the three "n" s

Tue Mar 24 18:09:17 UTC 2009

The three sounds spelled <n> in these words are as qualitatively
different as /d/, /j/, and /g/ as in "daub," "job," and "gob."  (I
realize that for those of us without the caught/cot merger "daub" has
the vowel of "caught.")  The reason they seem not to contrast is that
the contrast is not phonemic before a consonant because nasals are
always homorganic (same place of articulation) to a following
syllable-final consonant.  But the differences are physically real.

When you say "sing" in isolation, does the back of your tongue always
drop down from the velum?  Do you ever say it without opening the
closure between tongue and velum, just allowing the voicing to stop?
If you do, in that case do you still hear a final /g/?

Herb

On Tue, Mar 24, 2009 at 1:50 PM, Tom Zurinskas <truespel at hotmail.com> wrote:
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> Poster:       Tom Zurinskas <truespel at HOTMAIL.COM>
> Subject:      Re: the three "n" s
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> Perhaps I should say; "three ways of making the sound ~n".  I don't think the three n sounds (in winter,finger,danger) are qualitatively different very much, since airflow is rerouted through the nose in each case.  The ~n sound is nasal and doesn't matter much what the tongue or mouth does.
>
> I've got a touch of a "g" in "sing", made by the tongue going down off the velum (when saying the word in isolation).   But for "sing a song" the "g" becomes fully formed leading the vowel "a".  Allophones.
>
> Note: I can't say "sing" without pronouncing the vowel as "long e" ~ee before the "ng" or "nk" in the same syllable.  I find this typical of UK or USA English even though dictionaries prescribe short i.
>
>
> Tom Zurinskas, USA - CT20, TN3, NJ33, FL5+
> see truespel.com
>
>
>
>
> ----------------------------------------
>> Date: Mon, 23 Mar 2009 19:48:30 -0400
>> From: paul.johnston at WMICH.EDU
>> Subject: Re: the three "n" s
>> To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
>>
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>> Sender: American Dialect Society
>> Poster: Paul Johnston
>> Subject: Re: the three "n" s
>> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>>
>> You mean the n *sounds*--even your description says that. I won't
>> reprise everyone else's argument about the "velar n" being a phoneme
>> on its own. I guess you have a system like English West Midlanders
>> do--where engma IS an allophone. For what t's worth, I've heard such
>> systems from other Easterners--including a colleague of mine from
>> Providence. I don't have it, though. Now, are you like Birmingham/
>> Liverpool or like Stoke-on-Trent? I. e. do you have a /g/ in sings?
>> I bet you don't.
>>
>> Paul
>> On Mar 23, 2009, at 2:35 PM, Tom Zurinskas wrote:
>>
>>> ---------------------- Information from the mail header
>>> -----------------------
>>> Sender: American Dialect Society
>>> Poster: Tom Zurinskas
>>> Subject: the three "n" s
>>> ----------------------------------------------------------------------
>>> ---------
>>>
>>> I'd say there are 3 ways of say the sound "n", the most often
>>> spoken sound of USA English. For each, the tongue forms a dam so
>>> air is routed through the nose to make the "n" sound, but tongue
>>> placement differs, as per example in these three words; winter,
>>> finger, and danger.
>>>
>>> 1. the front n - Winter - (tongue tip contacts top gums)
>>> 2. the back n - Finger - (back of tongue contacts the velum)
>>> 3. the middle n - Danger - (whole tongue rises to palate)
>>>
>>> These "n"s are not noticably different in sound, and are allophones
>>> of each other.
>>>
>>> Tom Zurinskas, USA - CT20, TN3, NJ33, FL5+
>>> see truespel.com
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> ----------------------------------------
>>>> Date: Mon, 23 Mar 2009 10:35:36 -0700
>>>> From: zwicky at STANFORD.EDU
>>>> Subject: act of show
>>>> To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
>>>>
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>>>> -----------------------
>>>> Sender: American Dialect Society
>>>> Poster: Arnold Zwicky
>>>> Subject: act of show
>>>> ---------------------------------------------------------------------
>>>> ----------
>>>>
>>>> from the Palo Alto Daily News of 21 March 2009, "Palo Alto shooting
>>>> suspect still at large", by Diana Samuels, p. 3:
>>>>
>>>> Police said Gil-Fernandez claimed affiliation with the Norteno street
>>>> gang, though that claim may have been mostly an act of show in Palo
>>>> Alto, where the Norteno gang doesn't have much of a presence.
>>>> .....
>>>>
>>>> that's "an act of show" 'a show, display, pretense'. a few more
>>>> cites:
>>>>
>>>> I remembered my fiancé’s first time to pay me a visit at home. I
>>>> was listening to Metallica. At that time, he thought I was just
>>>> playing it to impress him. Later as we knew each other better, he
>>>> realized that it was not an act of show but simply my choice of
>>>> music.
>>>> http://www.anintimateconversation.com/2009_02_01_archive.html
>>>>
>>>> Gabby,Lynette,Bree,Susan and Eddie are all part of a clan that has
>>>> secrets lies and webs of drama they all live in such a perfect area
>>>> yet knowing all the perfection is just an act of show!!!
>>>> http://www.tv.com/desperate-housewives/show/24641/
>>>> reviews.html&flag=1&pg_rev=4
>>>>
>>>> Col. Gianfranco Cavallo of the Carabinieri paramilitary police said
>>>> the bomb appeared to be an "act of show" rather than an attack
>>>> planned
>>>> to make victims.
>>>> http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/bomb-damages-cars-
>>>> in-downtown-rome-672350.html
>>>>
>>>> Actually it was our state governor, a female democrat (Ks) that
>>>> ordered them sent! I am sure that it was more of an act of show than
>>>> anything else.
>>>> http://world-news.newsvine.com/_news/2009/03/12/2537681-us-plans-
>>>> for-mexico-border-violence
>>>>
>>>> there are also hits for "act of show-off"
>>>>
>>>> do you think if I show up with my guitar it won't be weired? won't
>>>> people think of it as an act of show off?
>>>> http://id.answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20080421191749AAV8jNh
>>>> [Yahoo! Indonesia]
>>>>
>>>> Again, McLeod depicts Ganda Singh as a shallow person of
>>>> pretentious nature whose ego was inflated by the mere receipt of a
>>>> book from McLeod and as an act of show-off, he carried it round under
>>>> his arm, with the title prominently displayed for all to see.
>>>> http://sikhspectrum.com/052007/mcleod/ch5.htm
>>>>
>>>> They dabble in esoteric themes like mysticism, sexual freedom,
>>>> death, the after-life and such things, as an act of show off.
>>>> http://ia.rediff.com/movies/2008/dec/01review-pakal-nakshatrangal.htm
>>>>
>>>> unlike the "act of show" examples, these seem to be from various
>>>> asian
>>>> varieties of english.
>>>>
>>>> arnold
>>>>
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