Phonetics (Was: Re: Place names)

On Fri, 18 Jun 2004 13:54:18 -0400, Peter T. Daniels
<grammatim@...> wrote:

> Catford, Intro to Practical Phonetics (or maybe it's Practical Intro to
> Phonetics); there was a 2nd ed. fairly recently. Gives excellent
> instructions for producing all those weird sounds by yourself. (Though
> having a teacher is better.)

Ah; second time that's been recommended. Must do it...
I once had a book that recommended practicing silently!

As to a teacher, maybe occasional sessions with a tutor might work.
(Reminds me that there's tuition money available for elders here.)

> "Velar" means back of the oral cavity. I think the velum is what the
> uvula dangles from; the velar consonants are forward of the uvular
> consonants.

> Japanese phonetics sometimes don't sound much like what you'd expect
> from the phonemic transcriptions.

One simple example: It seems that their "u" is much like the German
u-umlaut.

As well, (something I mentioned recently) their names for Romaji (romaji?)
letters are, in many cases, notably different from what they are called in
English and European languages.

>> Thanks, Peter!

(Again!) Not the least for your patience.

--
Nicholas Bodley /*|*\ Waltham, Mass.
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