Re: Tallefkeul: tones and whatnot

Quoting Christian Thalmann <cinga@...>:

> --- In conlang@y..., Andreas Johansson <and_yo@H...> wrote:
>
> > One day or another, I'm going to understand how [mbr] is easier to
> > pronounce than [mr].
Some recent work I've seen on cross-syllabic clusters in Altaic
languages seems to indicate that there is a marked tendency for
there to be a large gap on the sonority scale between the coda
and the following onset.  [m] and [r] are close to one another
on the sonority scale, and therefore inserting a [b], very low in
sonority, would increase the sonority contour. (I think this all
results from Obligatory Contour Principle.)

> > And slightly later, I'm going to start pronouncing the "p" in
> > words like "tempt".
>
> That kind of epenthetic consonant doesn't happen in Jovian, though.
> Even if the two consonants are already present in the Latin form
> (e.g. impetus), the Jovian form will have only one: |iontu| /"int@/
> "impetus; drive; onslaught".
Does it not happen because there aren't any circumstances where
it would likely happen, or does it not happen even in those
cases?

 =========================================================================
Thomas Wier
Dept. of Linguistics  "Nihil magis praestandum est quam ne pecorum ritu
University of Chicago sequamur antecedentium gregem, pergentes non qua
1010 E. 59th Street   eundum est, sed qua itur." -- Seneca
Chicago, IL 60637

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