Re: Parsing Open Syllables

--- John Cowan <cowan@...> wrote:
> Gary Shannon scripsit:
<snip>
>
> xuxuxi uses vowel harmony/disharmony to resolve the
> problem.
> All multi-syllable words are stressed on the first
> syllable,
> and then the other syllables of the word, except the
> last,
> have vowel harmony.  The last syllable of the word
> has disharmony.
> Any remaining syllables before the next stressed
> syllable are
> monosyllabic.
>
> Here's the harmony/disharmony table:
>
> first           medial          last
> a               a, e, o         i, u
> e               a, e, i         o, u
> i               a, e, i         o, u
> o               a, o, u         i, e
> u               a, o, u         i, e
>
> So a in the first syllable triggers height harmony,
> and all other vowels
> trigger front/back harmony.
>
Interesting approach.  BTW: Here's something else I
discovered about stress in Lepaiu:

Words always end with a vowel pair.  Vowel pairs only
occur at the end of a word.

Word stress always occurs on the first vowel of the
ending vowel pair, with secondary stress on the second
vowel to the left of that stressed vowel: zhamia
gondaoi: zham-I-a g-O-nda'-O-i.

Word stress in proper names is on the only vowel of
the penultimate syllable: Ubelio: ub-E-lio, not
ubel-I-o as a non-name word would be.  Calling
someone's name and putting the stress on the wrong
syllable is a grave insult which often leads to a
physical altercation.  If someone called Ubelio's
woman, Sashia with the stress on the 'I', Sash-I-a,
within Ubelio's earshot, blood would lilely be spilled
before the matter was settled.

Names of deities and other celestial beings are
stressed on the first _and_ last vowel, so that even
though Ubelio was named after the spirit guardian of
the eastern shore, Ubelio, the man's name is ub-E-lio
and the spirit guardian's name is U-beli-O.  The
similar word, abaliu (cucumber, gurkin) is stessed in
the normal manner, abal-I-u.


--gary

---------------
On the fourteenth night of zhaplia, Abanue
(ah-BAHN-ooway) was keeper of the sacred fire.  He
failed that night to perform his sworn duty and his
failure changed the destiny of the Lapaiu (la-PAH-iu)
forever.  The gondaoi (gonda-O-i) did not come that
night, or ever again.