Re: aspirated m?

Some languages did have a nasalized labial fricative,
[v_n] or something like that, that developed from [m]
(or maybe the nasalization of [v], which is an obvious
alternate path). I think Sindarin had that sort of
shift going on in its earlier stages, and if you're
looking for non-fictional examples, I hear tell that
Sanskrit allowed a nasalized [v] in some instances,
though it was allophonic (as far as I know).

Do you mean the 'aspirated m' of Celtic languages? I
believe it just means [v] as mutated from [m], though
my knowledge of any of those languages is woefully
limited. As far as I know, 'aspirated' is used in
Celtic language literature to mean fricativized; i.e.,
'aspirated p' is [f].

In Welsh, though, I think /mh/ is actually voiceless
[m].

One of the conlangers on this list had a phonemic
fricativized [m] in his/her conlang, but I heard about
it years ago. It's a pretty basic 'weird' sound, and
one that's not all that difficult to pronounce, once
you get the hang of simultaneous oral and nasal
airflow.

 --- Rene Uittenbogaard <ruittenb@...> skrev:
> I'm confused by the term "aspirated m".

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