--- In
cybalist@yahoogroups.com, "P&G" <petegray@...> wrote:
> >In most languages I know /b,d,g/ are voiced and lax,
> >while /p,t,k/ are voiceless and fortis,
>
> My dialect of English (along with several other dialects of
English)
> includes voiceless lax consonants, which are heard by speakers of
British
> English as voiced: e.g. in "Latin", "forty" etc.
Yes, yes, but this is a conditioned change. The unconditioned
realization in word-initial position is still "voiceless, fortis,
aspirated" /t/ vd. "voiced, lenis, unaspirated" /d/, isn't that
right? Many also retain it inside the word, for all I know. If it's
not right, use a language for which it is right. I was talking about
the opposition t : d in general, not particularly in English. I
don't think it is uncommon for voiced stops to be lenis all by
themselves. By the way, a counterexample to what I said should have
been one of fortis /d/, not lenis /t/.
Jens