Re: Cein

Cede BP Jonsson:

> > So the spirant mutation variant of /m/ is /mm/? I like the
> > look of double m in the beginning of words, but I already have
> > [v] as the spirant mutation of [m]. I also have {r} for {rh}
> > and [l] for [K] (i.e. {ll}). The only one I don't have a spirant
> > mutation for is [n], which I suppose could be [nn], as in e.g.
> > _i nnog_ 'the dwarfs' from _nog_ 'dwarf'.
> >
> > I guess I could change the spirant mutation of [m] to [mm]
> > instead of [v] to avoid the clash with soft mutation.
> Of course the wicked thing to do would be to have /n/ > /D/ parallel
> to /m/ > /v/! :-)
Oh! I like that! I've now officially decided to have /D/ for
both the soft and spirant mutation forms of /n/. Wi-cked! Why
didn't I think of that?

> But more importantly, mightn't the definite article cause nasal
> mutation in the plural?  The attested form _in Eldaron_ shows
> that at least in some cases the plural def.art. could be _in_.
> You might get _i ddog_ pl. _i nnog_.
Yes, I've thought of this too, but decided to have spirant
mutation as the plural anyway. That's the only place where
the spirant mutation occurs. And I've already written most
of the rules for it. Of course, this is what economists
refer to as a "sunk cost". What's done in the past is
irrelevant for a decision made now. OTOH, I like this
feature of Cein, spirant mutation in the plural, and it makes
it different from Sindarin too (in that the plural article
isn't _in_).

> It hit me that the most probable speakers of Cein would be the
> sons of Feanor: they would try to cling to Quenya as their
> in-group language, but it would be inexorably drawn towards the
> Sindarin spoken with and by everybody else around!
That's a good idea. I haven't really got any other ideas for
the conculture/history. Where do I read up on that (for a
loser that doesn't have the entire HoME series, just LotR,
Silm, UT and LT 1+2, and the articles on Ardalambion)?

That background story makes me think I have to borrow lots
of Sindarin words, instead of as now just occasionally.
OTOH, they might be like those Icelandic bastards ;), which
use and coin new words from their old ones, but change the
phonology without even realizing it. ;) That's probably
the way to go.

Sela elen sen i ly o'i ofenhidd mew!

||| daniel

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