[lojban] Re: Lojban ortographies

[Pierre Abbat <phma@phma.optus.nu>]

On Monday 23 March 2009 01:15:56 omologos wrote:
> Re: Re: Lojban ortographies
>
> Author: omologos
>
> By the way: Is it realy true that there are several sounds allowed for each
> letteral? I always use the first one seen in the table, for each letteral.

Yes it is true. There are no official rules for when to use which allophone, 
but in practice some are conditioned by the environment, some are used in 
specific words despite the phonetic environment, and others are used by 
different people. I also use a few allophones not listed in the table, such 
as [ç] for /x/.

I say [ŋ] for /n/ before /k/, /g/, and /x/. This is very common among 
languages, and probably most Lojbanists do the same. So I say [foŋça] or 
[fɔŋça] (I'm not sure where exactly [ɔ] fits in my idiolects). The variation 
between [h] and [θ], however, is that some people say one and some say the 
other. I always say [h] except sometimes in {fu'arka} and maybe a few other 
words.

The same sort of variation occurs in natlangs. All Spanish speakers that I 
know of say [ŋ] for /n/ before /k/ and /g/. Some, including me, say /ŋ/, at 
least sometimes, in final position. This is typical of Salvadoran speech (my 
mother is Salvadoreña) but not Colombian speech, and is of Pipil origin.

Pierre


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