vocalic m, r, n, and l

[Ronald Butters]

Maybe in slow and somewhat artificial speech, Tom, but otherwise it makes a good deal of sense to see /m/ as the vowel in <rhythm>-- as also the /l/ in <rifle>, the /r/ in <butter>, and the /n/ in <somethin' > (and also when it is pronounced as if it were spelled <sunthin>--and with the glottal-stop pronunciation [s@?n], where @ = a nasalized schwa and N is a syllabically realized /n/).

On Mar 20, 2012, at 5:49 AM, Tom Zurinskas wrote:

> My take is that the word "rhythm" phonetically has two vowels ~rithim, like "prism" ~prizim, but not film ~film (although my father used to say ~filim).
> 
> Tom Zurinskas, Conn 20 yrs, Tenn 3, NJ 33, now Fl 9.
> See how English spelling links to sounds at http://justpaste.it/ayk
> 
> 
> 
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> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org

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