[lojban-beginners] Differently-shaped vocal equipment (was: Re: Re: lojban-beginners Digest V6 #97)

[Arnt Richard Johansen <arj@nvg.org>]

On Thu, Jun 21, 2007 at 12:15:02PM +0000, Karl Naylor wrote:
> It seems to me that the existence of pronunciation "ranges"
> corresponding to letters is more accomodating for speakers of
> different racial backgrounds, who therefore have differently-shaped
> vocal equipment and may find some options easier to pronounce than
> others.

You are right that the pronunciation ranges are there to help p�eople with different linguistic backgrounds, but race does not enter into the picture. Racial differences in vocal tract shape and size are dwarfed in comparison to individual differences. ( http://www.ohiolink.edu/etd/view.cgi?acc_num=ohiou1050668842 )

Except for abnormal conditions such as a cleft palate, everyone is equally capable, physically, of producing any speech sound.

-- 
Arnt Richard Johansen                                http://arj.nvg.org/
Vacuum cleaners suck. Kings rule. Ice is cool.