/A/ vs. /a/

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Michael Hamm - 01 Nov 2006 21:07 GMT

Back in 2003, R. Fontana thought it was "weird or scary" that I
distinguish the vowels in 'cot' and 'father'. But I do, and I found a
minimal pair ('.com' and 'calm') to prove it. Hear
http://www.math.wustl.edu/~msh210/recording.wav (replicated at
http://alt-usage-english.org/mhamm.mp3 ) for that minimal pair.

I just realized I have another minimal pair for /A/ vs. /a/: 'riding' and
'writing'. I pronounce 'riding' /'rAj*INg/ and 'writing' as either
/'raj*INg/ or /'raj*.INg/: I'm not sure which.

Michael Hamm
AM, Math, Wash. U. St. Louis
msh210@math.wustl.edu Fine print:
http://www.math.wustl.edu/~msh210/ ... legal.html

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R H Draney - 01 Nov 2006 23:35 GMT

Michael Hamm filted:

>Back in 2003, R. Fontana thought it was "weird or scary" that I
>distinguish the vowels in 'cot' and 'father'. But I do, and I found a
[quoted text clipped - 5 lines]
>'writing'. I pronounce 'riding' /'rAj*INg/ and 'writing' as either
>/'raj*INg/ or /'raj*.INg/: I'm not sure which.

I have "Ronnie" (a seldom-used diminutive of my own given name) and "rani"
(Sanskrit for "princess") for the same pair....r

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Peacenik - 02 Nov 2006 02:32 GMT

> Back in 2003, R. Fontana thought it was "weird or scary" that I
> distinguish the vowels in 'cot' and 'father'. But I do, and I found a
> minimal pair ('.com' and 'calm') to prove it.

I pronounce a partial "l"-line sound in "calm".

> Hear
> http://www.math.wustl.edu/~msh210/recording.wav (replicated at
[quoted text clipped - 3 lines]
> 'writing'. I pronounce 'riding' /'rAj*INg/ and 'writing' as either
> /'raj*INg/ or /'raj*.INg/: I'm not sure which.

I pronounce the vowels differently too: /a:j/ vs. /Vj/ (where "a:" is a long
"ah" and "V" is the "u" in "but").

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Discussion Groups / English Usage / November 2006

/A/ vs. /a/