From cowan@xxxxx.xxxx.xxxx Sat Apr 10 14:36:36 1999 X-Digest-Num: 110 Message-ID: <44114.110.602.959273824@eGroups.com> Date: Sat, 10 Apr 1999 17:36:36 -0400 (EDT) From: John Cowan To me, "top" and "father" have nothing in common, > and, in particular, to me, the "a" in "father" sounds > just like the "a" in "sofa". Those examples presume American English, unfortunately. The best Lojban "a" is Spanish "a" or Australian "ar". If you speak RP or a closely related dialect, then your "ar" is a suitable variant. American English or Scottish or Irish "ar" would be terrible! In those dialects, the "a" of "father" is the right thing. In American English only (outside New England), but not Canadianj English, the vowel of "top" is the vowel of "father", but shorter. -- John Cowan cowan@ccil.org e'osai ko sarji la lojban.