<w> as indicator of vowelitude

[Ronald Butters]

<bow> is not a verb if it is pronounced the same as <Bo> or <beau>. It is a verb if it is pronounced the same as <bough>.

I think you are imagining things about the difference in what your lips do in pronouncing <Mo> and <mow>. Get somebody to read them to you in a of randomly assigned list and see of you can tell which is which.
On Mar 20, 2012, at 4:32 PM, Larry Sheldon wrote:

> On 3/20/2012 9:07 AM, Ronald Butters wrote:
>
>>                             and<mow>, where it is pronounced exactly  =
>> like<Mo>.
>
> My lack of training is going to be apparent here, please be kind.
>
> That fragment above surprises me.  When I pronounce "Mo" (the
> abbreviation for a nearby state as in "I have a daughter that lives in
> kay cee mo") I don't feel my lips moving closer together (not to a stop)
> like I do when I say "mow" (the lawn....hmmmm a 'w') or "bow" (what the
> President does).
>
> What is the phonetic assignment for the "w" in "lawn" and "yawn"?
>
> Am I in bounds here or am I still in stupid-question territory? (All
> answers to this last question off-line, please.)
>
>
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