Re: CHAT: "boocoo"

Mark J. Reed scripsit:

> > MJR> On the other hand, I don't know how we got "Cherokee" ['tSE`r\@ki]
> > MJR> out of "Tsalagi" /tsAlAgi/,
> >
> > That seems easy enough:  r/l and s/S interchange are straightforward.
>
> In general, yes, but it seems odd when coming into English, in which r/l
> and s/S are phonemically distinct pairs (bar/ball, ass/ash).
But there's no ts-/tS- opposition; tS- is all we've got, and we use it
even in borrowings from Cantonese, which has only ts-.  As for r/l,
consider the strange case of "colonel", which is spelled like Italian
and pronounced like French.

--
John Cowan  jcowan@reutershealth.com  www.reutershealth.com  www.ccil.org/~cowan
I come from under the hill, and under the hills and over the hills my paths
led. And through the air. I am he that walks unseen.  I am the clue-finder,
the web-cutter, the stinging fly. I was chosen for the lucky number.  --Bilbo

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