Re: [tied] Further question on Polish

On 2006-05-30 11:59, Grzegorz Jagodzinski wrote:

> Have you checked my page on Polish fricatives?
>
> http://www.aries.com.pl/grzegorzj/gram/uni/sibilants.html

Quote:

> The main
> difference between /s/ and /s^/ is in the width of their openings –
> the /s/ has the narrow opening while the /s^/ has the wide one. There
> are also secondary differences: /s/ is mainly dental while /s^/ is
> mainly alveolar, /s/ is dorsal while /s^/ is more coronal (but not
> retroflex). Here we can say about a spoon-like shape of the tongue.
> But they are recognized by Polish speakers by their acoustic features
> (hissing – rustling) which depend on the width of their openings.

I haven't got Puppel et al. (1977) in front of me. Is the corresponding
Polish passage on your page a verbatim citation? If so, it contains a
surprising amount of terminological confusion, making the description
almost incomoprehensible. Both /s/ and /s^/ are CORONAL (just that, not
"more" or "less" coronal, since both are articulated with the front part
of the tongue), and /s/ most certainly isn't DORSAL (which would
properly mean "pronounced with the back of the tongue as the active
articulator"). The reconstructed intended meaning is as follows: Pol.
/s/ is more LAMINAL while Pol. /s^/ is more APICAL, though not SUBAPICAL
("retroflex" sensu stricto).

Piotr