Re: Ablaut/Gender[was Re: A Conlang by de group: genders]

At 15:36 10/10/98 -0300, you wrote:
>/Joe Mondello wrote:
>
>>I am less in favor of a gender system that in more of a few standardized
>>ablaut patterns, almost as in spanish [in only one or two isolated instances
>>whisch i can think of].  for example, stems following a pattern:
>>in animals:
>>neko- to eat
>>nako- food
>>niko- eater, diner
>>noko-restaurant
>>niako-chef [causer of eating]
>>nuiko-eating utensils [instruments of eating]
>>nahiko-meal
>
>Note: stems should end in a consonant (the -o I've been inserting
>in my made-up examples is a dummy gender marker), and syllables
>in a fricative, a nasal, /l/, or a vowel.
>
>Ablaut is certainly not a bad idea, but a bit limitating. Maybe we could
>change short into double vowels, and double into two syllables:
>
>nako > naako > nahako (or reduplicating, nanako)
>
>I'm not fond of Ablaut, as you see. But of course I'll conform to
>the majority's opinion.
>
>I'd feel better if we left Ablaut for two-syllable stems and longer,
>changing the last vowel(s). For example
>
>benol- > benaul-, benyl-, benool-
>(diphthongization, rounding, lengthening pattern)
>
        Why not using reduplication? (Mathias just lent me a book on
Sumerian grammar, and it uses it very much) I think it could be used with
roots (if we use only one- or two-syllabe roots, more would be too much). Or
what about using reduplication of the first syllabe for a meaning and the
reduplication of the second for another: benol > bebenol > benolnol. There's
a problem with single-syllabe roots, but we can add a new rule or make
meanings that can't have both reduplications. We're free!

>
>--Pablo Flores
>
>
                                                Christophe Grandsire
                                                |Sela Jemufan Atlinan C.G.

homepage: http://www.bde.espci.fr/homepage/Christophe.Grandsire/index.html