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From: markrose@spss.com (Mark Rosenfelder)
Subject: Re: Phonemic nazal vowel in English
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References: <3l34jv$qbo@mother.usf.edu> <D621zr.2pF@eskimo.com> <3lbhuv$c36@riscsm.scripps.edu> <3lfm0f$s7s@nuscc.nus.sg>
Date: Mon, 3 Apr 1995 17:34:38 GMT
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In article <3lfm0f$s7s@nuscc.nus.sg>,
Anthea F Gupta <ellgupta@leonis.nus.sg> wrote:
>Mark Israel (misrael@scripps.edu) wrote:
>:     English phonology is pretty fluid.  "Yeah" and "nah" have been accepted,
>: although there were no previous words ending in [&].  "Mm-bye" has been
>: accepted, although there were no previous words beginning with /mb/.
>
>[&] = the vowel of "nap". Which raises the Q of how many pronunciations 
>of "Yeah" we have around.  Longman's Pronunciation dictionary has only 
>/ye@/ (/e@/ is the vowel of RP "pear").  Now for a non-rhotic speaker 
>there's no problem here ("Yeah" rhymes with "pear" and "fair"), but someone 
>who pronounces PV(r) shouldn't have an /e@/ phoneme.
>
>You would expect that such a person would equate the vowel of "yeah" with 
>the /e/ of "yes" rather than the /&/ of "nap", [...]

You might expect that, but I am a rhotic speaker, and for me the main 
vowel of 'yeah' is definitely /&/, not /E/ as in 'yes' or 'yep.  (And it
certainly doesn't rhyme with 'pear'!)  I say "main" vowel because at least 
sometimes I say [y&@].
