Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Language/2017 March 2

Welcome to the Wikipedia Language Reference Desk Archives
The page you are currently viewing is an archive page. While you can leave answers for any questions shown below, please ask new questions on one of the current reference desk pages.

March 2

Which novel has a novelist protagonist who can't proceed beyond the first sentence of his novel?

Some Camus or Kafka work? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 117.232.76.114 (talk) 11:08, 2 March 2017 (UTC)

Albert Camus: The Plague. The character's name is Joseph Grand. --Wrongfilter (talk) 11:12, 2 March 2017 (UTC)

Thank you, very much. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 14.139.185.2 (talk) 07:54, 3 March 2017 (UTC)

Voiced and voiceless consonants in Russian

In general, when Russian has a consonant cluster of 2 or more obstruent consonants, the pronunciation is determined by whether the last of them is voiced or voiceless; final consonants are always voiceless. But there's one exception. The Cyrillic letter Ve (Cyrillic) (as a final consonant before a vowel) doesn't affect the sound of the preceding consonant; for example Es before Ve remains Es. What's special about this consonant that makes this true?? Georgia guy (talk) 21:01, 2 March 2017 (UTC)

As in wikt:свадьба, wikt:свинец, for example. I don't know the explanation. Other examples: wikt:тварь, wikt:квас, and so on. —Stephen (talk) 22:42, 2 March 2017 (UTC)

@Georgia guy: Because it has dual nature, it is semi-sonorant, semi-obstruent, read here[1][2][3]--Lüboslóv Yęzýkin (talk) 19:43, 4 March 2017 (UTC)

But it has a voiceless counterpart, Ef (Cyrillic). Ef effects the preceding consonant the way all voiceless obstruents do in Russian. And Ve's sound becomes f when before any voiceless consonant. What property does Ve have that's not shared by Ef?? Is Ve sometimes more like a consonant between the V and W sounds?? (Especially in some pre-1900 dialects.) Georgia guy (talk) 19:48, 4 March 2017 (UTC)

Please, read sources, especially the former, it explains thoroughly. I cannot help with more than that, I doubt I could do better at speculating the causes than the professional phoneticians cited.--Lüboslóv Yęzýkin (talk) 20:05, 4 March 2017 (UTC)