gobble_ghoul [he/him]

Doesn’t detract from your point, but I think you’re meaning “anthropocentric” lol.

Is that meant to be /æ/ as in “dad” or /ɑː/ as in “spa”? I find people do not agree on which sound the spelling <ah> indicates.

There are three variants I’m aware of: /eɪ/ as in “day”, /æ/ as in “dad”, and /ɑː/ as in “spa”. I personally say it with /æ/.

The thing that gets me when I try to explain Spanish pronunciation to English speakers is that when I tell them the vowels are always pronounced the same way, it goes in one ear and out the other. You are literally making it harder on yourself by applying English spelling rules to it than if you just memorized 5(!) vowel sounds.

If it ever happens in the future, make sure to hit them with a “that’s not how it’s said in Catalan”.

The Spanish dialect closest to them does the “lisping”, in fairness. Historically inaccurate to call it a lisp, tho, unless you count English TH as a lisp as well.

Conlanging is great for this because you can make and abandon basic sketches of languages forever.

English cows: [myː]

Australian cows: [məːʉ]

American cows: [mʊu]