> To clarify: "selected intuitively" is a
> horrible way of putting it and I shouldn't have
> done so. What I meant was that they're used in
> a way similar to the ch: velar before dark and
> palatal before bright vowels; and that this is
> done automatically and out of habit, and it's
> hard to notice you're doing it unless you know
> it happens.

Trying it out just now, I don't think my k's are palatal before "bright" (front) vowels. Just before the /j/ sound, like in "cute" or "cucumber". I don't know about any other dialects, though, because I can't feel other people's tongue when they're talking.

-Eric Sleator
Sat 30 Nov A.D. 2002