Re: Update to Silindion page at frathwiki

 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.

  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'

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.
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]

- Elliott

--- Jörg Rhiemeier <joerg_rhiemeier@...> wrote:

> Hallo!
>
> On Mon, 27 Aug 2007 23:46:56 -0700, Elliott Lash
> wrote:
>
> >  Hello!
> >
> >     I am planning to update several things this
> week
> > on Frathwiki. My page is SILINDION (do not type it
> in
> > lower case).  I have already added a page about
> the
> > country in which it is spoken, called Nolë
> Silinel.
> > I'd like to add other things about the grammar as
> > well...hopefully I will find time this week.
> >
> > Please let me know if you have any comments on
> either
> > the language or the conculture side of things
>
> Rock'n'roll!  This is great stuff, very detailed; I
> like it
> very much.  Silindion is one of my favourite
> conlangs. It is
> somewhat reminiscent of Quenya and, to a lesser
> degree,
> Sindarin, but not so much as to let it appear to be
> a rip-off.
>
> I have a question on phonology, though: what is the
> difference
> between _e_ and _ë_?
>
> I also like what you have written on the government
> system of
> Nolë Silinel.  An interesting mixture of monarchic
> and
> democratic concepts.
>
> ... brought to you by the Weeping Elf
>



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