Re: A Retro-Phonology for Jases Lalal

sandat John L. Leland:
> Jases Lalel Labal
>  Phoneme transcription in Jases Lalal.
> Unlike many conlangers, I do not have a primary interest in phonology;
I find it hard to get away from, but perhaps that is my musician's
training influencing my conlanging (lots of ings there...). I
unfortunately don't know a lot about phonology, but I'm working on that.
(Anyone know of any good _specific_ resources? (other than natlangs
themselves obviously)

> I think of my languages as the remains of the written texts of
> ancient civilizations, not the living languages of current speakers
> (though I am not consistent on this, since my concultures have ongoing
> histories)
> In the example of Jases Lalal, I developed a written transcription
> of the language and used it for some time before asking
> myself how it was pronounced. I have now tried to work out a reasonably
> consistent way of pronouncing it, though I have to say
> that I do not follow it rigorously when reciting bits aloud to myself.
> In particular, I am not satisfied with the ew, iw and uw combinations.
> John Leland
Perhaps the 'w' could attach to the next consonant as a labialization in
those cases. Your vowel system does seem pretty symmetrical and regular,
why not merge some of them, like E -> e for example, but keep the
orthography. English certianly uses many orthographic representations
for its vowels. If I knew more, I could comment further, but as it is I
probably have already made insufficient sense. :)

> Transcription    X-SAMPA
>
> Vowels
>
> a               {
> ah              A
> aw              O
> e               e
> eh              E
> ew              eu
> i               i
> ih              I
> iw              iu
> o               o
> oh              @
> ow              aU
> u               u
> uh              U
> uw              uU
> y (as vowel)    aj
> Consonants (in Jases Lawan alphabetical order)
> j               d_Z
> m               m
> n               n
> t               t
> b               b
> k               k
> d               d
> f               f
> g               g
> h               h (initially and medially)
> l               l
> p               p
> s               s
> v               v
> w               w (initially and medially)
> x              k_s (medially and finally; initially it tends to tS)
> y (as consonant)j
> z               z

--
=============
James Worlton
          "We know by means of our intelligence
          that what the intelligence does not
          comprehend is more real than what it
          does comprehend."
                           --Simone Weil