Interesting dialectal discoveries in W
From: | Nik Taylor <fortytwo@...> |
Date: | Sunday, February 27, 2000, 3:41 |
In Common Kassí, genders 1-3 articles (later prefixes) were
1: te ter
2: na nar
3: so sor
/r/ had allophone [L] (velar lateral) before /k/ and /g/ and [l] before
other consonants; [r] occurred syllable-initially (aside: is this a
reasonable allophonic distribution?). In the standard dialect of
Classic Watakassí, this has become /l/ with allophone [r] after /t d n s
z/
Anyhoo, in the standard dialect, [l]/[L] followed by non-labial
consonants became identical copies of the following, that is [Lk] -->
[kk], [ls] --> [ss] and so on. Thus, the distinction between singular
and plural was by gemination for non-labial consonants (te gánorë/ter
gánori --> tigánul/tiggánuli). By analogy, labial consonants were
affected. Thus, te fóno/ter fónoi became tifúnu/tiffúmi (noi --> nwi
--> mi), but any other instances of -rf- would simply become -f-
Now, in some dialects, the -r simply underwent metathesis with the
following sound, thus te gánorë/ter gánori --> tigánul/tiglánuli
In others, the -r was lost, thus te gánorë/ter gánori -->
tigánul/tigánuli
In still others, the -r's reflex is a lengthening of the previous vowel,
thus te gánorë/ter gánori --> tigánul/tiigánuli
--
"If the stars should appear one night in a thousand years, how would men
believe and adore, and preserve for many generations the remembrance of
the city of God!" - Ralph Waldo Emerson
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