FWIW, I'm resending this since it went to Joshua=20
privately (and it should've gone to the list).
>=20
> Joshua Shinavier <Ajshinav@...> wrote:
> >=20
> > So Russian has a 'ch' but no 'j', as does Spanish -- it seems that an=
unvoiced
> > lonely affricate is more popular than a voiced one. Kristian wrote m=
e about
> > a language from Uruguay called Guarani which has a 'j' but no 'ch'. =
Here
> > is the table of consonants as he sent it to me:
> >=20
> > p t k ?
> > mb nd g
> > dZ
> > r
> > S h
> > v
> > w l j
> > m n J N
> > =20
> > A 'j', no 'ch', but the language seems to avoid voiced/unvoice pairs =
in
> > general. It seems to have chosen the voiced option. Interesting, th=
ough,
> > that there is a [S] to go with it. The other option would be a [tS] =
with
> > a [Z], which looks like it would work out just as well -- though it m=
ight
> > conflict with the [v].
>=20
> I find it very odd that there's only one affricate and it=20
> is voiced, especially there not being voiced (oral) stops.
> (in my sources it says <g> is nasal, which I take to be
> either prenasalized like <mb>, <nd>, or plainly /N/).
>=20
> And that lonely /v/ is strange too... Maybe /dZ/ is a product=20
> of a disimilation of */Z/ from /S/. Compare Japanese /s/ =3D [s]
> vs. /z/ =3D [dz]. Or the other way round, /S/ coming from */tS/.
>=20
> BTW: Guaran=ED was spoken around the Paran=E1-Paraguay rivers.
> It's still spoken as a second native language by a lot of
> people in the north-eastern provinces of Argentina, in
> Uruguay, and in Paraguay, where it's an official language.
> In fact, _paraguay_ is Guaran=ED for "river of ..." (don't
> remember what). The last _y_ means "water" or "river", and
> it's also found in the name of Iguaz=FA Falls (the world's
> largest). _Y guasu_ means "great water(s)". [<y> =3D /i-/,
> high central vowel). Certain zones on the Paran=E1 river=20
> (which flows about 3 km east of the place I'm sitting=20
> right now!) are still known as _Paran=E1 Min=ED_ and _Paran=E1
> Guaz=FA_ (_mini_ 'little'?).
>=20
--Pablo Flores