Re: MR: Wlonk

[edh@ascc01.ascc.lucent.com (Alfredo el Bufon)]

Poster: edh@ascc01.ascc.lucent.com (Alfredo el Bufon)

El senor Alfredo el Bufon wrote:
> >>[...] "WL" is just a consonant blend, like "bl" or "pl"; it's just
> >>a blend that we're not used to using.  You make the "w" sound with your
> >>lips while making the "l" sound with your tongue; there's no theoretical
> >>reason why you can't do both at once.

Lord Phillip Bell responded:
> >True, they are all consonants, but "b" and "p" are both labials while
> >"w" is in another family.  Isn't it a de facto vowel anyway?

I believe that "w" is a member in good standing of the labial family,
on the bilabial side of the family (along with "b" and "p").

Baron Corun MacAnndra replied to Lord Philip:
> This is a very good question. I suppose it depends entirely on the language
> you're speaking. You see, in German, w is pronounced like v, but in Welsh,
> it's pronounced like oo (the name for the Welsh god of the underworld,
> Annwn, is pronounced Annoon). Thus, the word wlonk, if spoken by a Welshman,
> might sound like oolonk, while a German might pronounce it vlonk.

Technically, you'd have to say, "In German, there is a letter that _looks_
a lot like the English letter 'w', but is pronounced like 'v'". (I think
it's called "vow". (In German, the abbreviation for "Volkswagen" actually
has _fewer_ syllables than the original word!))

This reminds me of the old question-answer game:

"9W"
"Do you spell your name with a 'V', Herr Wagner?"

"Dr. Livingston, I presume."
"What is you full name, Dr. Presume?"

But I digress.

His Excellency went on to ask:
> So, good Alfredo, just what language is wlonk (or did I miss that in the
> first post)?

It's English; I found it in the Oxford English Dictionary.

-- Alfredo


 
Alfredo el Bufon
Elvegast, Windmaster's Hill, Atlantia
edh@ascc01.ascc.lucent.com
______________________________________

Safe archery -- don't nock it till you've tried it.

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