"long" and "short" vowels

[Herb Stahlke]

That usage has two functions.  One is to distinguish between the study of
the sounds of language covering all languages rather than just one.  The
other is to distinguish between oral production used for language and oral
production that is not typically used for language, like saying the alphabet
while burping (esophageal air stream) or while inhaling.  Granted,
laryngectomy patients may learn to speak with an esophageal air stream, but
languages don't normally do that.  And languages don't make meaning
distinctions by exhaling on one syllable and inhaling on the next.  Again,
that's possible to do, but languages don't do it.

Herb

On Thu, Jun 18, 2009 at 2:42 PM, Tom Zurinskas <truespel at hotmail.com> wrote:

>
>
>
> Why do folks say "human" speech?  Can we just say "speech" and assume it's
> =
> human?
>
> Tom Zurinskas=2C USA - CT20=2C TN3=2C NJ33=2C FL5+=20
> see truespel.com
>
>
> =20
>
> > ---------------------- Information from the mail header
> -----------------=
> ------
> > Sender: American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> > Poster: David Bowie <db.list at PMPKN.NET>
> > Subject: Re: "long" and "short" vowels
> >
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------=
> ------
> >=20
> > From: Tom Zurinskas <truespel at HOTMAIL.COM>
> > > somebody left unattributed wrote:
> >=20
> > >> Yes=2C long [a] interpreted *quantitatively* (often
> > >> represented as [a:] is pronounced with the same
> > >> tongue position as short "a"=2C but just prolonged.
> >=20
> > > So you're saying "mate" and "mat" vowels have the same tongue
> > > position (I think close but not same). And you say "mate" vowel
> > > takes longer to say than "mat" (I say them over and over and they
> > > seem the same). This is quantitative=2C somehow? (time measure and
> > > physical tongue location?)
> >=20
> > Tom=2C please=2C *please*=2C PLEASE go get a copy of Peter Ladefoged's _A
> > Course in Phonetics_ and give it a good read-through. It's short=2C and
> > someone like you who's interested in the sounds of human speech should
> > be able to hang with it=2C even the more technical bits--and it would
> > really help avoid these talking-past-each-other moments. So=2C please?
> >=20
> > --
> > David Bowie University of Central Florida
> > Jeanne's Two Laws of Chocolate: If there is no chocolate in the
> > house=2C there is too little=3B some must be purchased. If there is
> > chocolate in the house=2C there is too much=3B it must be consumed.
> >=20
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>
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