wrong on at least one of the languages;
I've been taught (and I hear) Mandarin <x> (used to be <hs>) to be
produced with the blade of the tongue, while <sh> is produced with
the tip (both have the constriction at the same place, though) >>
---peHruS answers---
You have not been taught wrong, Marc. When we were first learning to describe
the sounds of Mandarin, even though I already spoke the language because I had
been living in Taiwan many years, we, too, heard the description of the "x"
sound as "hs". More specifically, it was "hsi" because no other vowel sound
ever follows the "hs" consonant cluster. On the other hand, the "x" should be
produced not merely with the blade of the tongue. It is a rather flat tongue
with a trough down the middle. The hissing sound still emits from the small
round hole made by placing the tip of the tongue on the soft upper dental
ridge. The sides of the tongue are slightly depressed. The "sh" sound is
produced by placing the tip of the tongue on, or almost on, the hard palate,
the scaly area at the top of the mouth, well behind the dental ridges.
In the case of the Irish Gaelic "s", the tongue does not quite touch the
dental ridge. I push more air through for the Mandarin "x" than I do for the
Gaelic "s'.
Hope all this helps.
peHruS