Re: New Conlang: Emegali Phonology

From: "Anthony M. Miles" <theophilus88@...>

> Emegali is spoken in 3rd millenium BCE Yemen and neighboring regions in a
> parallel world by descendants of Semitic peoples who adapted Sumerian
> vocabulary to a simplified Semitic structure. They a
[...]

> If someone could make suggestions regarding the adaptations of Semitic
> sounds to Sumerian ones, I would appreciate it.
Hey since the Akkadians actually had contact with the Sumerians (they
conquered them in fact), here's an idea: Proto-Semitic > Akkadian had these
sound shifts:

Labials: p, b unchanged.
Interdental fricatives: dh > z, th > sh, Th' (Arabic Dh) > S (capital letter
= emphatic).
Dental stops: d, t, T unchanged.
Sibilants: sh unchanged.
Alveolar affricates: z, s, S unchanged.
Lateral fricatives: l unchanged, s' (s-acute) > sh, S' (Arabic D) > S.
Velar/uvular stops: g, k, q unchanged.
Velar/uvular fricatives: G (gamma) was lost, h_ (chi) > h_.
Pharyngeal fricatives: ` (reversed glottal stop) and H (h-stroke) both lost.
Glottal stop/fricative: ' (glottal stop) lost, h unchanged.
Resonants: m, n, r, w unchanged, y usually lost.
Also, Akkadian had four vowels: a, e, i, u (the e may have been a schwa); a,
i and u could be short or long.

And I don't remember exactly what Sumerian had in the way of phonology; I
don't even know if that's even universally agreed on since the language
after all was written in cuneiform logographs and not phonetic glyps like
Ugaritic and Old Persian were.

~Danny~


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