Re: A "minimalist" phonology...
| From: | Eric Christopherson <rakko@...> |
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| Date: | Tuesday, April 24, 2001, 2:03 |
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On Mon, Apr 23, 2001 at 06:38:38AM +0000, Raymond Brown wrote:
> At 8:26 pm -0700 21/4/01, Danny Wier wrote:
> [snip]
> >
> >Oskar suggested that, and since Japanese u has a tendency to disappear,
> >a-e-i-o would work fine. (Isn't that the basic vowel system of Navajo
>
> Dunno about Navajo, but it appears to be the basic vowel system of
> "Lemnian" - a non-Greek language found on a stele from Lemnos
[snip]
> The language itself, whatever its true name, displays remarkable affinities
> with what we know of Etruscan, which also had a four-vowel system, namely:
> a-e-i-u. That is, both Etruscan & Lemnian had two front vowels, a low
> central vowel, and only one back vowel.
Classical Nahuatl also had only /a e i o/; I'm not sure of non-Classical
forms. Perhaps someone needs to investigate a potential link between Nahuatl
and Etruscan ;)
--
Eric Christopherson / *Aiworegs Ghristobhorosyo
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