Re: New Conlang: Emegali Phonology

Hey Danny,


I tried to understand your notation for Proto-Semitic consonants, and
I couldn't. It seems that you used a reconstruction which is different
from what I can find in my sources (the latter seem to have more
affricates - for example, as the source for Arabic interdentals).

It seems that there've been several reconstructions for Akkadian published
recently, besides the outdated ones. AFAIK, the typical method for
reconstructing Akkadian sounds not distinguishable in individual
spelling systems consists in comparing typical orthographies of different
periods (and dialects), then analyzing sound changes involved, then
comparing with West Semitic. This implies simultanious use of several
translitterations and can lead to a lot of confusion in secondary
publications.

I believe that in order to avoid ambiguities it would be more practical to
refer primarily to Arabic (Fuskh) phonemes, supplying them with number
indexes in those few cases where the Arabic sound results from merging two
PS phonemes, and adding the correspondencies from other langs to specify
what is meant. For example:

[b] (voiced bilabial stop): Ar. b_1 = Heb. b
[p] (voiceless/aspirated bilabial stop): Ar. f = Heb. p
[b] (glottalized bilabial stop): Ar. b_2 = Heb. p

(I think tomorrow I'll be able to present the Akadian reconstructon I meant
above; it'll be a longish passage translated from Russian)


Basilius

- - - - - - - - - - - -
On Sun, 27 Jan 2002 19:38:21 -0600, Danny Wier <dawier@...> wrote:
[...]
>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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