re: Buffer vowel and "y"

[David Cortesi <cbmvax!uunet!INFORMIX.COM!cuvmb.cc.columbia.edu!cortesi>]

On Thu, 30 Jan 1992 15:15:00 EST, 61510::GILSON wrote:
>
> Mark E. Shoulson <shoulson%CTR.COLUMBIA.EDU@cuvmb.cc.columbia.edu> writes:
>
> >I'd almost rather see
> >keeping everything as it stands, but allowing (mandating?) schwa as buffer
> >vowel and changing the pronunciation of "y" to "\"u" (u-umlaut).
>
> If it were _my_ language, I'd accept Mark's suggestion. In fact, u-umlaut
> is the sound of y in Latin, Finnish, Swedish, and probably other languages
> as well, so it isn't even a strange use of the letter; it's the sound that
> the letter originally stood for in the Latin alphabet.

For the sake of us linguistic weenies, could somebody cite some
common English (or French maybe) words that demonstrate this sound?
(It isn't French "deux" or German Goe"te is it?)