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Re: English questions
Posted: Tue Apr 21, 2026 2:00 am
by Imralu
Travis B. wrote: ↑Thu Apr 16, 2026 8:42 pm
Does anyone else have a consistent phonemic contrast between
enable and
unable?
Yes. That's completely standard outside of the US and a few STRUT/schwa-merging regions in, from memory, mid-north-ish England.
enable /əˈneɪbəl/ [əˈnæɪ̯bɫ̩]
unable /ʌˈneɪbəl/ [äˈnæɪ̯bɫ̩]
Re: English questions
Posted: Fri May 01, 2026 11:39 pm
by jcb
Travis B. wrote: ↑Thu Apr 16, 2026 8:42 pm
Does anyone else have a consistent phonemic contrast between
enable and
unable?
Yes. /E/ vs /V/.
Re: English questions
Posted: Sat May 02, 2026 2:52 am
by Travis B.
My difference between the two is enable /əˈneɪbəl/ [ɘ̃ːˈne̞ːbɯ(ː)]~[n̩ːˈne̞ːbɯ(ː)] versus unable /ˌʌnˈeɪbəl/ [ˌʌ̃ːɾ̃ˈe̞ːbɯ(ː)].
Re: English questions
Posted: Sat May 02, 2026 4:45 pm
by Glenn
My unable appears to contain [ʌ] - at least, it seems to be my STRUT vowel, which in my case is definitely centralized, not back, similar to my schwa - but the first vowel in my enable is definitely farther forward than [ə]; it moves toward [ɛ] in careful speech and toward the center in rapid speech, but still more fronted than my schwa.