Re: "Roumant", or whatever it will be called. PART I

En réponse à Vasiliy Chernov <bc_@...>:

> Hey Christophe, it seems that feminine nouns, even with articles, mostly
> don't distinguish the numbers in pronunciation. Or am I wrong? Does
> <-es>
> differ from <-e>? And what about feminines having no silent <e>-ending?
>
>
> Basilius
>
Indeed you're absolutely right. Even with articles, feminine nouns don't
distinguish number in speech, except when matters of liaison appear, where the
mark of plural will finally be pronounced. When there is no liaison, -es and -e
are pronounced the same indeed (if pronounced at all). But when liaison comes
around, -es becomes [z] while -e is still not pronounced. Liaison is a
phenomenon as important in "Roumant" as in French, so it mustn't be
underestimated. And generally context is enough to mark number. And of course,
there is the agreement of the verb, or the pronouns used to refer to the noun,
that can disambiguate everything. And if you really want to disambiguate, you
can use 'mãg de': many, or 'cuêlescue' /kElk/: some (feminine plural). But
usually context is enough.

Christophe.