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Christian Thalmann scripsit:
> Note how I had to expand |xuodandes| [Su'dandz]
> into an unnatural [Su'dand@z]. I can feel the
> confused wails of countless Jervan school children
> when they have to learn that line whenever I close
> my eyes.
No big deal, really. In English carols it's traditional to sing the word
"heaven" as a monosyllable, and this persists even when it is spread
over two notes! Thus the carol beginning "Joy to the world" has the line
And heaven and nature sing (3x)
And heaven, and heaven, and nature sing
The first three lines are sung on seven notes, and-heavn-and-na-tu-ure-sing,
in conformity to the convention; but the final line is actually sung on
eleven notes, and-he-eavn-and-he-e-eavn-and-na-ture-sing. So even when
"heaven" is stretched to two notes or three, it is still sung as a
monosyllable with an extended main vowel, rather than regaining its normal
prose pronunciation [hEv=n].
--
Dream projects long deferred John Cowan <jcowan@hidden.email>
usually bite the wax tadpole. http://www.ccil.org/~cowan
--James Lileks http://www.reutershealth.com