Re: DECAL: Examples #2: Phonotactics

Sai Emrys wrote:

>Same deal as last time.
>
>Q1: What are your allowable syllable structures?
>
>
Ancient Føtisk is essentially CCCVVCC, forbidding sequences of two or
more fricatives. Other conditions exist but as I have a source for my
words I haven't spent time thoroughly documenting them. All elements but
a V are optional (long vowels take up both V spaces, and diphthongs
don't seem to exist phonemically).

Late Old Føtisk was clearly CCCVqC, where the q is either a consonant or
a vowel. If q is a cononant, the following C is compulsory. If it's a
vowel, it's optional. All onset consonants are optional. Long vowels are
two elements, diphthongs don't seem to exist.

>Q2: Onset clusters?
>
>
What you would normally expect of a Germanic language. /xr xn xl/ are
documented in both periods. /kw/ and /hw/ however are forbidden as they
became /p/ and /f/, resp. in AF. (In borrowings in OF /kv/, however,
appears.) Voicing must agree between elements, and at word boundaries, a
de-voiced form is preferred.

>Q3: Codas?
>
>
Normal germanic stuff... Much as above.

>Q4: Any changes depending on place in word, etc.?
>
>
Well, inflected forms might cause some consontants to change

>Q5: Motivation / reasoning / goals behind this?
>
>
OF was meant to show some North Germanic influence, and its syllable
structure was meant to reflect this. I think I got the timing wrong (it
seems to've happened earlier in OF than in NG), but it reflects what
English (Føtisk's closest relative) was doing at that time, so I decided
to keep it.

Otherwise, of course, it's just a simple evolution of the Germanic roots.

>Thanks,
>
> - Sai
>
>P.S. My understanding is that this doesn't come under the THEORY or OT
>topic markers (since it is soliciting actual examples rather than
>discussing-per-se *how* to choose). Am I wrong about this? If so,
>please tell me what the boundaries are, since I'm probably unclear on
>the topic.
>
It's clearly not OT. I thinks it's probably best without any topic
marker, 'cos I don't think there's any marker that fits it.