bad phonetics makes the Style Invitational

[Alice Faber]

Gordon, Matthew J. said:
>
>  >>> >>>She moaned. It was a low, yearnful moan. Not a moan that Chomsky
>would describe as a dental fricative, but more as an alveolar nasal
>followed by a velar stop.
>(Toby Hansen, Lyndhurst, Ohio)

>It's bad phonologically too assuming the 'she' is an English speaker
>- aren't alveolar nasals unlikely before velar stops given nasal
>assimilation?
>And when was the last time Chomsky wrote anything about phonetics?

Paralinguistic sounds don't have to follow phonotactic rules. English
doesn't have phonological clicks, but there are several
paralinguistic clicks (tsk tsk, whatever it is that people use to
command horses, etc). English doesn't have phonological velar
fricatives, but there is nonetheless a velar fricative in the common
exclamation "yecch", expressing disgust.
--
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Alice Faber                                             faber at haskins.yale.edu
Haskins Laboratories                                  tel: (203) 865-6163 x258
New Haven, CT 06511 USA                                     fax (203) 865-8963