Re: Some questions on phonology

On 13/10/2008, Falcata Lusa <falcata.lusa@...> wrote:
> If we could go back in time and see (and hear) the first speaking hominids,
>  what do you think their sounds could be like?
>
>  Which points of articulation could they probably use for their pulmonic
>  consonants? More labial or more laryngeal?
>  Which manner of articulation? Would the fricative be the most common? Or the
>  plosive? Or other?
>  Would this consonants be more likely voiced or unvoiced?
>  Would they have click consonants in their language?
Have a look at http://www.xibalba.demon.co.uk/jbr/pleisto.html , which
attempts to create a Neanderthal-era language. It doesn't even go the
route of specific, individual phonemes but applies features to
syllables as whole. (So, for example, "bot" would not be a possible
syllable because the "voiced" or "voiceless" feature would have to
apply to the entire syllable, not just a phoneme at the onset or
coda.)

Cheers,
--
Philip Newton <philip.newton@...>