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Changes to W. phonology

From:Nik Taylor <fortytwo@...>
Date:Saturday, April 24, 1999, 13:15
Well, it's been brewing for a while, I just haven't been very happy with
some of the details of W. phonology, and I've been considering changes.
So, here they are.

Eliminated alternates of the voiced stops.
Eliminated alternates of labial stops (before I had the irrational /p/
--> /P/ before /i/ or /j/)
Replaced <q> and <dh> (/T/ and /D/) with <f> and <v>
So, all together:

Stops
P = /p/
B = /b/
T = /t[/
Ty = /tS/ (all Cy are also the pronunciation of C before i, thus <ti> =
/tSi/, */ti/ does not exist)
D = /d[/
Dty, Dzy = /dZ/; /dZ/ is a new phoneme, derived from either datyV' or
dazyV', where V' = vowel-with-accute; the use of dty/dzy is determined
by etymology; for borrowings, dty is most common
K = /k/
Ky = depends on dialect: /C/, /ts/, /tS/, /S/, /h/, (silent), /x/; note,
however, that /x/ dialects still use /C/ in <ki>, [Ci]
G = /g/
Gky = voiced equivalent of <ky>; derived from gakyV', usually;
/C/-dialects usually have /j/ for this. (/j\/ --> /j/)
M = /m/
N = /n/ syllable-initial; assimilates to place of following consonant in
syllable-final position
F = /f/
S = /s/
Sy = /S/
V = /v/
Z = /z/
Zy = /Z/
W = /w_0/ after voiceless consonants
    /w/ elsewhere
Y = /j_0/ after voiceless consonants (except t, k, and s, of course)
    /j/ elsewhere
L = /l_0/ after voiceless consonants
    /l/ elsewhere
<f> in prefixes becomes <v> when followed by another <v>, same with <s>
and <z>
In some dialects, this holds true for suffixes, as well, so that a
suffixal <s> becomes <z> when following a <z>, and <f> to <v>, but this
does not apply to the Standard Dialect.
I = [e] in closed syllables
    [i] in open
U = [o] in closed syllables
    [u] in open
A = [a] after dental and alveolar sounds, or after i
    [A] after velar and labiovelar sounds, or after u
    [6] after palatal and bilabial sounds, or when word-initial
Ai = [aj]
Au = [Au]

Tw, Dw, and Nw become, respectively, /p/, /b/, and /m/, and are written
as <p>, <b>, and <m>, however, I'm considering changing that so that,
altho still pronounced labially, they will be written <tw>, etc., making
morphology that much simpler.
--
"It's bad manners to talk about ropes in the house of a man whose father
was hanged." - Irish proverb
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