Haukur Thorgeirsson wrote:

> > I had a particular question about the ligature "æ" in "mæri". According to E.
> > V. Gordon, it's meant to be a diphthong like "ai" in "samurai"
>
> He really says that? Strange.
>

Actually, checking Gordon again, he's got something closer to what you had. Now I
wonder where I read that...

>
> > , but in
> > another recording (from Sequentia's "Edda"), it's treated as OE "æsc" (ie.
> > ModE "a" in "hat"). Your pronunciation was closer to "ei" as heard in ModE
> > "pay".
>
> Native English speakers tend not to hear the difference between their diphthong
> in 'pay' and other people's long 'e' monophthongs. For example, when you say 'café'
> the last vowel is the diphthong from 'pay'. When the French say 'café' the last
> vowel is a clear monophthong. Your version of 'déjà vu', as opposed to the French
> one, is another example.
>

True enough. It's hard to hear the difference if you're not used to listening for it.

>
> In this case my pronunciation was supposed to be Sampa [E:]. My idea of the closest
> English sound is the vowel in 'bed'.
>
> How do we know that the ash wasn't pronounced as in Old English?
> Well of course it may have been - but I find it unlikely since the
> Old English ash does not result in a fronting of 'k' and 'g'
> (you say 'cat', not 'chat') whereas the Icelandic ash does.
>

Good point.

>
> > Is this how it's pronounced in Modern Icelandic, a slip of the tongue,
> > or how it's meant to be pronounced in ON? If it is ON pronunciation, how is
> > it pronounced in ModI? Just curious...
>
> In the modern language 'æ' is a diphthong similar to that in 'samurai'.
>

Ah, therein lies my confusion. Thanks for clearing that up.

>
> Kveðja,
> Haukur
>
>
> Sumir hafa kvæði...
> ...aðrir spakmæli.
>
> - Keth
>
> Homepage: http://www.hi.is/~haukurth/norse/
>
> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:
> norse_course-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com
>
>
> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/

--
Daniel Bray
dbray@...
School of Studies in Religion A20
University of Sydney NSW 2006 Australia