Re: Big Six Revisited... again :/

questions:

Shouldn't "homophonous" read "homorganic?"

Shouldn't "diphthongal" read "non-syllabic" or "on-glide"?

Does your phonology permit consecutive syllabic vowels?
For example, is the "ia" in "Ispania" pronounced as in "cafeteria" or like
"ñ" as in "piñata"?

BTW, why is your language called "Big Six"?

comments:

Looks good to me!   I like simple phonologies too.   I think any phonotactic
scheme that yields no more than a hundred or so syllables will look
Japanese, provided that the language in question has enough sounds in common
with Japanese.   If you wanted a less Japanese look, you could use a final
filler vowel other than "u," but there's nothing wrong with an IAL that
looks a little Japanese IMHO.

Jim

Jim



[snip]

Anyway, I am rebuilding Big Six, my attempt at a global IAL, from the ground
up.  One of the most radical changes I made is in syllable structure.

All Big Six syllables must be CV, or CCV non-initially; the first consonant
in the latter must be a homophonous nasal (mp, mb, nt, nd etc.), 's', 'r',
'l' or diphthongal 'i' and 'u'.  No word may begin with more than one
consonant, and no sequences of more than two consonants may occur.  All
words must end in a vowel.  Also, the semivowels w and y may only be found
word-initially or between two vowels.


For the word 'computer' to conform to Big Six rules:
1) The sound of initial 'c' is [k].  The B6 word begins with 'k'. (k-)
2) The vowel 'o' is similar to [@], which is usually mapped to 'a'.  (ka-)
3) Since 'mp' is a legal sequence, Big Six retains it.  (kamp-)
4) English 'u' in this case has the value [ju].  Big Six does not write 'w'
or 'y' after consonants, so the next two letters are 'iu'.  (kampiu-)
5) After 't', a vocalic 'r' would be mapped to
'er', most likely.  It might be 'ar', but I'm leaning towards 'er'.
(kampiuter-)
6) Finally, since a word cannot end in a consonant, the dummy vowel 'u' is
added as this word is a noun.  (If it were a verb, an 'i' would be added.)

The resulting Big Six word: _kampiuteru_.

Now let's try another word: Spain.

1) No word may begin with two consonants, so an 'i' is attached to the
beginning.  (Isp-)
2) The 'international' word for Spain is (E)Spania.  Add 'ani'.  (Ispani-)
3) Though theoretically a 'y' would be placed between 'i' and final 'a', it
is not necessary.  The [j] is implied; same goes for 'ua' or any u- vowel
sequence where 'w' is not written.  Therefore, the word ends in 'ia'.

The finished product: _Ispania_.

Other names of countries, people and modern international terms:

France: _Furansia_
Ireland: _Irlandia_
fax: _fakusu_
Pope John Paul II: _Papa Yohani-Paulu 2 [dua]_
Microsoft: _Maikurosofutu_
Washington: _Waxintonu_
Texas: _Tekusasu_
Mexico: _Mehiko_
Internet: _Internetu_
to download: _daunlodi_
strike: _isturaiku_

Somehow these words look Japanese to me.

Daniel A. Wier  ¶¦¬þ
Lufkin, Texas USA
http://communities.msn.com/DannysDoubleWideontheWeb
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