LL-L "Phonology" 2004.03.16 (01) [E]

[Lowlands-L]

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From: Gaidheal <gaidheal at yahoo.com>
Subject: LL-L "Phonology" 2004.03.15 (02) [E]


Feasgar math, a Lowlanders;

Ron said:
"In Dutch (as in all Romance languages, for example) this aspiration does
not occur."

My question for you, if you can help me out here, is how does an American
learn to stop aspirating? I'm ever looking for ways to improve my
pronunciation (though I recognize this is not something that will bar me
from being understood in French or any other Romance language). And there's
also the problem of recognizing aspiration: I've never been able to when I
listen to Indic languages, nor have I been able to accurately pronounce
aspirated and unaspirated consonants.

Mòran taing,
Uilleam Ã’g mhic Sheumais

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From: R. F. Hahn <sassisch at yahoo.com>
Subject: Phonology

Feasgar math, a Uilleam!

Hopefully, other Lowlanders will have to say something to say about this
too.  In the meantime, here's my farthing's worth of suggestions.

For me it was quite hard to learn not to aspirate.  I understand that many
people have a much harder time with it than I did.  One advantage I had was
that my maternal grandmother spoke a non-aspirating German dialect (of an
area that used to be a part of Greater Lusatia, now smack on the
German-Polish border), which she called "Lower Silesian" (hers being a
German dialect with a Sorbian substrate).  So I was at least exposed to this
feature as a child already.  However, my family did not quite understand,
believing that she was saying /b/ for /p/, /d/ for /t/ and /g/ for /k/, so
they immitated her by saying e.g. _Dasche_ for _Tasche_ 'bag', 'pocket'.  I
soon figured out that this wasn't really how she pronounced it, because I
perceived a difference between, say, her ['de:n@] 'to widen', 'to stretch'
versus her ['te:n@] 'to sound' (corresponding to Standard German _dehnen_
['de:n at n] and _tönen_ ['t_hø:n at n] respectively).  Later, when I became
phonologically more aware, read about these things and found out what
aspiration was, I practised not to aspirate at the beginning of a word in
order to imitate her and other people's dialects.  (All right! All right! So
I *was* weird as a child already.)  I followed instructions I read
somewhere.  Below is my extended version of that, extended on the basis of
my own experience:

"Gently place one hand on your throat, and hold the other hand very close in
front of your mouth.  First, very slowly, say words that begin with /b/, /d/
and /g/; you should feel slight vibration in your throat when those
consonants are sounded, and you should feel no breath hitting the hand in
front of your mouth.  This vibration is "voicing."  Now, very slowly, say
words beginning with /p/, /t/ and /k/ (avoiding those that begin with /pl/,
/pr/, /ps/, /tr/, /kl/ and /kr/); you should feel no vibration in your
throat but a puff of air coming from your mouth when those consonants are
sounded.  This puff of air is "aspiration."  Now keep practising these words
beginning with /p/, /t/ and /k/ without feeling neither the puff of air and
nor vibration in your throat.  When you have achieved this you have
pronounced plosives without aspiration.  Keep practising.  Then make this a
habit whenever you pronounce the language for which you need this.  After a
period of consciously avoiding this aspiration, it should happen
automatically whenever you speak that language."

(In the case of Romance languages, there is the extra challenge of learning
to pronounce /d/, /t/, /s/ and /z/ with the tip of your tongue closer to
your front teeth than when you speak West Germanic languages -- but that's a
different, non-Lowlandic matter.)

I hope this will help you, Uilleam.

Le meas! Mar sin leibh an drà sda.

Reinhard/Ron

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