Re: THEORY nouns and cases (was: Verbs derived from noun cases)

Hi!

Trebor Jung <treborjung@...> writes:
> Henrik wrote:
> "E.g. when on holiday in Greenland, you might meet a polar bear, so know
> it's name in Greenlandic: 'nanuq'.  It might notice all on its own:
> 'Nanuunngilaq!' -- 'That's not a polar bear!'  You might notice in return:
> 'Nanummit nerineqarpunga.' -- 'I am eaten by a polar bear.'"
>
> LOL! Are you sure that's correct?
No, it's an educated guess. :-)

> I thot Inuit had only the vowels /i i: a a: u u:/...
That's totally correct, phonemically.  The e and o are allophones of i
and u.  In front (and often in neighbourhood) of uvular consonants,
i.e. r and q, vowels are lowered and/or backed.  The typical change in
the neighbourhood of uvulars is:

   a -> A
   u -> o
   i -> e

The is more detail about the vowels, but that's probably too much
detail here.

Current Greenlandic orthography shows the i,u -> e,o shift, but does
not show the a -> A shift orthographically.

**Henrik

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