From reid@xxxxxxxx.xxxx Sun Apr 11 10:26:41 1999 X-Digest-Num: 111 Message-ID: <44114.111.611.959273824@eGroups.com> Date: Sun, 11 Apr 1999 12:26:41 -0500 From: Christopher Reid Palmer > /u/ boot, toot, flute, chute > > /o/ top, cot, motley, monster > > /i/ clean, green, machine > > /e/ bet, lens, enemy > > /a/ cat, bat, mat, dab, action > > As examples of tense vowels I would agree with the linguist, Actually, no. Those are not tense /e/s, and low vowels (at least in English) like /a/ are underspecified for tenseness (which means that native speakers would not consider them two different words if you pronounced 'cat' with a tense /a/ and then a lax /a/). For my Midwestern American English, the /o/ and /a/ above are both low vowels, mid-back and front, respectively. -- Chris _____________________________________________________________________________ Christopher Reid Palmer : reid@pconline.com : http://innerfire.visi.com/