the long vowels as monophthongs

[Tom Zurinskas]

The important point in this voice file is that these voicings of the long vowels were in fact monophthongs as intentionally spoken so by me.  They were one prolonged sound, with no mouth or tongue movement, no pitch, texture or loudness variation for the duration, and the tails were cut off so as to eliminate off-glides.  Basically, with no variation in the vocal apparatus (just a frozen mouth set) there can be no diphthong produced but only a monophthong.  The question of importance is whether or not the vocalizations could be recognized for the long vowels they portrayed.  No one said they couldn't.  So it proves my point, that long vowels are monophthongs.

See http://www.qlipmedia.com/wqb/index.php?discid=bed59983    double click play button to hear.

It seems unfair to me to say that off-glides can create diphthongs.  In that case just about all vowels can be called such, especially before certain consonants.  It makes no sense that off-glide transitional exceptions between sounds should prove a rule.

Tom Zurinskas, USA - CT20, TN3, NJ33, FL5+
See truespel.com - and the 4 truespel books plus "Occasional Poems" at authorhouse.com.



> Date: Sun, 4 May 2008 00:23:50 +0000
> From: truespel at HOTMAIL.COM
> Subject: the long vowels as monophthongs
> To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
>
> ---------------------- Information from the mail header -----------------------
> Sender: American Dialect Society
> Poster: Tom Zurinskas
> Subject: the long vowels as monophthongs
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> The long vowels as one sound - monophthongs. Go to the the link below. I express the long vowels as I say them, and as I believe is the majority form in USA. They are monophthongs to me. Click on the play arrow twice to hear play. If you can identify the phoneme in one sound, it's a monophthong.
>
> http://www.qlipmedia.com/wqb/index.php?discid=bed59983
>
> Tom Zurinskas, USA - CT20, TN3, NJ33, FL5+
> See truespel.com - and the 4 truespel books plus "Occasional Poems" at authorhouse.com.
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>> English doesn't have pure [o]; Italian or French often does. English
>> "long vowels" are all diphthongs.
>>
>> Can't write more now.
>>
>> m a m
> _________________________________________________________________
> Stay in touch when you're away with Windows Live Messenger.
> http://www.windowslive.com/messenger/overview.html?ocid=TXT_TAGLM_WL_Refresh_messenger_052008
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------
> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org

_________________________________________________________________
Windows Live SkyDrive lets you share files with faraway friends.
http://www.windowslive.com/skydrive/overview.html?ocid=TXT_TAGLM_WL_Refresh_skydrive_052008

------------------------------------------------------------
The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org