Re: Llirine: How to creat a language

At 2:41 PM -0500 12/04/01, Andreas Johansson wrote:
>What the in the blazing is "nonlinear phonology"? The phonolgy of
>non-segmental languages or what? (BTW, what is "linear phonology"?)
The 'nonlinear' of nonlinear phonology refers to a style of
representation. The word 'slam' receives the following partial
representation in (one version of) nonlinear phonology:

-vc +vc
  |  /|\
  * * * *
  |/    |
COR    |
       nas

This is contrasted with the linear view of phonology, in which
morphemes are represented as sequences of feature bundles, sometimes
arrayed in a matrix:

                 * * * *
consonantal     + + - +
sonorant        + - + +
vocalic         - + + -
voice           - + + +
nasal           - - - +
continuant      + - + -
anterior        + +   +
coronal         + +   -
strident        +
high                -
low                 +
back                -
round               -

The terms 'linear' and 'nonlinear' are perhaps unfortunate, but they
are pretty entrenched now in phonological theory.

Dirk
--
Dirk Elzinga                                            Dirk_Elzinga@byu.edu

"Speech is human, silence is divine, yet also brutish and dead;
therefore we must learn both arts."
- Thomas Carlyle