Let's Talk: Phonetics
Saul Epstein 
Fri, 10 Jul 1998 01:30:19 -0500

OK, folks, bear with me. I'm not sure where I'm going with this...

Since this list first opened, I've made my contributions using a lot
of linguistic and grammatical terminology, because it's there, I feel
familiar with it, it's capable of great precision, blah, blah,
blah...

Early on, I remember warning everyone that I would tend to do this,
and suggested that if I ever said anything that didn't make sense to
someone, but which that one wished to understand, then that one
should slap me (electronically, of course) until I said something
clearer on the subject.

That happened a couple of times, but mostly people have let me babble
on, limited only by my occasional feeling that I was muttering into a
deep hole.

So, this is what I'm beginning to consider: if technical discussion
excludes too many of us, we need to find less technical ways to
discuss the things that concern ALL of us. Or at least using more
familiar terms. This isn't just a matter of how many people can
participate in the formulation of descriptions of Vulcan, but of how
many people can UNDERSTAND those descriptions once formed.

Phonetics, then. Here's a set of words describing the different
categories of consonants presented in the ZC, and the examples of
each. I've used the original transcriptions, because I think I want
this to be the first installment of an explanation of how I arrived
at the changes I suggested, so that others can better evaluate which
-- if any -- of those changes to adopt. (I've also left out a few
sounds that cross or combine categories, just to clarify what the
labels mean.)

                                 Manners
                       stop  friction  flow  nose
       {lip            p b   f v       w~ w  m
       {(tongue)tip    t d   s z       l     n   (r and rh go in
here)
Places {(tongue)blade        sh zh     j     n~
       {(tongue)base   k g   x               ng
       {(tongue)root   q
       {throat         '     h

(The failure of the "simple" consonants to make use of <c> and <y> is
a big part of the changes I ended up suggesting...)

Lip consonants are made either with both lips, or with the lower lip
and the upper-front teeth. Tip, Blade, and Root consonants are all
made with the named part of the tongue and a nearby part of the roof
of the mouth. Throat consonants are made with some part or parts of
the throat.

Stop consonants completely stop the passage of air through the mouth
and then release it. Friction consonants restrict the passage of air
through the mouth enough that the passage causes audible friction.
Flow consonants also restrict the passage of air, but not enough to
cause audible friction. Nose consonants completely stop the passage
of air through the mouth, and allow it to pass through the nose
instead.

What distinguishes /p/ from /t/, then, is the _place_ where the
passage of air is influenced; what distinguishes /p/ from /f/ is the
_manner_ in which the passage of air is influenced.

If this seems adequately clear, I'd like to use these terms as part
of an explanation of the changes I proposed in the transcription. I'd
like to use them from now on, in fact, whenever questions about
consonants come up.

--
from Saul Epstein
locus*planetkc,com - www,planetkc,com/locus
"Surakri' ow'pacur the's'hi the's'cha'; the's'parka the's'hi
     surakecha'."
                                        -- K'dvarin Ursw~l'at