Date:  Thu, 30 Oct 1997 11:02:47 -0500
From:  Gregory {Greg} Downing <downingg[AT SYMBOL GOES HERE]IS2.NYU.EDU>
Subject: Re: Ast for Ask

At 10:21 AM 10/30/97 -0500, you wrote:
>A number of words developed an intrusive /t/ after /s/ in ME as in ME
>listnen from OE hlysnan, or ME beheste from OE behaes. I wonder if "ast"
>is an instance showing the phenomenon is ongoing.
>

Isn't ast for ask fairly easy to understand just in articulatory terms? When
you pronounce the s, you then have to move your tongue way back in your
mouth to do the velar k. But if (without really thinking about it) you kind
of naturally slip into making things a bit easier on yourself, tonguewise,
then from an "s" tongue-position in the mouth, the nearest voiceless stop
for an English speaker is t, not k.

Greg Downing/NYU, at greg.downing[AT SYMBOL GOES HERE]nyu.edu or downingg[AT SYMBOL GOES HERE]is2.nyu.edu