waterfall, and "uh"

Tue Oct 5 21:04:54 UTC 1999

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    En Chapulhuacanito, Tamazunchale, San Luis Potos=ED, the nahuatl =
word for waterfall is "achayawte".  In classical nahuatl it would be =
"achayauhtli", from "atl", "water" and "chayahui", "to scatter or to =
snow".=20
    This allows me to raise a question.  When I began to study classical =
nahuatl, and pronunciation was explained to me, I was told that the =
secuence, "-auh", such as in the example above, was to be pronounced =
with rounded lips.  After being around native speakers of the Huasteca =
for a while, I have seen that in actual practice, the syllable final =
"uh" or "w", sounds pretty much like the glottal stop, both before =
consonents and before silence.  In other words, no rounded lips.  My =
question is, are there regional pronunciations of the "uh" which use =
rounded lips, or is this standard explanation of classical nahuatl =
pronunciation just wrong?
    John Sullivan
    Doctorado en Historia
    Universidad Aut=F3noma de Zacatecas.

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<DIV><FONT size=3D2>    En Chapulhuacanito, Tamazunchale, =
San Luis=20
Potos=ED, the nahuatl word for waterfall is "achayawte".  In =
classical=20
nahuatl it would be "achayauhtli", from "atl", "water" and "chayahui", =
"to=20
scatter or to snow". </FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=3D2>    This allows me to raise a =
question. =20
When I began to study classical nahuatl, and pronunciation was explained =
to me,=20
I was told that the secuence, "-auh", such as in the example above, was =
to be=20
pronounced with rounded lips.  After being around native speakers =
of the=20
Huasteca for a while, I have seen that in actual practice, the syllable =
final=20
"uh" or "w", sounds pretty much like the glottal stop, both before =
consonents=20
and before silence.  In other words, no rounded lips.  My =
question is,=20
are there regional pronunciations of the "uh" which use rounded lips, or =
is this=20
standard explanation of classical nahuatl pronunciation just =
wrong?</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=3D2>    John Sullivan</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=3D2>    Doctorado en =
Historia</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=3D2>    Universidad Aut=F3noma de=20
Zacatecas.</FONT></DIV></BODY></HTML>

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