Re: Gweinic Description: Phonology and Roots (Corrections)

>From: Vasiliy Chernov <bc_@...>
>On Sat, 3 Jun 2000 09:09:31 CDT, Anthony M. Miles
><theophilus88@...> wrote:
>
> >I am not sure whether a syllable containing a syllabic consonant is
> >open or closed. Normally, I would say that a closed syllable ends in
> >a consonant, and therefore the syllable S must be closed, but a normal
> >closed syllable contains at least a vowel as well. Any thoughts?
>
>On analogy with how it works in languages like Sanskrit or Czech, I
>would say that syllabic resonants are mostly equivalent to simple
>vowels. Optionally, they can support the short vs. long opposition
>(in Slovak, Serbian/Croatian, less commonly in Sanskrit) and carry
>different tones.
>
>
>Basilius
Syllabic resonants in Gweinic may be long in quantity by contraction.
Thereforethe sequence should be Gweinic [ro:t.r.r.k<h>e]> Gweinic
[ro:t.r:.k<h>e]> Early Lahabic [ro:t.ra:.k<h>e],
not [ro:t.ra.k<h>e], although I suspect leveling would produce the
second form. Given the frequent use of the word, it's an open question
whether the second form would replace the first, continue as alternative
forms, or gain distinct meanings (leader vs. king?).
Since the other common words with a CVCS pattern are [ta:na:lej],
'soul, holiness, nobleness', I wonder if pronouncing the inanimate
nominative-vocative singular [alej] as [a:lej] might not be
considered 'proper' and replace the former. In England during the reign of
Her Majesty Victoria Regina, the low central unrounded vowel [a] replaced
the traditional English low front unrounded vowel [&]
(or so I am told). Does this seem a likely effect?

Do Slovak and Czech possess only short syllabic resonants? What do
they correspond to in Russian?

On a similar note, I once designed an alien language (Klln [kl<syl>:n] or
some such name) that used syllabics much as other vowels, including
[a]+[l<syl>] as a diphthong (I designed just the phonology, since
they were an ancient ancillary race.

________________________________________________________________________
Get Your Private, Free E-mail from MSN Hotmail at http://www.hotmail.com