elision

Recently, in response to another thread, I posted a Regimonti idiom:

Les buves se en rapoti = the cows have hurried (themselves)

I have omitted the grave accents in "se" and in "en". If you enunciate each
word the phrase is pronounced as follows:

1. /les/ /'bu.ves/ /sE/  /En/ /r`a.'pO.ti/

(hoping to the nearest conlang deity that I got all the xsampa right)

Sadly trying to spit that out at normal speed, one would end up with an
unattractive glottal stop between the two /E/s

2.  /les/ /'bu.ves/ /sE?En/ /r`a.'pO.ti/

(which sorta sounds like the speaker is clearing his/her throat)

If one says that at normal speed, the "se" and "en" would no doubt run
together so that it would be said,

3. /les/ /'bu.ves/ /sEn/ /r`a.'pO.ti/

The problem for me arises in that following an /n/ with an /r'/ requires a
bit of oral gymnastics and it would seem to me that either the
/n/ or the /r`/ would disappear in the process:

4. /les/ /'bu.ves/ /sEna.'pO.ti/

Or

5. /les/ /'bu.ves/ /sEr`a.'pO.ti/

My instinct says that example 5 is what would happen in normal rate speech.

Anyone have any ideas? I can't imagine myself trying to enunciate all those
syllable separately.

Scotto

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