How to say "Boston"

[Herb Stahlke]

They can both be pronounced on any pitch you can produce.  However, if you
analyze the vowels into the fundamental frequency (pitch) and overtones
that distinguish them, "see" has a lowered throat cavity overtone, because
the tongue is extended up towards the palate thus opening up the throat
cavity, and a raised oral cavity overtone because the tongue is filling
much of the oral cavity, reducing the size of the cavity and producing a
higher overtone.  In "saw," just the reverse of this is true.  Of course,
there are a lot more overtones, but these two are the most clearly
associated with resonating cavities in the vocal tract.

We hear these different combinations of overtones as distinct vowel sounds.

Herb


On Sat, Apr 20, 2013 at 11:51 PM, Tom Zurinskas <truespel at hotmail.com>wrote:

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> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       Tom Zurinskas <truespel at HOTMAIL.COM>
> Subject:      Re: How to say "Boston"
>
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> Judging by myself I'd say that a lowered pitch vowel is made by lowering
> the tongue, and the reverse for a higher pitched vowel.  No?  Take the
> words see and saw.  As spoken naturally is there no pitch difference?  "I
> saw him" vs "I see him"?
>
> Tom Zurinskas, Conn 20 yrs, Tenn 3, NJ 33, now Fl 9.
> See how English spelling links to sounds at http://justpaste.it/ayk
>
>
>
> > ---------------------- Information from the mail header
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> > Sender: American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> > Poster: Herb Stahlke <hfwstahlke at GMAIL.COM>
> > Subject: Re: How to say "Boston"
> >
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
> >
> > Tom,
> >
> > When describing a vowel, "low" refers to the position of the tongue, not
> to
> > the pitch produced by the larynx.
> >
> > The two are pretty much unrelated.
> >
> > Herb
> >
> >
> > On Sat, Apr 20, 2013 at 3:23 PM, Tom Zurinskas <truespel at hotmail.com>
> wrote:
> >
> > > ---------------------- Information from the mail header
> > > -----------------------
> > > Sender: American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> > > Poster: Tom Zurinskas <truespel at HOTMAIL.COM>
> > > Subject: Re: How to say "Boston"
> > >
> > >
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
> > >
> > > From the news of the bombings I'm hearing the pronunciation of Boston
> with
> > > "ah" (~aa) over "awe" (~au) in reporters' broadcasts. To me it was
> always
> > > ~Baustin rather than ~Baastin. I'm surprised but such is the trend,
> > > nowadays.
> > >
> > > From the speakers at thefreedictionary.com I hear ~Baustin. The same
> at
> > > m-w.com, but there even the word "awe" is mispronounced "awe" by the
> > > speaker.
> > >
> > > It's amazing how "awe-dropping" is catching on. My cousin's wife has
> even
> > > changed the pronunciation of her son, "Shawn" to ~Shaan. The only
> reason I
> > > can find is that "ah" is easier to say than "awe'. I think females are
> > > more susceptible because their voices are higher, and "awe" is a low
> vowel
> > > sound.
> > >
> > >
> > > Tom Zurinskas, Conn 20 yrs, Tenn 3, NJ 33, now Fl 9.
> > > See how English spelling links to sounds at http://justpaste.it/ayk
> > >
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