Re: Update to Silindion page at frathwiki

Hallo!

On Wed, 29 Aug 2007 09:59:05 -0700, Elliott Lash wrote:

>  I'm glad you enjoyed the page. If I have a chance
> this week, I'll add more things about the history etc
> of the place, as well as finish up the past-tense
> portion of the verbal morphology. I don't want to be
> too ambitious in my plans, as I almost always get
> distracted.
I am looking forward to it.  Am I the only one here taking interest
in Silindion?

>   As for the difference between _e_ and _ë_, it's
> rather straightforward for the most part.
>
>  _e_ is /E/, _ë_ is /e/.  The two sounds are usually
> contrastive, such that the following are obviously
> different:
>
>    eilaisi /elajs.i/ 'I rode in'
>    elaisi  /Elajs.i/ 'I may ride in'
I guessed something like that, but had no idea which one was lower.

> Note, that the sound /e/ is represented by _ei_, when
> not at the end of the word or before another vowel.
>
> At the end of the word, only /e/ is allowed, that is,
> it is in complementary distribution with /E/:
>
>    arë  "grain"   /are/    (but:  arén  /arEn/,
> accusative)
>    assë "self"     /ase/   (but:  assëan /'asean/,
> accusative)
>
> Sometimes, in poetry especially, _ë_ followed by /a/
> is pronounced more open, something like [E], however
> it would then affect the following vowel. It may then
> even dissappear:
>
>   denimëa  /de'nimea/ >  [ de'nimE{ ]   or  [ de'nim{
> ]    'of the people'
>
> This usually only happens if the /a/ is not followed
> by a consonant.
That is quite interesting.  What happens to /E/ (_e_) in such an
environment?

> Finally, and very rarely, this same process can happen
> at the end of the word, though this is probably to be
> treated differently, since it happens with only a few
> words and with the adjectival ending -ië.
>
>   nistë  'born'                /niste/  > [nistE] or
> [niss]
>   lunië  'evening-like'    /'lunie/ > ['luniE] or
> [luni]
Thank you for enlightening me about this.  I always love to hear
more about your languages!

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