Date: Tue, 13 Feb 1996 08:11:29 -0600
From: Samuel Jones smjones1[AT SYMBOL GOES HERE]FACSTAFF.WISC.EDU
Subject: Re: Segmentals, Suprasegmentals, & Xylophones (Huh? Howzat?))
To: Thomas Clark
Heavens to Betsy! My time was given freely and with gusto, although,
obviously, I did not quite grasp what you were about (Wouldn't be
the first time that I've jumped onto my "horse" and ridden off in about
six different directions. Ha!). I regret I did not offer more of what
you were "fooling around" for. Separating relevant fact from so-called
irrelevant fascination is never easy, but, as so often is the case, in
the irrelevant fascination lies discovery and, not surprisingly, genius.
I should love to hear about the conclusions you and your students reach
in this matter, if you would be so kind as to share them. I do have the
feeling that I should be sitting in YOUR class.
Cheers!
smj
Sorry. I assumed you realized I was discussing suprasegmentals (though
my students thank you for the mini-lecture). We have been fooling around
with sound spectrographic analyses of suprasegmentals and associating
phonetic (not phonemic) features with instrumental sounds (such as, "How
does a trumpet wail," or "Why does a pan pipe keen?")
The xylophone of Prfessor Higgins (Professor Henry Sweet) was simply
another query. Sorry to have taken your time.
Cheers,
tlc
Thomas L. Clark 702/895-3473
University of Nevada, Las Vegas (89154-5011)
tlc[AT SYMBOL GOES HERE]nevada.edu
On Mon, 12 Feb 1996, Samuel Jones wrote:
To: Thomas L. Clark
Your question has not been forgotten, nor is it being ignored. Your
inquiry is, to say the least, intriguing, and it piques my curiosity.
I reckon I ought to sit a spell and think on it before attempting to reach
a conclusion or two about any possibly-relevant similarities between
1) musical harmonics (the mathematical building blocks of all musical tones
except "pure" tone generator sounds), along with musical tones'
2) amplitude or volume, duration, timbre or quality, and pitch,
AND those aspects of speech involving more than just individual vowels or
consonants (i.e.,SEGMENTALS), which are called
SUPRASEGMENTALS, whose main characteristics are accent or stress, length,
even juncture**, plus tone/pitch, and intonation, or the pattern of "pitch
changes" that occurs in a sentence,such as Eliza Doolittle's line,
"How NICE of You to Let me Come."
(** JUNCTURE can mean either the mode of relationship or the manner of
transition
between two consecutive speech sounds.)
As I re-read the above paragraph, which I am not altogether certain makes
complete
sense, even to me, I realize that the answer to your question may be far more
complex and involved than I at first thought. Nonetheless, "Hope is but
a word
,
but of all words, the only sentinel of permanence!"
Research and investigating a challenge is a lot like peeling an onion - one
takes
off layer after layer of the problem, shedding a lot of tears in the
process; and,
at the end there is nothing left - but one is still shedding tears.
smj
____________________________________________________________________________
DR. SAMUEL M. JONES INTERNET: smjones1[AT SYMBOL GOES HERE]facstaff.wisc.edu
Prof. of Music & Latin American Studies TELNET: samjones[AT SYMBOL GOES HERE]macc.wisc.edu
5434 Humanities Building FAX: 608 + 262-8876 (UW)
455 North Park Street
__________________________________________
University of Wisconsin-Madison TELEPHONES: 608 + 263-1900 (UW-Lv. message)
Madison, WI 53706-1483 * 608 + 263-1924 * (UW-Office -
* VOICE MAIL--Lv message)
____________________________________________________________________________
"Pen-y-Bryn" TELEPHONES: 608 + 233-2150 (Home)
122 Shepard Terrace 608 + 233-4748 (Home)
Madison, WI 53705-3614
____________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________
DR. SAMUEL M. JONES INTERNET: smjones1[AT SYMBOL GOES HERE]facstaff.wisc.edu
Prof. of Music & Latin American Studies TELNET: samjones[AT SYMBOL GOES HERE]macc.wisc.edu
5434 Humanities Building FAX: 608 + 262-8876 (UW)
455 North Park Street
__________________________________________
University of Wisconsin-Madison TELEPHONES: 608 + 263-1900 (UW-Lv. message)
Madison, WI 53706-1483 * 608 + 263-1924 * (UW-Office -
* VOICE MAIL--Lv message)
____________________________________________________________________________
"Pen-y-Bryn" TELEPHONES: 608 + 233-2150 (Home)
122 Shepard Terrace 608 + 233-4748 (Home)
Madison, WI 53705-3614
____________________________________________________________________________