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Re: Beijing, Zhongguo, etc. (was Re: 'out-' affix in conlangs?)

From:J R <tanuef@...>
Date:Monday, August 18, 2008, 5:17
On Sat, Aug 16, 2008 at 10:39 PM, Eugene Oh <un.doing@...> wrote:

> On Sun, Aug 17, 2008 at 2:16 AM, Alex Fink <000024@...> wrote: > > > > > Hebrew did [w] > [j], though I don't know in what context. My memory > dimly > > suggests that Hebrew for 'rose' is something like /jered/, from a Semitic > > prototype with *w- ('rose' with a shape like /ward/ was something of a > > Wanderwort). > > > > Google's not good for searching for sound changes, I find. :\ Though thanks > for the example! Is any Hebrew-speaker around who can shed more light on > this? (:
Hebrew had such a change word-initially. See for example Arabic /walad/ vs. Hebrew /jElEd/ 'boy'. A certain amount of morphophonemic variation was created - 'to be born' shares the same root, but still contains /w/: /l@hiwwaled/. (And in Modern Israeli Hebrew of course /w/ is pronounced /v/, but that's another matter.) The ubiquitous conjunction /w@/ 'and, but, change tense', did not undergo this change. And the word for 'rose' actually didn't either. My etymological dictionary says it's a borrowing, ultimately from Iranian. Josh Roth

Replies

Benct Philip Jonsson <bpj@...>
Eugene Oh <un.doing@...>