From: astridr_thorgeirsdottir
Message: 2120
Date: 2002-09-07
> On Thu, 5 Sep 2002 tsdoughty@... wrote:[snip]
> > Wow, you nailed the other _big_ thing that's made it very hard tomaster
> > pronunciation of ON/Icelandic! In English we are never taughtthe concept of
> > long vs. short vowels in terms of quantity. Every schoolchildwhen learning
> > to read is taught "long" vowels (cane) vs. "short" vowels (can),but in this
> > case it's a misuse of the terms, since it really means twototally different
> > vowels. We are actually unaware, as you point out, that thevowels take
> > longer to sound. And when I read that in many languages one hasto pronounce
> > the vowels for a longer or shorter period of time, I wasmystified. It took
> > me years to understand that concept, let alone hear thedifference.
>you
> Interesting; this is a difference that I haven't heard clerly. Do
> know of anywhere that tries to explain it well?I learned the difference when learning Japanese. In fact, they
>