zompist bboard

Now, [ʝ] is phonologically very close to [ʒ] and [dʒ] and it's also very common to substitute it for [ʝ]. So (for most Spanish speakers) it's [j] -> [ʝ] -> [(d)ʒ]. That's why you can hear "yo" as either [ʝo], [ʒo] or [dʒo], but never [jo]. In my dialect, we use [j] a lot, don't say I never say [jo]...

meltman wrote:Do any other languages use 'because' to stonewall? E.g. "Why is the sky blue?" "[Be]cause."

Greek doesn't. Not completely at least...
Instead you answer: "(Γιατί) έτσι." [(ʝa'ti) 'etsi] "(Because) so (it is)."

Why can't some Spaniards say [j] is stead of [dZ] (es fácil, ch con voz)? I can actually understand that. In Spanish (much like in Greek - my native tongue) there is no consonantal [j]. Instead, there's [ʝ] which can be an allophone of <ll> at certain dialects and for certain people. Now, [ʝ] is ph...

I have issues with most Japanese people speaking English (ō eni azā wesutān rangueji tsu bi ekuzakuto!) :P That last word looks like Basque (probably all the <z> and <k>). So, the Japanese speaking English sounds like Basque? :wink: Hardly! Then again [doʊmoʊ əɹɪgætoʊ] must be pretty painful for mo...

I always thought "farther" was just an American variant of "further" until I discovered that there's a largely prescriptivist rule governing the distinction. I still have no idea what it's meant to be. Distance versus metaphorical, perhaps? So it seems... Although I think further can have both mean...

farther vs further I say: farther ['fɑɹ.ðɚ] and further ['fɜɹ.ðɚ] For some reason, I get a tiny bit peeved everytime I hear someone pronounce further as ['fɑɹ.ðɚ]. Unless, they actually use farther at that time, but I've definitely know at least two of them that pronounce both words as ['fɑɹ.ðɚ]. P...

finlay wrote:stop mixing up slashes and brackets. (rule of thumb: brackets should be the default, slashes only if something is theoretically distinct...)

OK, you're right I need to start learning how to use these, but,

finlay wrote:and ɱ basically never is a phoneme...

Hwat?!

...because the natural Greek pronunciation (ever since) didn't tolerated the sequence [mv]; Greeks always said [mb] or just (Southern Modern Greek). Greek "savants" consider sequences such as [mv], [nδ] as more elevated... No, it's not. Ever since the early middle ages it's been /ɱv/ with the [m] c...

Greek makes no distinction between these two. βλέπω /'vle.po/ means both "see" and "watch" and ακούω /a'ku.o/ means both "hear" and "listen". There's also κοιτά(ζ)ω /ci'ta.(z)o/ that mostly means "look (at)" and παρακολουθώ /pa.ɾa.ko.lu'θo/ that may mean "watch", but it's usually closer to "pay atte...

How do you pronounce: "parliament", "lute" and "lieutenant"?

Do you have any [ʎ] or [lʲ] in there?

Alahithian [ælə'hɪθiən]
Gnoughish ['noʊ(g)ɪʃ]

Rekettye wrote:...and Laocoon as [ˌla:ʔoʊ'kɔ:ʔɔ:n], not ['leɪjəˌkʉ:n]

A small piece of me dies knowing that there are people pronouncing it ['leɪjəˌkʉ:n] out there...

['vɛ.nɛ 'ka.vɛ]* and [skwɪʃ] or [skʷɪʃ]

_{*I have reasons to stand by my choice...}

How do you folks pronounce "hurry"?

Is it: [hɝɹi], [hʌɹi], [ha.ɹi], [hɑ.ɹi] or something different, for you?

Also, have you succumbed to the horrible "Hurry–Furry Merger" disease, on that topic...?

Rekettye wrote:

Elector Dark wrote:English ɡenerally has [ɻ] or [ɹ] while some dialects have [ʁ]

Which English dialects have [ʁ]???? [ɔzɛʁ zan fʁɛnʃ pipɔl]???

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Northumbrian_Burr
It's apparently somewhat out-dated and pretty rare, though...

Donkey --LOT, CLOTH, or STRUT? (CLOTH for me, but last night I noticed that Boston-raised Louis CK has the LOT vowel. One of my grade school teachers had STRUT and we mocked her for it.) For me, donkey, lot and cloth are all [ɔ] (except cloth is [ɔ:] possibly with a schwa offglide); strut is betwee...

Maybe slightly off topic, but, Portuguese (especially Brazilian) "r" is what gets me befuzzled! :? Its pronunciation may be anything between: [r ~ ɾ ~ ʁ ~ ʀ ~ ɣ ~ χ ~ x ~ h] or be completely silent. It can even be a faint [ɹ] at some dialects! Granted, its pronunciation depends on its position in th...

I think it's:
Oregon ['ɔɹɛg(ə)n/]
oregano [ɔɹɛ'gaːno(ʊ)]
falafel [fə'ɫaf(ə)ɫ]

...for me at least...

My native/mother/ethnic/what-ever-you-wanna-call-it tongue's Greek. My ancestral dialect is actually Pontic Greek (still spoken by the majority of my family - parents included - but not so much of me). I'm able to understand some of it though, as well as communicate in English and have a basic conve...

dust: as a verb, it can mean both "I remove dust" or "I apply dust (or powder)*"
*although the first meaning is much more usual

Turtlehead wrote:Okay I have decided that the whole of Istion is to be populate by -8000. I hope that this could be accepted by everyone.

Sounds good to me!
Is everyone else ok with it? If so... it should be uploaded asap.

I have this problem. It means cou can sound like cul , which is a pain in the... You're from the UK, right? Say cool very slowly. Now say coo very slowly. Now say cool very slowly but don't let the L be pronounced... @Astraios: He may still be pronouncing "cool" as [kʉɫ] instead of [kuɫ], especiall...

Rodlox wrote:I always called them "that structure at the top of the bridge of the nose, which partially shades the eyes, and is bigger in Minbari than in humans"

That could work tōô!

Astraios wrote:What do you think? Only the same thing that's "wrong" with having a Texan accent in New York, or a Birmingham accent in Manchester, or a Quebec accent in Paris...

...or a Gondolin accent in Rivendell...

Ollock wrote:

Theta wrote:It's always a wonder to me how such specific things have real names.

?

Epicanthic folds?