OPINION

Tip of the tongue

Re: "Tone deaf," (PostBag, June 2).

It is unfortunate that David Jackson did not devote any of his 28 years of teaching English to the study of articulatory, auditory and acoustic phonetics.

If he had done so, he would have learned that the specific position of the tongue, which is vital for the "v", is no such thing. This sound is a labiodental fricative, and its articulation involves the bottom lip and upper teeth. The position of the tongue is irrelevant.

He would have learned that "the minute differences between the 'sh' and 'ch' blend" involve the tip or blade of the tongue in contact with, or in close proximity to, the post-alveolar region of the roof of the mouth, which are not visible in normal speech, mask or no mask.

He would have learned that "tone as a clue to fill in the missing high frequencies within the consonants" is a sadly mistaken piece of nonsense. First, obstruent consonants (which include the "v", "sh" and "ch" that he is talking about) have no tone in any language (tone is a feature mostly of vowels, and sometimes of sonorants). Secondly, the ability to "fill in" missing high frequencies comes from the formant structure of the vowel, not the tone.

Masks do indeed impede spoken communication, but the problems of Thai learners' pronunciation of English have been evident for decades and have far deeper causes.

Re: "The many perils of plutocratic pettiness," (Opinion, May 30).

Paul Krugman makes some excellent observations about tech tycoons and their greed in poisoning American democracy. For quite some time, the world admired people like Warren Buffet, Steve Jobs, Bill Gates, and many others who represented the soft power of the United States.

Sadly, the Republicans have always aligned with the private sector. But now they are in their pockets. The tech giants, Big Pharma, insurance companies, National Rifle Association (NRA), Supreme Court, and pillow sellers are the sources of their political power. The CEOs provide the money and the right-wing fanatics provide them with the votes. And of course, the right-wing media in the USA is always busy creating more conflicts and dividing the country. Democrats are in no way better when it comes to public policy and rule of law. They have also adopted tit-for-tat petty politics and policies.

Yes, Paul, the money can't buy admiration but it has turned US politics into a kleptocracy, not very different from what we see in China, North Korea, Cuba, and many other countries. Consolidation of power in the hands of a few has led to the degradation and decline of American democracy. Just listen to the Republicans' defence of the NRA after the killing of innocent school children in Uvalde, Texas. Some Republicans do believe that if everybody in the United States has guns, the country will be much safer. How will the United States be different from the Taliban in Afghanistan? Go figure.

Re: "Uvalde shows US stuck in a loop on guns," (Opinion, June 1).

Most communities are under financial pressure for law enforcement. So why not have local NRA volunteers, under local police authorities, control and monitor the front and back doors of all schools in the USA?