the paella dialog

[trochee]

this is what it's like when a linguist and a full bilingual live in the same house.

J: We have a lot of leftover rice.
D: we should make /pajelja/.
J:... what?
D: we should make /pajelja/!
J: do you mean /paeja/?
D: yeah, /pajelja/!
J: ... so, you can throw those sounds around anyway you like, as long as it starts with /pi/?
D: /pajelja/. that's how they say it in Spain.
J: really? I don't remember anybody saying it that way in Spain.
D: ... well, maybe it's Argentina.
J: Spain, or maybe Argentina.
D: well, somewhere they say /pajelja/.
J: so, what you're saying is 'somewhere in the world, I'm right.'
D: yes!

Comments

[gentlybreathing.livejournal.com]

Hilarious! I can so imagine that conversation :)

[caracola.livejournal.com]

Prolly Barcelona!

[seaya.livejournal.com]

Is the /j/ supposed to be a y sound?

hey look, I can be prescriptivist about descriptivism

[trochee.livejournal.com]

yeah, I'm an old-school Europeanist when it comes to phonetic alphabets. /y/ is some other vowel, but /j/ is a high front glide.

The Americanists often used /j/ for voiced postalveolar affricates (IPA /ʤ/), and /y/ for the glide, but this is Wrong and Must Be Stopped.

Edited to balance parentheses

Re: hey look, I can be prescriptivist about descriptivism

[soliss.livejournal.com]

Agreed!

[q-pheevr.livejournal.com]

"Somewhere in the world, I'm right" would be a good slogan to have on a T-shirt.

[trochee.livejournal.com]

I like this idea.

[lapartera.livejournal.com]

I totally loved this! I can so hear this conversation!

[chachachana.livejournal.com]

hahahaaa!