Re: Euphonic phonology (Was: 'Nor' in the World's Languages)

Hi all,

On Fri, 11 Aug 2006 , H. S. Teoh wrote:
>
> On Fri, Aug 11, 2006 at 04:19:30PM -0600, Dirk Elzinga wrote:
> [...]
> > I think that a strict segregation of morphology and phonology is
> > probably a mistake in lg creation, whatever your analytical
> > predilections are.
>
> Wow, this has got to be one of those gems of insight that make it
> worthwhile to be on CONLANG. :-)
Indeed!


> > For me, most of the interest in morphology is in its interaction with
> > phonological forms. Stuff like ablaut, mutation, root-and-pattern
> > inflection, and reduplication depend heavily on the phonological
> > makeup of the language. If you have a morphology you like (that is,
> > you make distinctions among categories you think are interesting and
> > useful) look at making the morphology more dependent on the sound
> > structure of words--try out some ablaut, mutation, etc to liven up
> > both the phonology and morphology.
> [...]
>
> That's a very good idea. I think I should look into the phonological
> interactions of Tatari Faran's morphology. Right now, much of it in TF
> is still rather dry. Thinking over the idea in the context of natlangs,
> though---it is very true that morphology is heavily tied to phonology,
> and the two interact with each other in very interesting ways. I should
> keep that in mind next time---I have a tendency to over-analyse and
> compartmentalize things, which isn't always the best idea.
I also have a tendency (originating no doubt in my studies of mathematics and
logic) to record overly analytical interpretations of my discoveries. Luckily,
I have conlanging (along with music and poetry making) to confound me! ;-)

Eg, In Uiama, the particles, which consist of single vowels, are so overloaded
with different meanings that is very easy to construct examples with almost
arbitrarily long phrases consisting entirely of particles. This would doubtless
lead, in practice, to a very stuttering, broken sound to the language, ar from
the mellifluous flow that I hear in its poems and songs; however, it is saved
from this fate by the fact that the Uiama Makpo insert a meaningless "m"
between two successive vowels, whenever they feel the want of more flow. This
change has lead to several common sequences of particles incorporating one or
more intervocalic "m"s, and becoming lexicalised as words with more restrictive
meanings than the simple sequence of particles itself requires. Similarly, a
"w", "r" or "y" may join particles where there is little likelihood of
confusion with "u", "@" or "i" respectively, again resulting in lexical words.
It is also likely that some words beginning with these se!
 mivowels originally began with the corresponding vowel, eg "we" is thought to
have evolved from "u e". So far, I have not discerned any shifting of whole
classes of consonants; possibly the current set of consonant phonemes is the
end result of a long process of such changes. If any information comes to light
regarding ancestors of Uiama, I will do my best to share it with list members.


> T
> --
> The best compiler is between your ears. -- Michael Abrash
Nice set of tags, you've got, Teoh!

Regards,
Yahya

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