Re: Optimum number of symbols

Quoting John Cowan <jcowan@...>:

> Thomas R. Wier scripsit:
>
> > (A) alternating root-final plosive:
> >     [kanat]    'wing'      [kanadM]  'wing-ACC'
> >     [kanatlar] 'wing-PL'   [kanadMm] 'wing-1Sg'
> > (B) nonalternating voiceless plosive:
> >     [sanat]    'art'       [sanatM]  'art-ACC'
> >     [sanatlar] 'art-PL'    [sanatMm] 'art-1Sg'
> > (C) nonalternating voiced plosive:
> >     [etyd]     'etude'     [etydy]   'etude-ACC'
> >     [etydler]  'etude-PL'  [etydym]  'etude-1Sg'
>
> My analysis is that (A) is /d/, (B) is /t/, and (C) is a funky borrowing
> from French that breaks the rules.  Nobody says that Turkish doesn't
> have vowel harmony, e.g., just because there are Fremdworter with
> non-harmonic stems.
>
> Also, is it possible that some people say [etyt] after all?  I remember
> reading that although the official pron. is [klyb], many people say
> [kylyb] instead, thus preserving the Altaic rule against clusters.
Also possible.  Not being an Altaicist nor a speaker of Turkish,
I can't say for sure.  All I know is what I have written in front
of me. (I got that from  "The Consequences of Optimization for
Underspecification" by Sharon Inkelas, which is available on that
URL that I referenced a couple days ago.)

=====================================================================
Thomas Wier          "...koruphàs hetéras hetére:isi prosápto:n /
Dept. of Linguistics  mú:tho:n mè: teléein atrapòn mían..."
University of Chicago "To join together diverse peaks of thought /
1010 E. 59th Street   and not complete one road that has no turn"
Chicago, IL 60637     Empedocles, _On Nature_, on speculative thinkers