Re: Fricativization as it happens

It's from a sound change in Greek!  The letter phi used to be /p_h/,
but over time became /f/. It was borrowed into Latin (whence English
etc) as <ph> because the transliteration was established according to
the earlier pronunciation.

As for /ph/, I think my message includes just such an example in
"cupholder".  Other instances of /p.h/ abound, but I don't think there
are any that don't cross syllable boundaries.



On 1/26/09, Ollock Ackeop <ollock@...> wrote:
> I think neutral is the best bet.  Though the kid's initial ribbing in
> elementary school may be a bit harsh.
>
> BTW, is <ph>=/f/ really from a sound change in English anywhere?  I had
> presumed it came down from Greek terms -- some of them maybe borrowed
> through French.  I'm not sure, though.  We obviously still have [p_h] as
> well as [ph].
>
> On Sun, 25 Jan 2009 23:42:41 +0000, Eugene Oh <un.doing@...> wrote:
>
>>On the other hand, levelling and peer influence would almost certainly
>>ensure this natural experiment doesn't come to fruition. :(
>>(Should we ethically feel sad, or happy, or any way at all about such a
>>thing?)
>>
>>Eugene
>>
>>2009/1/25 Mark J. Reed <markjreed@...>
>>
>>> My almost-3-year-old has trouble saying "cupholder" - it comes out as
>>> "cupfolder".  Presumably the next step would be "cuffolder" and the
>>> sound change that left English with so many instances of <ph>=/f/
>>> would be complete. :)
>>>
>>> --
>>> Sent from Gmail for mobile | mobile.google.com
>>>
>>> Mark J. Reed <markjreed@...>
>>>
>
--
Sent from Gmail for mobile | mobile.google.com

Mark J. Reed <markjreed@...>