Re: Language "laws"?

On Mon, 11 Oct 2004 08:37:53 -0400, Yann Kiraly <yann_kiraly@...> wrote:
>Is it possible for a conlang to have k,t,d,g,b but no p? And can it lack
>s,z,f,v,w and have th? Because, so far mine has these features. Also, I
>wanted to ask about the IPA signs for the following vowels:
>ö,ü,schwa,a in saw and for the consonant j as in jump.
It's highly unlikely for a language to have a voiced consonant (like b) but
not its unvoiced equivalent (p). So you'd better off with a lacking b.

Second, also very unlikely, since f/v (to the left of the th sounds) and s/z
(to the right) are far more frequent. You're much better off choosing either
couple, f/v or s/z.

The Ipa signs cannot be reproduced here, so here is the Xsampa
representation for them:
ö: [2], [9]
ü: [y], [Y]
schwa: [@]
a: [a] as in "father" or [{] as in "cat"

You can look for the actual Ipa signs that match these Xsampa equivalents
using the following Xsampa chart:
http://www.diku.dk/hjemmesider/studerende/thorinn/xsamchart.gif

Replies