[lojban-beginners] Re: lojban-beginners Digest V6 #97

[m.kornig@sondal.net]

Selon David Cortesi <davecortesi@gmail.com>:

> The audio plays properly in Firefox on Mac OS X -- I think it uses a
> Quicktime plug-in -- although it does go a new page, so that I need to click
> the "back" button to return to the lesson page.

Thanks for your feedback, David.

You are the second person to experience this
browser-goes-to-a-new-page phenomenon. I understand
that this is distracting or even annoying. I'm not
quite sure how to fix this...

Are there any computer experts out there who have an
idea? Can you configure browsers not to go to a new page
but rather to open ANOTHER page for the plug-in that
would stay low-profile in the background? Or maybe the
XHTML code of the web page could be changed to avoid
this?

> The sound of {re} is not correct to my ear. It sounds like the vowel in
> english ray/say/lay/day/may, which I would spell {rei} in lojban.

You are right: there is a SLIGHT diphthong sound as
in the English word "ray". I'll change this.

> I thought the correct sound was the vowel in english let/met/set/get?
> (Which, admittedly, is not normally said without a terminal consonant and
> may seem awkward to beginners.)

We've discussed vowel sound here in some detail.
Although I find it rather strange and unsatisfying,
most people here don't seem to worry much about
phonetics. I've been told that:

(1) vowel sound doesn't matter much as long as vowels
    can be distinguished phonetically.

(2) "the" correct Lojban pronunciation does not exist.

That is why I have decided to pronounce the Lojban "e"
like the German "egal" or the French "ete". And not like
the English "let". I believe this way the Loyban vowels
"e" and "y" are easier to tell apart.

And there is another problem: most people here are
beginners and they don't really know how to pronounce
the words. And it is difficult for me to know who
is an experienced Lojban speaker and who is not.

I would very much appreciate the view of an experienced
speaker about the sound of the vowel "e".

Martin