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From: deb5@midway.uchicago.edu (Daniel von Brighoff)
Subject: Estonian [was: Re: Not a word 
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References: <5b3i3v$2mp@gap.cco.caltech.edu> <32D6376B.7939@emn.com> <E3wssy.6BL@midway.uchicago.edu> <32D94415.1482@sn.nono>
Date: Mon, 13 Jan 1997 17:59:29 GMT
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In article <32D94415.1482@sn.nono>, Anders Blehr  <ablehr@sn.nono> wrote:
>Daniel von Brighoff wrote:
>
>> Even if someone taught me the rules of Estonian pronunciation [...]
>
>Slightly off-thread, but still:
>
>A few years back I was tought all the vowels of Estonian, and for a
>short while I remembered them.  They're all gone now, but I still
>remember that there's one extremely odd-sounding vowel in there (I don't
>remember the sound itself, obviously).  I had to try it a few times
>before getting it right, but finally I did (or maybe my "teacher" just
>got tired of listening to my attempts and discarded any further attempts
>by saying "Yes, that's it - great!").

	Ah, yes, the <o-tilde> (i.e. (~o>.  I have no idea what an
Estonian would call this.  I imagine those perverse koerkoonlased refer
to it by the sound of the letter).  Supposedly, this sound is unique to
Estonian.  What this really means is that only in Estonian does it have
*phonemic* status.  For all I know, it might show up in English
dialects, much as the "French" 'u', the "Russian" 'bI', and other exotic
phones do.

	I can't say as I've ever knowingly heard it; I've only read
descriptions.  Can anyone pinpoint it phonetically?
-- 
	 Daniel "Da" von Brighoff    /\          Dilettanten
	(deb5@midway.uchicago.edu)  /__\         erhebt Euch
				   /____\      gegen die Kunst!
