Raymond Brown wrote:
> I don't, of course, know how you say "potato" but IME Brit English doesn't
> have either [p_ht_h] or [pt_h] as syllable initial combos.
It's normally [p_h@'t_hej*ou], but when spoken quickly the schwa *and*
aspiration may be dropped from the first syllable creating ['pt_hej*ou]
> It should be remembered that ancient Greek /pt/ developed from an earlier
> */pj/ --> *[pç]
Interesting, I'd never thought of palatized /p/ becoming /pt/. That's
something to think about in descendants of Uatakassí.
> especially as the combo [p_ht_h] actually does occur in known natlangs.
I didn't say it didn't, just that I found it an odd combination.