[lojban-beginners] Re: problem

["Philip Newton" <philip.newton@gmail.com>]

On 10/12/06, UrchinStar47 <urchinstar47@gmail.com> wrote:
> What is the real difference betwean ' and x in Lojban?

It's like the difference between {c} and {b} -- they're two separate
phonemes. {li'o} "[omitted text]" is something different from {lixo}
"how many?".

Phone_t_ically, {x} is, AFAIK, [x] (the voiceless velar fricative),
while {'} is some fricative that can't be confused with any other
fricative -- popular choices include [T] (voiceless dental fricative)
and [h] (voiceless glottal fricative).

My impression is that [h] is the more popular of the two, so in
pronunciation, {'} is to {x} in Lojban as {h} is to {hx} in Esperanto.
(Where the difference is phonemic, too: horo "hour" vs hxoro "choir".)

mu'o mi'e .filip.