Re: Common Orcish Article (Long) - was Re: tolkien?
| From: | Thomas R. Wier <trwier@...> |
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| Date: | Monday, December 15, 2003, 14:51 |
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Andreas slabronten:
> Anadewistic question: is there any known human language that
> lacks bilabials?
Yes. I can think of two off-hand: Atkan Aleut (Eskimo-Aleut,
obviously), and Onondaga (Iroquoian). Both *now* have bilabials,
but these are strictly from loanwords from European languages
(Russian and English for the former, French and English for the
latter). IIRC, Onondaga has a /w/, but this is labio-velar and
does not pattern phonologically as a bilabial.
=========================================================================
Thomas Wier "I find it useful to meet my subjects personally,
Dept. of Linguistics because our secret police don't get it right
University of Chicago half the time." -- octogenarian Sheikh Zayed of
1010 E. 59th Street Abu Dhabi, to a French reporter.
Chicago, IL 60637
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