Theiling Online    Sitemap    Conlang Mailing List HQ   

Re: Natlang Help: Do you know of a language that...

From:Richard Wordingham <richard.wordingham@...>
Date:Sunday, October 19, 2003, 14:13
--- In conlang@yahoogroups.com, Richard Wordingham
<richard.wordingham@N...> wrote:
> --- In conlang@yahoogroups.com, Roger Mills <romilly@E...> wrote: > > David Peterson wrote: > > > > DP I have an idea for a possible paper topic for school, but I > need to look at languages other than English. What I'm looking for > are languages that: > > > > (1) Allow coda voiced velar consonants (e.g., [g] and [N]), and > > (2) Make a distinction between tense and lax non-low vowels > (so, /e/ vs. /E/, /i/ vs. /I/, /u/ vs. /U/, /o/ vs. /O/). > > > > Do you know of any natlangs that do this? > > If you're interested in length (still, I feel, a significant
feature
> in British English), Siamese offers examples with final /N/ > (velar). Final -i:N is very rare (I can't think of any examples) > and -u:N is disproportionately rare. (There is su:N_14 'tall', > which comes from Proto-Tai. I'm not sure how regular the vowel > correspondences are, though). Li gives examples of Siamese -u:- in > closed syllables corresponding to short vowels in more distantly > related Tai languages, but the examples that should have -u:k or - > u:N have -uN.
There's a similar pattern in Proto-Monic rimes, as summarised at http://www.anu.edu.au/~u9907217/languages/AAlecture3.html . The lack of -u:k and -u:N is quite striking. As the core territory of Proto-Monic is now the core territory of Siamese, these characteristics may not be independent. Richard.