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From: deb5@midway.uchicago.edu (Daniel von Brighoff)
Subject: German vowels [was: Re: Aachen or Aix
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References: <338A26B4.9E4@-accton.com.tw> <5ou7h8$65m$3@o.online.no> <ECEEE6.Jpp@midway.uchicago.edu> <5ouk9k$fvh$4@o.online.no>
Date: Fri, 27 Jun 1997 17:20:23 GMT
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In article <5ouk9k$fvh$4@o.online.no>,
Marius Svenkerud  <aaks@online.no> wrote:
>deb5@midway.uchicago.edu (Daniel von Brighoff) wrote:
>>In article <5ou7h8$65m$3@o.online.no>,
>>Marius Svenkerud  <aaks@online.no> wrote:
>
>>>[a:], that is. German doesn't have [A:]
>>
>>I think we speak different varieties of German.  [A:] might not be the
>>best description of the vowel I have in 'Saale', but [a:] certainly isn't
>>any more accurate.
>
>
>I'm not a native German speaker, so I'll give in on that one. But 
>usually, the long German a-sound is best described as [a:], while the 
>English one is best described as [A:].

As it happens, I'm not a native German speaker either--I'm a native
English speaker--so it could just be interference.  I prefer to think it a
result of having learned German in the south, where /a/ is more back 
and/or rounded (approaching [O] in some areas!) in quality.  My partner,
who has spent most of his time in Germany in the north (Hamburg, Muenster,
Berlin) definitely has [a:].

-- 
	 Daniel "Da" von Brighoff    /\          Dilettanten
	(deb5@midway.uchicago.edu)  /__\         erhebt Euch
				   /____\      gegen die Kunst!
