From: Andrew Jarrette
Message: 44771
Date: 2006-05-30
. And why did it become so labial, since to distinguish it from other palatals it could just as easily have become velar or alveolar?---------I meant "alveolopalatal" (as opposed to true palatal, like German ich)
The reason for this development from a palatal sibilant to a labial
one might be that the affricata in "tjära", tar, and its
homophone "kära", dear, lost its t part (except in Finland) and
became a plain fricative, something which made the sound
unconfortably similar to "skära", cut.----------Thought I might mention that that same Swedish for Tourists claims "kära" should be pronounced "chairah" by English speakers, i.e. with an affricate that you say is no longer used in Sweden (and which was probably not the same as English "ch" in "chair"). Why do these publications feel they must oversimplify and thereby misrepresent foreign pronunciation (a rhetorical question)?Andrew