Message-Id: <m0tFWie-0000ZUC@xiron.pc.helsinki.fi>
Date:         Wed, 15 Nov 1995 02:29:24 MET
Reply-To:     Goran Topic <topic@STUDENT.MATH.HR>
Sender:       Lojban list <LOJBAN@CUVMB.BITNET>
From:         Goran Topic <topic@STUDENT.MATH.HR>
Subject:      Re: TECH: Pitch Accent
To:           Veijo Vilva <veion@XIRON.PC.HELSINKI.FI>
Content-Length: 1495
Lines: 27

> As I said on the list during the summer (this was in lojban, so it
> may be noone read it), Nick's voiceless stops all sounded voiced to
> me (because he doesn't aspirate them),

.uanai Why should he aspirate the voiceless stops? That is typical
for Chinese, and English in certain phonological contexts, (especially
in British dialect, no?), I don't know about Spanish and Arabs, but
Croats have no aspirates, and try to speak Hindi that way and see what
happens (they have p, b, ph AND b)! There is nothing in lojban phonology
that would imply that aspiration has distinctive function. If you want
to aspirate your voiceless stops, that's OK, but I don't see any reason
to do so myself. I admit, Nick was not very easy to understand, and I
had to ask him to repeat something on occasion, but I found that his
pronunciation was too English-like, especially vowels, I think (I can't
remember exactly now what he sounded like); most English-speaking folk I
met can't pronounce pure vowels, and there is almost always some
diphthongisation, and I had to take some care not to mix up the real
diphthongs from simple vowels. Like, spaji->spajei. It all depends to
who you're talking to, I guess...

co'o mi'e. goran.

--
GAT/CS/O d?@ H s:-@ !g p1(2)@ !au(0?) a- w+(+++) (!)v-@(+) C++(++++)
UU/H(+) P++>++++ L(>+) !3 E>++ N+ K(+) W--(---) M-- !V(--) -po+ Y(+)
t+@(+++) !5 !j R+@ G-@(J++) tv+(++) b++@ D++ B? e+* u@ h!$ f?(+) r--
!n(+@) y+. GeekCode v2.1, modifications left to reader to puzzle out