tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Tue Feb 27 23:37:12 2001
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RE: Pronunciation [was RE: K'Zhen Zu-Merz]
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Alan Anderson [mailto:[email protected]]
>
> ja' qe'San:
> >...now sound it yourself very slowly and you'll feel as well as
> >hear the vowel sound change before getting to the {w}
> position. That is
> >all that is needed to classify the sound as a diphthong.
>
> I do not share your threshhold of diphthong eligibility. The
> vowel sound
> often changes before getting to an {l} position, or to an {r}
> position, or
> even to a {q} or {b} position. That's just an accident of
> mouth movement,
> and isn't reflected in the phonetic representation of the sound.
I think we will just have to agree to disagree here.
> The mouth position for {w} is very close to the mouth
> position for {u}, so
I agree
> there's an extreme tendency for vowels to shift toward {u}
> preceding a {w}.
Yes I can see that and agree (even though I didn't understand that before)
> That doesn't mean that a {w} *makes* the {u} sound.
I agree. Since I have understood the mechanics of how the sound is produced
I have spoken up against that idea and actually tried to explain to anyone,
who may of misunderstood like myself.
All I had meant in my last email is that the sound heard is just a side
effect of the change of mouth movement between the {a} and {w} whilst
pronouncing the combination and just happens to sound similar to the {u}
sound.. I agree now that the {w} does not represent anything other than a
{w} even in a {aw} combination. I'll not argue about whether that side
effct has or should have a label, that really could now just get in the way
of moving forward and is just a label after all.
> Dittofor {y} and {I}.
Ditto
>
> -- ghunchu'wI' 'utlh
Thanks again for assisting in my understanding of tlhIngan Hol
pronounciation.
qe'San