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Re: Cein

From:Tom Pullman <tom@...>
Date:Monday, June 4, 2001, 23:16
--- Eric Christopherson <rakko@...>
> wrote: >On Mon, Jun 04, 2001 at 07:26:30PM +0200, daniel andreasson wrote: >> Aiworegs Ghristobhorosyo wrote: >> >> > > I just thought that you might avoid some of the problems >> > > with palatal /nh/ and suchlike by using the Irish version >> > > of the nasal mutation, sometimes called "eclipses". This >> > > is how it goes : >> > > /mb/ >> /mm/ >> > > /mp/ >> /bb/ >> /b/ >> > > >> > > /nd/ >> /nn/ >> > > /nt/ >> /dd/ >> /d/ >> >> > Didn't /nn/ then differentiate itself from /n/ by being dental >> > instead of alveolar? Or is that just a modern orthographic >> > distinction? (i.e. Irish and Gaelic <nn> vs. <n>) >> >> Ooh. That's interesting. I like the dental /n/ better, >> so my original plan was to have dental /n/ everywhere, >> but having alveolar /n/ for <nn> and dental for <n> >> is really cool. It wouldn't be phonemic, but still a >> neat feature. > >I think in Irish and (Scottish) Gaelic <nn> is dental, <n> alveolar, just to >clarify. But do what you like :)
Actually, in either variety, <n> is dental if next to a back vowel (in writing) and alveolar/palatal if next to a written front vowel. (At least, that's the rule, to which there are a few exceptions). <nn> is a different beast, which sometimes has an effect on the preceding vowel (e.g. <ann> pronounced [aun] rather than [An_d]) and when next to a front vowel is in some dialects (e.g. Scottish Gaelic, Southern Irish) pronounced [N']. == Tom Pullman "Dochuala as borb nad légha." Sùgi òl yrregoon lo! Jèkeri yrrego! _____________________________________________________________ Visit http://www.freeservers.com to get a Web site with a personalized domain and Web-based email