Re: [phoNet] Re: Phonetic curiosities

--- In phoNet@egroups.com, "Sergejus Tarasovas" <s.tarasovas@s...>
wrote:

> Piotr wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------------------------

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>
> I've been looking forward to your contribution hoping you would

tell us

> someting about these diphthongs. I'd be interested in two things:

from the

> descriptions I've read and from my own informal observations of

spoken

> Lithuanian I gather that they are in fact long mid-high vowels

([e:] and

> [o:]) preceded by semivocalic onglides. If so, something like

[je:], [wo:]

> could do as a rough transcription. Do you agree?
>
> --------------------------------------------------------------------

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>
> The most interesting peculiarity of Lithuanian here is that the term
> semivocalic may not suit (at least in the meaning applied to

English [j] and

> [w]). They are so weak and momentary, that I would rather called

them the

> 'way [e:] and [o:] are articulated in the first stage of

articulation'

> (somebody, please remind me the term!).
>
> Sergei

That's what I meant by saying that their place is within the syllable
nucleus, not in the onset (in simpler terms, they are clearly
vocalic, not consonantal). Juozas Spanish parallel seems good enough
to me. The technical term you're looking for is probably "onglide".

Piotr