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Re: Syllable-Initial /N/

From:Sally Caves <scaves@...>
Date:Wednesday, April 2, 2003, 1:41
----- Original Message -----
From: "H. S. Teoh" <hsteoh@...>

> Initial [N] isn't at all exotic. But I can't speak for others here, since > my L1 is filled with these things. :-)
Teonaht: ngadol, "meat." ngorik, "throat." ngallinga, "abscess." ngordaf, "murder." Mostly bad concepts. dzabraned, "waver," "go back and forth"; dzabravar, "whisk, fan." dzadr, "sulphur," a voicing of the very common initial ts sound in Teonaht. Lots of initial lr's: lrapa, "toe"; lre, "finger"; lravvorka, "hostility"; lreifned/rem, "draw, attract", etc. Lots of voiceless nasals: hmeo, "sir"; hman, "bread"; hmened, "must, be obligated to"; hmekorem, "cleanse"; hnavvoa, "tunnel, subterranean passage" etc. NOT the Welsh pronunciation. You actually hiss through your nose. In some regions, the Teonaht "r" is a retroflex flap. You curl the tongue back and bring it forward against your palate.
> [snip] > > /N/ in non-English positions can be fun. :-) It's a great way to make > > an alien-sounding word without hard sounds. :-) Like, take gazh > > (/NaZ/), the word for "world" in Ivetsian. > > It's not *that* alien-sounding... even English speakers do it sometimes, > just unconsciously. If you want alien-sounding, pronounce /v/ as [B] or > something (like Ebisedian does). :-P
Don't boast, Teoh! <G>
> > /gl/ became /dl/ which in turn became /dK\/ -> /K\/ (that's voiced > > lateral fricative if I got the symbol wrong) > [snip] > > Now, *that* is a cool sound. I need to introduce that sound into > Ebisedian's daughter langs. :-)
Teonaht experimented with that, too. There were just too many T. initial clusters, and it didn't seem natlangy enough. Like Teoh, I'll have to save it for Rordaly. :) Sally Caves scaves@frontiernet.net Eskkoat ol ai sendran, rohsan nuehra celyil takrem bomai nakuo. "My shadow follows me, putting strange, new roses into the world."

Replies

H. S. Teoh <hsteoh@...>
Herman Miller <hmiller@...>
BP Jonsson <bpj@...>