Re: the i-language

John Cowan <cowan@...> wrote:

>In English there is a children's song whose only lyric is "I like to
>eat apples and bananas".  On repetition, all non-schwa vowels are
>replaced with long "a" /Ei/. [...]
In Spanish we have "La mar estaba serena", going like this:

1st time:
    La mar estaba serena,
    serena estaba la mar. [twice, with different melodies]

2nd time:
    Le mer estebe serene,
    serene estebe le mer...

3rd time:
    Li mir istibi sirini,
    sirini istibi li mir...

(same with /o/ and /u/ -- those last two are exaggeratedly
rounded according to the singer's mood).


--Pablo Flores
  http://www.geocities.com/pablo-david/index.html
  "Knowledge of what is possible is the beginning
   of happiness."  (George Santayana)