Re: Tech progress report (again)

Need to make corrections (I NEVER get it right the first time).

From: "Danny Wier" <dawier@...>

> Well I got vowel phonology mostly figured out; bascially, it's six vowels
(i
> @ u e a o) with various qualitative and quantitative ablauts with special
> consideration given to Vj and Vw diphthongs.
Maybe I need to explain vowels better. I've posted this already, but I
wasn't sure, so this is a more official presentation.

Grade 0 vowels (ultrashort/schwas): ï, @¨, ü, reduced to j Ø w (no vowel) in
open syllables.
Grade 1 vowels (short high): i, @, u
Grade 2 vowels (short low): E, a, O
Grade 3 vowels (long low): E:, a:, O:
Fronted/raised diphthongs/Umlauts: ij > i:, @j, uj > y:, Ej > e:, aj > æ:,
Oj > ø:
Backed/raised diphthongs/Umlauts: iw (> ju?), @w, uw > u:, Ew (> jO?), aw >
å:, Ow > o:
Lowered (broken) diphthongs/Umlauts: j@: > jE:, @:, w@: > wO:, ja:, a:, wa:
Nasal vowels: i~, @~, u~, E~, a~, O~
Pharyngealized ("rhotic") vowels: i`, @`, u`, E`, a`, O`
There are other less common but more complex vowel shifts.

> Right now, I'm working on musical terms. I want to use the most
> "conservative" terminology for music theory, which would require a mostly
> Greek-based vocabulary. From there, I use reverse derivation back to IE
> roots, then back to theoretical pre-IE/Nostratic. So I have words for
> intervals, from the smallest _k'omma_ to the full octave, the _djapason_,
> all of Greek origin.
Make that _djap'ason_, since non-aspirate voiceless stops in Greek become
voiceless ejective stops (but /ks/ and /ps/ do not become ejectives).

> The musical instruments reflect a marriage of Byzantine-Western polyphonic
> harmony and Iranian-Arabic-Turkish-Indian melody, and rhythm is influenced
> mostly by the latter macroculture and African concepts (polyrhythm).
> Innovations such as attaching a keyboard to a large zither or
dulcimer-type
> chordophone parallel to the piano (something I currently call a
> _k'leidopsalt'erjon_ "keyed psaltery", also subject to back-formation).
A shorter (and better) name would be _k'lê'ïdâ_, "mother of keys". But it's
known by many other names, including _k'nôn_ "canon, law, rule", from whch
the Arabic _qanûn_ is taken.

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