Re: [tied] Re: Retroflexes in Sanskrit

----- Original Message -----

From: richardwordingham

To: cybalist@yahoogroups.com

Sent: Tuesday, August 06, 2002 9:57 PM

Subject: [tied] Re: Retroflexes in Sanskrit

> /h/ has simple realisation rules :)

> (a) Syllable start, except after last stress [h]
> (b) Last consonant of intervocalic cluster [h]
> (c) Otherwise [N].

 

... except in the position after a tense vowel, where it turns into [Z], as in beige, prestige, rouge, ménage, mirage, badinage, garage, etc. :) _That_'s the funny thing: [Z] and [N] occur after different vowels -- also medially, where, as you noted, the vowel before [Z] is typically /e/ (measure) or a tense nucleus (seizure). The only near-minimal pair I can think of is azure : hanger (for those speakers who have the "ash" vowel in both). It could be a true minimal pair in Cockney.

 

Piotr