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Re: [lojban] To Polish fellow lojbanists



It's phonetically impractical to get [h] between most vowels, because a criterion for [h] is that there is no aerodynamically significant supraglottal narrowing of stricture. So while [h] for /'/ in /e'e/ or /y'y/ is practicable, [h] for /'/ in, say, /o'o/ or /u'u/ or /i'i/ is not (because the flanking vowels create aerodynamically significant supraglottal stricture).

One can easily observe that [aha] and [axa] are rather easy to differentiate, whereas /i'i/ and /ixi/ will be effectively indistinguishable (as [aça]) unless a very different allophone of /'/, such as [θ], is used.

--And.

Bob LeChevalier, President and Founder - LLG, On 30/09/2010 01:48:
Krzysztof Sobolewski wrote:
Dnia środa, 29 września 2010 o 19:13:54 Jorge Llambías napisał(a):

2010/9/29 Krzysztof Sobolewski <jezuch@interia.pl>:

So could some confirm that using the same sound for {x} and {'} does not introduce ambiguity? :)

It introduces plenty of ambiguity. Just consider any CV'V cmavo for a
start, which becomes indistinguishable from the two cmavo CV xV.


Well then, I think I'll stick with silent {'}. But this is problematic with things like {du'u} or {zo'o}. Is there any hope for people who don't see (hear) any difference between [x] and [h] (both in IPA, according to Wikipedia)? ;)

I haven't been following this, but "'" can be any voiceless glide (approximant), not necessarily IPA "h".

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Approximant_consonant
discusses this, and gives several examples.  It says this about "h"
Occasionally, the glottal "fricatives" are called approximants, since
[h] typically has no more frication than voiceless approximants, but
 > they are often phonations of the glottis without any accompanying
 > manner or place of articulation.

suggesting that the thing to avoid in distinguishing x and h is the noticeable frication. Since I don't know Polish, I can't help beyond that point. But perhaps our Russian native speakers have a similar problem and could comment.

(People have at times chosen to express the rule as "any non-lojbanic voiceless consonant", with the most striking example being someone here in Virginia who used a voiceless "th" fricative. As I recall, it sounded real funny, but it was understandable.)

lojbab



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