Re: Middle Welsh (was Cein)

In a message dated 6/1/01 11:42:08 AM, draqonfayir@JUNO.COM writes:

<< On Fri, 1 Jun 2001 19:27:07 +0000 kam@CARROT.CLARA.NET writes:
> Essentially the same construction is used in Arabic (Dar es Salaam)
> and
> Hebrew (Rosh ha-Shannah) also with the original case endings now
> lost.
-

I don't know about Arabic (hopefully i'll find out when i take it next
semester, though) but Hebrew does have some changes in the words in this
kind of construction. >>

    If you're talking about what I think you're talking about (sun and moon
letters), I find it interesting that it's no longer a phological rule.  The
first consonant is doubled if it is: s, S, s', d, d', t, t', T, D, D', l, r,
and z, if I'm remembering all of them (the ' indicates phyringealization).
What they have in common is they're all alveolar, of course.  However, then
we come to the letter giim/Ziim.  In classical Arabic (and now Egyptian
Arabic), it's pronounced [g], so it doesn't have its consonant doubled when
it follows the definite article: algAjS (army).  However, in the Arabic that
pronounces it [Z], it still takes "al" with no doubling: alZejS (army again).
 I think that's why I didn't realize the connection at first when it was
presented me.

-David