Re: "th" sounds in loanwords


G. Leo Sahakian wrote:
> <ranjit_mathews@xxxxxxxxx> a écrit dans le message de news:
> 1114864028.376855.179670@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
> >[...]
> > India's Delhi would have to be spelt <Dilli> in order to be
> > pronounced correctly and even then, among Europeans, only Italians
would
> > pronounce it properly with both a dental [d[] and geminate [ll].
>
> I am not convinced; isn't the 1st i lax and open (like en. i in
> sit, not an it. sound)? it. i is closed; then they (the Ital.)

Somewhere in the range between "sit" and "piccolo".

> would stress the 1st syllable, which, I think, is not the case in
> hi.; lastly the last i would be short (as all unstressed vowels)
> in it., whereas it is long in hi. [dIlli:].

Would they pronounce it like Dealy?

> the spelling delhi is due to the alternative de:hli:, pers. dehlî;
> does lh look "better" for the british than hl? or the h in hl is
> more liable to be lost in pronuniation than in lh? cf. alhambra,
> calhoun, mulhearn, philhamonic, etc.
> this is half as bad as the fr. [kalkyta] calcutta or [lykno]
> lucknow!
>
> regards,
> G. Leo Sahakian

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