tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Wed Feb 06 18:01:50 2002

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Re: Alphabet



jatlh Qov:
>I suspect it is related to the fact that Canadians do not hear much 
>difference in the ou sound in the Canadian and American pronunciation of 
>about -- usually the American ou is longer and has a bit of a w on the 
end[...]
<snip>
>Do any Americans have difficulty distinguishing the vowel sounds in boat 
>and boot, float and flute, mote and moot.  They are the same sounds as poS 
>and puS for me, I think.

In my dialect (Californian), the vowels in "boat" and "boot" are quite 
distinct.  However, when a Canadian says the same words, they definitely do 
sound less distinct to me.  I think you put your finger on it when you said 
the American "ou" has a W on the end.  I hear much more glide in American 
dipthongs than in Canadian.  (This is particularly evident in my area, in 
fact.)

>I was going to say rote and root, but I remember 
>that Americans say root to rhyme with foot and soot.

Some Americans do.  That's characteristic of the east coast, in my 
experience.  In my dialect, "root" always rhymes with "moot", just as in 
Canadian English.

Where, exactly, is Dr. Okrand from?  That might help in figuring out what he 
means by his examples.  American pronunciation varies widely, particularly in 
vowels.  To my ear, the vowels in a Brooklyn accent and the vowels in a 
Northern California accent are as different from each other as either of them 
are from the vowels in a British accent.

-Sengval


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