--- In
cybalist@yahoogroups.com, "Patrick Ryan" <proto-language@...>
wrote:
> --- In cybalist "glen gordon" <glengordon01@...> wrote:
> >
> > No way. In Standard Canadian English, the diphthong
> > "ai" is pronounced /aj/ -- that's a central vowel in
> > this case.
>
> SCE <ai> is pronounced [ey] not [ay].
It isn't really pronounced [ey]. Before a voiceless
obstruent the onset of /aI/ is a noticeably closer
vowel than used in most of the U.S., but not as close
as [e], since /eI/ and /aI/ remain distinct. In all
other positions the onset is no different from that
used in most of the U.S., which is [a].
Do a websearch on "Canadian Raising" for more about
this feature, although it's found in some parts of the
northern U.S. as well, including Minnesota, as Glen
noted.
People are influenced by their own phonemic system
when interpreting speech sounds, in fact can't really
get around it without special training, and I suspect
that that's what's behind your hearing [ey] in this
instance, as well as behind your insisting that the
preglottalization of voiceless stops in the positions
claimed is uncommon in North-American English, which
it isn't.
David