Velar "k" vs. English "k"?

[Tom Larsen]

Unfortunately it's not only the phonetic symbols that change over time
but also the terminology used to describe them.  In Boas' time the
"English k" was sometimes called a "palatal" sound (though perhaps not
by Boas in this case).  Now days "palatal" is used to descibe sounds
that are farther forward than the English k (i.e., sounds where the
tongue touches, or at least approaches, the "hard palate"), while the
English k now is usual is described as a "velar" sound (the back part of
the tongue touches, or at least approaches the "velum", aka the "soft
palate").  This is the terminaology that George Yule is using.  In Boas'
time sounds that were farther back than the English k were called
"velar", whereas now days such sounds are usually called "uvular" (the
very back part of the tongue touches, or at least approaches, the
"uvula", that funny thing that hangs down back in your throat). Some
people call these latter sounds "postvelar" rather than "uvular".  Boas'
q is similar in sound to the Arabic letter whose name is sometimes
transliterated as "qaaf".  Boas' k is similar to the Arabic letter whose
name is sometimes transliterated as "kaaf".

Tom

Nadja Adolf wrote:

>I'm having a little trouble understanding some of Boas
>definitions.
>
>In Boas Chinook Texts pronunciation guide he describes
>the use of certain characters:
>
>q velar k
>k English k
>
>The problem I am having with this is that George Yule
>describes the k sound used in English - in cook, kick,
>kid, and cat as an "unvoiced velar."
>
>He also describes the "voiced velar" in English - the
>English g as seen in go, give, and bag.
>
>What did Boas mean by "velar k" and "English k".
>
>Also, Boas lists "obscure vowels." I can't find a
>definition for this. Does anyone have one?
>
>Thank you.
>
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