Re: The [a] sound...
Saul Epstein 
Mon, 16 Mar 1998 12:41:14 -0600

Quotes from: Dr Maggie Hellstrom, Lund
Date: Monday, March 16, 1998 10:15 AM


>Saul asked:
>> Hmm. Would you say that the first syllable in "patte" is
>> a near-rhyme with British "part" (the latter being longer,
>> of course)?

    [...]

>I think I am pronouncing the [a]
>sounds in "patte" and "part" with the toungue more or less
>in the same place, and with the rest of the mouth shaped the
>same, but I can't be sure...

It's the position of the tongue I'm most concerned with, as the
unspoken R may be lending some lip-rounding to the vowel in "part."
And this pretty much confirms what I thought you were saying about
"patte" and "bach," before. That is, it helps confirm that I
understood what you said.

>Since I was taught British
>pronounciation in school, and later studied French, I'm
>reasonably sure I know what I'm talking about, but it's been
>a while...

I'm inclined to trust you. I'm informally familiar with a variety of
different Britishes, which means your formal instruction would be less
shifty. And what I know about French hardly signifies.

>The need for ,wav-files defining the pronounciation is
>becoming more obvious with each day...

Heh-heh. We have to settle on the pronunciations first. But I have
more data than I used to, so I -- or we -- may have something more to
go on in a few days...

--
from Saul Epstein
locus*planetkc,com
http://www,jccc,net/~sepstein
"Surak ow'phaaper thes'hi thes'tca'; thes'phaadjar thes'hi
    suraketca'."
                                        -- K'dvarin Urswhl'at