Newsgroups: sci.lang,alt.usage.english
From: bhk@dsl.co.uk (Brian {Hamilton Kelly})
Path: cantaloupe.srv.cs.cmu.edu!das-news2.harvard.edu!news2.near.net!news.mathworks.com!usenet.eel.ufl.edu!spool.mu.edu!howland.reston.ans.net!pipex!peernews.demon.co.uk!dsl.co.uk!bhk
Subject: Re: Phonemic nazal vowel in English
References: <3l34jv$qbo@mother.usf.edu> <D621zr.2pF@eskimo.com> <3lbhuv$c36@riscsm.scripps.edu> <3lfm0f$s7s@nuscc.nus.sg>
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Date: Fri, 31 Mar 1995 10:57:12 +0000
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In article <3lfm0f$s7s@nuscc.nus.sg>
           ellgupta@leonis.nus.sg "Anthea F Gupta" writes:

> 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", BUT in many varieties of 
> English /&/ is noticeably longer than /e/, so I think that is why Mark is 
> equating it with /&/.
> 
> Of course, whether it's /e/ or /&/ it's still the case that it isn't 
> normally word final.  And it certainly does illustrate the problems of 
> phonemicisation.  

Sloane Rangers and Hooray Henries say "OK ya", where the final a is long.
(But that's because *all* their vowels are long and drawled)

-- 
Brian {Hamilton Kelly}                                         bhk@dsl.co.uk
Dragonhill Systems Ltd       Faringdon (+44 1367) 242363 (Fax & Answerphone)
Bramble Passage, 20 Coxwell Street, FARINGDON, Oxon, SN7 7HA, United Kingdom

