Re: Yojimbo

On Tue, 04 Sep 2007 08:26:05 +0900, John R. Yamamoto-Wilson wrote:

Don Kirkman wrote:

While I would say "umbrella" I would never say "umbearable"*.

You mean you *think* you wouldn't. The point is that, even if, like me,
you say "unbearable", with a conscious awareness of making an "n" sound
it actually registers on phonologists' speech analysis equipment as "m".

Try recording yourself saying the words "umbrella" and "unbearable" and
cut the tape just after the "b". See if you or any of your friends can
predict whether you have just heard "umb-" or "unb-". Unless you mark it
in some non-standard way, such as putting an extra syllable in and
saying something like "unnabearable" you will not be able to.

To test this, make a prolonged "n" sound, then, without stopping, close
your lips and make an "m" sound. Open and close your lips and switch
between the two sounds. Put your hands in front of your mouth and see if
anyone can tell you when you switch from "n" to "m". They will not be
able to, since the sound is being produced nasally, and the lips play no
part in it except at the moment of release (i.e., when you finally move
on and produce another sound, such as "mmmmmmmma" or "nnnnnnnna").

Our friends do not provide us with a scientific test. Nevertheless, a
person with good hearing can detect anomolies. If you say unbrella without
touching your lips before pronouncing the 'b', acute listeners will detect
an anomaly even though they may not be able to say, "It's umbrella, not
unbrella."

This is why I avoid transliterating ふ　as fu. Although the initial
consonant may sound closer to the English 'f' than the English 'h', the
teeth never touch the lips when a Japanese voices the syllable. English
speakers who think of the consonant as an 'f' will never pronounce the
syllable correctly as long as their teeth touch their lower lip. English
speakers who think of the consonant as an h may mispronounce the syllable
badly when they first start speaking. However, with practice, they will
eventually improve on their aspiration and the shape of the lips until they
master the pronunciation of the syllable.

The bottom line is that phonetics is about the mechanics of how the sounds
are produced. The mechanics of mmmmmmmmmmmm are different from the
mechanics of nnnnnnnnnnn. The nasal feature of both sounds is just one
aspect. They are different sounds even when they are not followed by a
consonant or a vowel.

Phil Yff
.

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