Re: ka and k^a [was: [tied] *kW- "?"]

--- In cybalist@yahoogroups.com, "Richard Wordingham"
<richard.wordingham@...> wrote:

> --- In cybalist@yahoogroups.com, "Rob" <magwich78@...> wrote:
> > --- In cybalist@yahoogroups.com, "Grzegorz Jagodzinski"
> > <grzegorj2000@...> wrote:
>
> > > And what about English, esp. British? Has it /a/?
> >
> > Not really, from what I understand. Even words like "father", in
> > British English, are often pronounced like "fother".
>
> I don't think I've ever heard 'father' pronounced with a rounded
> vowel. (I'm English, and have lived in the North Midlands and
> South, with a brief stay in Scotland.) Possibly English does not
> have /a/, but the vowels of _bat_ and _but_ may have pronunciations
> best described as [a]. In fact, I believe it is
> currently 'official' that the RP pronunciation of /æ/ is [a].

Well, my ears may have deceived me. Even so, I now see that English
(regardless of dialect) does have a *phoneme* /a/, regardless of its
phonetic realization. Sorry for the confusion, folks.

- Rob