Re: [tied] /æ/ in English

--- In cybalist@yahoogroups.com, "fournet.arnaud" <fournet.arnaud@...>
wrote:

>
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Rick McCallister" <gabaroo6958@...>
> >
> > Is /aeN/ (where N is nasal) an unstable sound by
> > nature?
> > English does seem to have an abnormally large number
> > of variants for this sound
> > I've heard <can> as /kan/ /ka:n/ /kaen/ /ke@.../ /keyn/
> > (more often can't as keynt), /kEn/ /kE:n/ /kE@.../ /kIn/
> > /ki@.../ /kOn/ (at least in can't as "cawn't") /kyaen/,
> > /kyen/ /kyEn/ /kyIn/
> > Maybe one of the whippersnappers on the list can do a
> > thesis on this
> >
> ===========
>
> The nasal feature tends to blur the real nature of the vowel.
> So it's quite understandable.
>
> Most nasalized vowels are unstable and tend to disappear
> Cf. Old English, Russian,
> And French has only three left aN eN oN
> the others were lost.

Four, including öN, spelled un.
Eli Fischer-Jørgensen, my phonetics teacher, used to tell us that
there was no need to go to French when North West Fyn (where she came
from) had ten nasal vowels.


Torsten