Re: k-like sounds in English and other European languages

On Oct 12, 8:50 pm, analys...@xxxxxxxxxxx wrote:
On Oct 12, 7:16 pm, Nathan Sanders <nsand...@xxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:





In article
<d1fca8d2-3b81-4b29-b0ec-4c3e962d8...@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>,

 analys...@xxxxxxxxxxx wrote:
On Oct 12, 11:09 am, Nathan Sanders <nsand...@xxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

In article
<3cf71891-3aaa-4387-a926-c686d9ddc...@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>,
 analys...@xxxxxxxxxxx wrote:

"breakdown" with a k-sound will break down - it is unstable.  If
someone were to say breagdown or iddoes in everyday speech I doubt
that anybody would find it noticeable.

A voiceless coda, like the [k] in "breakdown" is typically
glottalized, while a voiced coda is never glottalized.

Furthermore, a voiced coda causes the preceding vowel to be much
longer than a vowel preceding a voiceless coda.  The difference in
vowel length is so noticeable to English speakers that it allows for
distinguishing between words like "beat" and "bead" in whispered
(unvoiced) speech.

If you look at the following consonant clusters in English, it seems
to me that

(1) kt
(2) kd
(3) gt
(4) gd

Only (1) Where k can stand for (c, ck etc.) can occur in a single word
- all the others can only occur in compound words or at word
boundaries.

(2) anecdote
(4) amygdala

Nathan

--
Nathan Sanders
Linguistics Program
Williams Collegehttp://wso.williams.edu/~nsanders/-Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

anecdote is a borrowed compound word and "anegdote" in everyday speech
wouldn't be noticeable, IMO.

an- "not" + ekdotos "published," from ek- "out" + didonai "to
give" (see date (1)). Procopius' 6c. Anecdota, unpublished memoirs

amygdala doesn't have the unvoiced-voiced apposition conflict and
amazingly appears not to be a compound word.- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

The aesthetically challenged ng. inmates have let this slide (not
surprisingly) but 'amygdala' doesn't look like a monomorphemic IE
word. "amugdalus" means both 'almond' and 'almond tree' in Greek and
I thought may be it splits as amug-dalus (with 'dalus' being an affix
from the Greek cognate of Sanskrit daru (tree)) - but then one source
gives what looks like a more credible etymology - it is borrowed from
Hebrew

meghedh El, 'divine fruit' or 'holy fruit'.
.

Relevant Pages

  • Re: k-like sounds in English and other European languages
    ... someone were to say breagdown or iddoes in everyday speech I doubt ... vowel length is so noticeable to English speakers that it allows for ... - all the others can only occur in compound words or at word ... anecdote is a borrowed ...
    (sci.lang)
  • Re: k-like sounds in English and other European languages
    ... someone were to say breagdown or iddoes in everyday speech I doubt ... while a voiced coda is never glottalized. ... - all the others can only occur in compound words or at word ... surprisingly) but 'amygdala' doesn't look like a monomorphemic IE ...
    (sci.lang)
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