From nobody@digitalkingdom.org Sat Dec 02 11:18:53 2006 Received: with ECARTIS (v1.0.0; list lojban-beginners); Sat, 02 Dec 2006 11:18:53 -0800 (PST) Received: from nobody by chain.digitalkingdom.org with local (Exim 4.63) (envelope-from ) id 1GqaNx-0000JG-9o for lojban-beginners-real@lojban.org; Sat, 02 Dec 2006 11:18:53 -0800 Received: from elasmtp-junco.atl.sa.earthlink.net ([209.86.89.63]) by chain.digitalkingdom.org with esmtp (Exim 4.63) (envelope-from ) id 1GqaNs-0000J8-Qr for lojban-beginners@lojban.org; Sat, 02 Dec 2006 11:18:53 -0800 DomainKey-Signature: a=rsa-sha1; q=dns; c=nofws; s=dk20050327; d=mindspring.com; b=YrecsMLpH6L25gN+DOCuhL53C/itg5cdXxyEX++/cD99ZQu1I64e189/RExcfJKE; h=Received:Message-ID:Date:From:User-Agent:MIME-Version:To:Subject:Content-Type:Content-Transfer-Encoding:X-ELNK-Trace:X-Originating-IP; Received: from h-66-167-9-50.phlapafg.dynamic.covad.net ([66.167.9.50] helo=[127.0.0.1]) by elasmtp-junco.atl.sa.earthlink.net with asmtp (Exim 4.34) id 1GqaNX-00051t-Nt for lojban-beginners@lojban.org; Sat, 02 Dec 2006 14:18:27 -0500 Message-ID: <4571D160.6030000@mindspring.com> Date: Sat, 02 Dec 2006 14:17:52 -0500 From: Ronald Guida User-Agent: Thunderbird 1.5.0.8 (Windows/20061025) MIME-Version: 1.0 To: lojban-beginners@lojban.org Subject: [lojban-beginners] Pronouncing "x" Content-Type: text/plain; charset=UTF-8; format=flowed Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit X-ELNK-Trace: bb67185be2c98d749c7f779228e2f6aeda0071232e20db4d37676a27ff73bc70b8bc673f0d0db940350badd9bab72f9c350badd9bab72f9c350badd9bab72f9c X-Originating-IP: 66.167.9.50 X-Spam-Score: -2.4 (--) X-archive-position: 3765 X-ecartis-version: Ecartis v1.0.0 Sender: lojban-beginners-bounce@lojban.org Errors-to: lojban-beginners-bounce@lojban.org X-original-sender: ronguida@mindspring.com Precedence: bulk Reply-to: lojban-beginners@lojban.org X-list: lojban-beginners I am learning to pronounce Lojban "x", which is not an English sound. I think I have figured it out, so I want to share how I figured it out in the hope of helping others. First, I took a crash course in phonetics, courtesy of Wikipedia. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Place_of_articulation http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manner_of_articulation Second, I pronounced English "ch" and "sh", as in: English: "ch ch ch ch-shhhh" IPA: "tʃ tʃ tʃ tʃʃʃʃʃʃʃ" X-SAMPA: "tS tS tS tSSSSSSS" Lojban: "tc tc tc tcccccc" and noted the difference between a stop and a fricative. I can pronounce "ch" followed immediately by a long "sh" because "sh" is a fricative that uses the same place of articulation as the end* of ch. [*Note: I perceive "ch" as a single sound, even though the IPA represents it as two sounds.] Third, I attempted to do this with "k" and "X". I can pronounce a train of "k"s and then attempt to make them run together. I can also pronounce a ejective "k" by taking a deep breath and forcing excessive air out with my "k" sound. If I hold the shape of my mouth immediately after the release that creates the "k" sound, then the extra air will produce turbulence and the resulting sound is somewhat like "X". The point of these two exercises is to become aware of the shape of my mouth during the "release" phase of producing "k" and to get an idea of that "X" probably sounds like. By holding this shape, I can then pronounce "k k k kXXXXXX". I can also note that "kXXXXX" sounds somewhat like the sound of a crash cymbal. Fourth, using a flashlight and a mirror, I can open my mouth wide and look inside to see my soft pallet and my uvula. If I pronounce "k" with my mouth wide open, I can see the back of my tongue lift up, block the soft pallet for a moment, and then release, producing the "k" sound (unvoiced velar stop) upon release. I can also feel the contact between my soft pallet and the back of my tongue. If I pronounce "kXXXXX", I can see and feel the same movements as K, followed by a sound with the back of my tongue lifted up, but not all the way up. I also attempted to pronounce "XXXXXX" (unvoiced velar fricative) without the initial "k". At this point, I am fairly confident that I know what "X" sounds like and that I am pronouncing it correctly. Fifth, I am trying to pronounce an "X" preceded and/or followed by a vowel. The two problems I am having are (1) sometimes I am pronouncing a "k" or a pause (a silent "k") right before the "X", and (2) sometimes I am pronouncing an "h" instead of an "X". These are coordination problems that can only be eliminated through practice. -- Ron