Crisp Languages (was: Thought and Language)

Tom Wier wrote:

>For some reason, I like languages that have a "crisp" sound to
>them, like Latin and Greek,  ones that have definitive beginnings
>and ends, as it were.   I don't really know how to explain it.
>Hmmm. :)
Sounds like Boreanesian. All words phonetically start with a
consonant (or two) and end with at least a pharyngeal constriction
of varying degrees (i.e., voicelessness or /h/, creakyness or /?/).
If a word does end in a consonant, then these pharyngeal
constrictions are superimposed on them. This is because pharyngeal
constriction is a function of tone/register and all words have
phonemic tone/register. Words that sound like they start with a
vowel actually start with a glottal stop.

In my opinion, what makes Boreanesian even more crispier is the rule
that roots always have a major CVC syllable which optionally
preceded by minor CV syllables. So even if stress is always on the
final (major) syllable, roots are easily distinguished. A crispy
morphology as well, if you may.

I too like languages with a crispy sound. So the languages that have
inspired Boreanesian are Polynesian, Quechua, Inuit, and Algonquian
languages, and also Matt's conlang Tokana. The form of Boreanesian
words is inspired by Mon-Khmer languages.

Regards,
-Kristian-