Ali Sings to Foxy

Here's another video. This is all I got because the DVD Ali sent me isn't recognized by my DVD reader. She sent me another care package, but this time all I get to enjoy is the boil-in-the-bag donburi and instant noodles.

I'll probably go to Hell for saying this, but lately every time I see a video of Foxy, I wanna say Hervé Villechaize lives! I know I'm not the only one. Don't worry, in this video, you'll get to hear Ali sing to Foxy. Except that Ali uses Foxy's Japanese name because like 99 percent of the people in Japan, [f] is an impossible phoneme to her. Instead of using the voiceless labiodental fricative [f], they use the voiceless bilabial fricative [Φ]. Savages. So it's like impossible for Ali to say Foxy. Part of the reason I named her that is so that I can get a little chuckle everytime I hear Ali try to say it. The difference between [f] and [Φ] is very subtle, and you don't even notice it unless you watch the speaker's mouth. Ask any Japanese person who isn't fluent in English to say Fuji. Watch their mouths, don't listen to what they say and you'll see what I mean.

Of course, Ali got her revenge by giving Foxy a name that is next to impossible for English speakers to pronounce. Aoi [aoi]. How do you pronounce a name that has no consonants? I've heard one gaijin say it perfectly on the first try. Everyone else, especially those in my family let their Yiddish take over and say something more like "Oy" [oιj]. Or the more gentile members of my family break it down into two syllables and spit out "A-oy" [aʔoιj]. Fascinating stuff!