Re: USAGE: WOMYN (was: RE: [CONLANG] Optimum numberofsymbols,though mostly talking about french now

Quoting Kendra <kendra@...>:

> I can't think of any, unless you mean words like fireman/firemen. It
> depends on the word, though. fireman/firemen is /mIn/, but
> policeman/policemen is /mAn/ (or probably more usually /m@n/ if
> speaking quickly) and /mIn/ two syllable ones like 'milkman' are
> usually /mAn/, and I want to say /mEn/ (I'm not even really sure
> sure if I have the right vowel there. Bah, vowels)
> but I think most people would go with /mIn/. I'm not very good
> at speaking.
I'm actually glad you brought up these other examples. It made me
realize that some of these words have intricacies I'd never realized
before:

(1) "fireman" [faIrm@n / fa:rm@n] "firemen" [faIrm@n / fa:rm@n];
    "policeman" [p@lism@n / plism@n] "policemen" [p@lism@n / plism@n];
    both words are bimorphemic, but phonologically indistinct,
    where plurality surfaces only in subject-verb agreement.
(2) "milkman" [mILkmE-n] "milkmen" [mILkmIn]:  these are distinct,
    and presumably do not reduce to schwa since the whole notion of
    receiving milk by delivery is entirely foreign to my experience.
    Probably, this means it's really a phrase with "man" as head and
    "milk" as modifier.

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