Re: Consonant Harmony?

> From: "Thomas R. Wier" <trwier@...>
> Subject: Consonant harmony?
> I was sitting here reading an article about word classes in
> Winnebago when all of a sudden, more or less out of nowhere, I
> began to wonder if there were conlangs with consonant harmony.
> (I suppose some of the examples reminded me of some examples
> of palatal harmony I'd studied last year.) None of my languages
> have it, and I've never heard of any.  How about it? Are
> there any?


A great example of consonant harmony appears in Chumash:

kishkin "I save it"  /kiSkin/

but when the suffix -us "for him" is applied, then the word becomes:

kiskinus "I save it for him" /kiskinus/

There is a harmony between /s/ and /s/ on the one hand /S/ and /S/ on the other.

Another example:
ushla "with the hand"               /uSla/
uslasiq "press firmly with the hand /uslasiq/

-----------------------------------
In my conlang Silindion, a sort of "disharmony" occurs. In stems with a an -l-,
the -l- becomes -r- when a suffix with l- is added. Similarly, an -r- becoes
-l- when a suffix in r- is added. The resulting forms can then cause other r's
or l's in the word to change, such that, sometimes, there appears to be no
relationship between root and actual word. Also, usually, a single vowel has to
intervene between suffix and root consonant for this to occur, in roots with
-r-'s however, the change seems to happen more frequently.

Examples:

filiello "to come" > fir-i-le > firile "you come"
rilyello "to shine like a diamond" > ril-r > rir > lir "it shines"
silni "star" > silin-lim > sililim > sirilim "from a star"

The most complex case so far happens in the words:
lare: "moon" > lare:-ri > lale:ri
Alarie "moon-goddess" > Alarie-ri > Alalieri

However, the process, if allowed to continue would result in:
rale:ri
aralieri

Which (though occuring in dialects) are discouraged in the standard language. The
assimilation then switchs directions:

lale:ri >  lare:li
alalieri > alarieli

This is the only case in which the consonant of the suffix changes, rather than the root.

Elliott Lash