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Re: A question on palatalization.

From:Christophe Grandsire <christophe.grandsire@...>
Date:Thursday, January 2, 2003, 12:48
En réponse à Tristan <kesuari@...>:

> > However, /nj/ remains as /nj/ (in words like 'news'). Is /nj/ less > likely to change? (Though come to think of it, the /n/ in 'new' is > pronounced further back than the /n/ in 'noon' or 'need'.) >
So maybe your /n/ in 'new' is properly palatal [J] instead of being palatalised [n_j]. That would explain why it doesn't change while your other palatalised consonants change, and why you feel that it's pronounced further back than the proper /n/ of 'noon'.
> > > But don't let that put you off. Unless I'm mistaken, English has had > /dZ/ for some time (in words like 'bridge' < _bricg_, though I think > the > OE <cg> was a voiced palatal stop originally?) and took some time to > develop /Z/.* >
But at the same time didn't English have already /tS/ and /S/? In this case, even in the absence of /Z/, /dZ/ is not properly solitary. It has /tS/ to keep it company ;))) . But as somebody pointed out, there's at least one example of a language with /tS/ without /S/, /Z/ or /dZ/ (at least phonemically): Castillan Spanish.
> > > Really? English seems to hate this tendency, with many dialects having > /ei/ but no [e], /ou/ but no [o]. And the point about Old English above > ;) >
Well, I answered the point about Old English. In that case, /dZ/ is not really orphan. As for the vowel inventory, on the other hand, I heartily agree with you. But it's not for nothing that the English vowel inventory is considered exceptional ;))) . However, velars seems
> to > pull other vowels towards /i/ or /I/---OE _thenc_ became 'think', > 'England' is pronounced with an /I/, enque > ink, or the fact that the > only places a /I/ is allowed in an unstressed syllable (and there it's > required, hammock /"h&mIk/) in my dialect of English is before velars > and post-alveolars (/tS, Z/ etc). I had some more examples but I've > forgotten them. Is there any reason for this? Why would a sound commit > suicide, as it were? >
Strange tendency. I had never heard of it. I'd be interested to know if there's an acoustical reason for it... Christophe. http://rainbow.conlang.free.fr Take your life as a movie: do not let anybody else play the leading role.

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Tristan <kesuari@...>