Pronouncing #mC

[Paul B. Gallagher]

Frank Y. Gladney wrote:

> In the first line of Pushkin's familiar lyric, _Ia pomniu chudnoe 
> mgnoven'e_, the realized accents are _pom_, _chud_, and _ven_.  
> Possible disagreement over final consonants aside, could someone 
> please tell me how the three unaccented syllables (if indeed it's just 
> three) _-noe mgno-_ are pronounced in actual recitation?

Naïve speakers will swear they pronounce it as written, but from what I 
can observe, the velum does not close for the /g/ (such a rapid and 
precisely timed sequence of movements, from closed for the vowel, to 
open for the /m/, to closed for the /g/, to open for the /n/, would be 
quite a feat for the clumsy velum, even in a French speaker).

The result is [#mŋno-], where [ŋ] is the velar nasal. Some speakers may 
also allow the [m] and [ŋ] to overlap, producing a double occlusion.

At any rate, it all happens in an instant. ;-)

-- 
War doesn't determine who's right, just who's left.
--
Paul B. Gallagher
pbg translations, inc.
"Russian Translations That Read Like Originals"
http://pbg-translations.com

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