Outsider said:
Hi.
I would like to know which Slavic languages distinguish between
apical and
laminal sibilants. According to the Wikipedia, it seems that Serbian and Croatian do. How phonemically relevant is the distinction (i.e., are there many minimal pairs of words that distinguish themselves only in the fact that one has an apical and the other the corresponing laminal sibilant?) Do Slavic languages make other kinds of phonemically significant distinctions between
sibilants?
Thank you for your replies.
I am not sure if I answer to the right question, but I will try. I am not sure that I really know the meaning of "apical" and "laminal" but As you have already seen in Wikipedia (I'm referring to the links you put), there are some sounds that look the same to all but us, Serbs. As the Wikipedia says, even Croats and Bosnians do not make clear difference between those sounds. Mainly, these are:
đ (it can be written like
dj, too) and
dž
The sound (
dž) is something like g in English word genle, or imagine, where the tip of zour tongue is in the joint line between the teeth and gums, and it forms something like an arch downwards...
The sound (đ) is something like j in "enjoy", John Jane etc... It is a little bit softer, and although the tip of zour tongue is at the same place, the arch that it forms is not so curved, but a little bit more plane.... Well, it is very difficult to explain without being able to produce sound... Well, now the differences they make.
Normally, in most of the words, using
dž instead of
đ only sounds odd, but there are also some words which differ only in this sound (letter). A pupil is said
đak, and a sack is said
džak. Imagine the class full of sacks and not pupils...
Other pair can be Ć and Č, which is pronounced something like ch. Ć is more like Spanish CH, softer, and Č is harder, you know the sound at the end of Russian names for example Ivanovich, Petrovich, etc.... (Well if you have never heard how a Russian name is pronounced, then it is very hard to explain.
) These two letters (or sounds - I say sounds or letters since in my language the principle is one sound one letter, but in cirilic, in latin letters for some sounds we must use two letters, but it is like ch in Spanish, always the same), do not make vital differences between words, but for sure it sounds very,
very strange hearing someone speaking and mixing these two letters. The person who has problems, normally uses only hard sounds (dž and č), and is unable to pronounce the soft ones (đ and ć). But there IS a difference, and in Serbia, if children do not make difference between these two, some parents can ask for help of a speech therapist...
More pairs can be S and Š, as well as Z and Ž, but these are very different and not so odd for foreigners, since these sounds exist in other languages.
S exists in all languages.
Š is pronounced like SH in English - Shower
Z is pronounced like z in English - Zero
Ž is like in Portugese J en Joao, or in French J - jour (hope I did not make any mistake, since I don't speak these two languages
)
These are divided in sound and silent ones. Sound would be S and Z and Š and Ž would be silent ones.
Sorry for not being able to answer you with more expertize, but I am not familiar with fonetics vocabulary....
