Carter, Let's not confuse humor with serious linguistics! Yigal At 05:15 PM 6/11/2002 -0400, Carter Pate wrote: > >On Mon, 10 Jun 2002, Yigal Levin wrote: > >> At 11:39 AM 6/8/2002 -0400, Carter Pate wrote: >> > >> >Hey, Yigal! Has anyone compared this aspect of Hebonics (and why not >> >Hebronics?) to "signifying" or "playing the dozens" in Ebonics? >> > cpate >> > >> >> >> I have no idea - you might want to ask Lynn Miles. But as long as we're on >> the subject, here's an additional reaction I received: >> >> -------------------------------------------------------------------- >> >> I reject completely the thesis in the note forwarded from SRL279 (to whom >> you may copy this response if you wish). The author's idea of a theory of > >. . . >> >> (1) Vowels A true effect on English which we owe to Hebrew is the >> creation of a 6th vowel. This in normal English (UK/US/Australian etc) >> there are vowels A E I O and U. The Hebonic addition is a sixth vowel >> "Eh". True speakers of the language elongate this to "Eeeeeehh". In >> fact, there is evidence that this is tending to smother a lot of the other >> vowels. The simple sentence: >> >> "I am going to my father's house" >> >> tends to be rendered >> >> "I-eeehhhm going tweeeeehh my fatheeeeeeh's 'ouse." >> > >As I understand, most recognized and self-respecting linguists consider >English to have a collection of vowels centering around ten or eleven in >number (slight variations among dialects). The A E I O U is based on >popular or dictionary impressions, not on linguistic analysis of how the >language is spoken. Has the commentator ever heard of a phonetic >alphabet? > > Carter Pate > > Dr. Yigal Levin Dept. of Philosophy and Religion University of Tennessee at Chattanooga 615 McCallie Avenue Chattanooga TN 37403-2598 U.S.A.