fox: linguistics-related IPA (linguistics)
fox ([personal profile] fox) wrote2002-11-06 11:17 pm

silliness with jargon

when you type the word "allophony" for the ninety-seventh time, and the voice in your head pronounces it all a phony and starts giggling, it might be time to work on something else for a while (eh, [livejournal.com profile] ellen_fremedon? am i right?).

(for [livejournal.com profile] kingchiron --

Main Entry: al·lo·phone
Pronunciation: 'a-l&-"fOn
Function: noun
Etymology: allo- + phone
Date: 1938
: one of two or more variants of the same phoneme [the aspirated /p/ of pin and the unaspirated /p/ of spin are allophones of the phoneme /p/]

-- so "allophony" is the presence of, or the condition of being, allophones.)