Re: two related languages

Rogert Wilson wrote:


>here are a few cognates in some related conlangs:
>
> a       b       c       d
>pod     pat     fod     fat (1)
>bak     peg     veg     vek (2)
>pet     bit     pit     fid (3)
>bod     bad     bot     vad (4)
>
Prompted by Eamon Graham's reply, I took another look at this. Assuming no
borrowing, you have 4 consonant correspondences in initial and  final
position--
1.ppff -- 2.bpvv -- 3.pbpf --- 4.bbbv which with reasonable confidence I'd
call--
1.*ph -- 2.*bh -- 3.*p -- 4.*b
language a merges aspirates and plain, retains voice contrast
language b merges aspirates > plain,voiceless;  merges plain > voiced (odd)
lang. c  retains the 4-way distinction, though with phonetic change to
aspirates.
lang d retains voice contrast but merges voiceless > plain, voiced > plain,
and all > fricative

The finals are another matter.
1.dtdt -- 2.kggk -- 3.tttd -- 4.ddtd
1."*d1"--2. *g ---  3.*t (?)-- 4. "*d2"

*d1 might be plain /d/, *d2 might be /dh/???.   3.*t is odd, in that
voiceless finals don't usually voice, in my experience.  One would expect at
least one of the *d's to parallel *g, so you'd expect a **dttd set.  (Or are
there constraints on what final can follow an initial, a la IE? Perhaps I
havent looked hard enough......)
It would help if we knew whether there was also a **th; as it stands, the
various langs. don't _seem_ to merge finals the same way as
initials....(Standard Disclaimer: Needs more data/research)
.
There are three vowel correspondences:
l,4. oaoa --2. aeee -- 3. eiii  probably
*a or *o --    *e  ---  *i
(a rather odd system-- is that the whole thing???)