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From: phoogenb@liberty.uc.wlu.edu (Peter Hoogenboom)
Subject: Re: The English "R" for Germans - What A Disappointment!
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Date: Wed, 20 Mar 1996 22:26:29 GMT
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Avi Jacobson (avi_jaco@netvision.net.il) wrote:
: Peter Hoogenboom wrote:
: > The American "R", however, is sufficently vowel-like to function as a
: > vowel in many contexts.  I'd never call it a diphthong, though.  Plus, a
: > vowel can certainly be hard or soft if you define hardness or softness
: > appropriately.  I am sure that those adjectives have a definite
: > vowel-related meaning for the poster of that tidbit.

: A vowel can also be salty or sour, if you define saltiness or sourness 
: appropriately.  It's just that I had never heard "hard" and "soft" used in
: that context before, and they are misleading thus used.

Well, I know what's what you meant.  It's not what you said, however.  
Seriously, though, my point was that an example of a "hard a" would have 
told us what the original poster meant.  Was it the vowel in "made"?  I 
guess so, but how could one be sure without an example?

: > My American "r" has a significant contribution, more than that from the
: > tip of the tongue, from the back of my tongue, which raises towards the
: > soft palate (as, I hesitate to say it, an American or slavic ... (wince)
: > ... "l").  You fail to mention this in your instructions.

: Neither wince nor hesitate.  Your description is accurate: I know that "r",
: and it is quite prevalent in many US dialects.  But I don't think it is
: standard American -- at least you don't hear it on Voice of America.  
: (CNN -- most definitely!)

I don't hear anything on Voice of America.  :)  But, seriously, I hear 
that R on National Public Radio all the time.  I was wincing, by the way, 
at the prospect of having to draw a parallel between "r" and "l" in a 
forum in which the similarities and differences of the two have given 
rise to a lengthy thread.

Peter

--
Peter Hoogenboom                        phoogenb@wlu.edu
Department of Music, DuPont 208         hoogenboom.p@fs.sciences.wlu.edu
Washington and Lee University           phoogenboom@wesleyan.edu
Lexington, VA 24450                     (540) 463-8697
