Ada, Or Ardor

[D. Ezra Johnson]

>From: Beverly Flanigan <flanigan at OAK.CATS.OHIOU.EDU>
>
>Natalie, by 'ah' do you mean [a] or [ae]?  I interpreted '"broad" to mean
>the low front vowel...

Beverly, by 'the low front vowel' do you mean [a] or [ae] ??!!

According to IPA, [a] is the lowest (most open) of the front vowels. And the
vowel chart used in LANE, PEAS, etc. agrees.

But perhaps the absence of [a] from most American dialects (and the
resultant fact that [ae] is the low-frontest vowel) has something to do with
the alternative conception, e.g. in Wolfram/Schilling-Estes:

[ae]    low front tense
[a]             low central

Maybe the point here is that since starting from [E] you can't go lower
without going back at the same time, there is no "corner" for a real "true"
low front vowel to occupy...

Dej

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