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Re: Phoneme Question

From:Dirk Elzinga <dirk.elzinga@...>
Date:Sunday, August 5, 2007, 13:51
On 8/4/07, Joseph Fatula <joefatula@...> wrote:
> (I keep having these sorts of questions...) > > Here we'll talk about a language that has 32 possible syllables, > phonetically. There are basically 16 phonetic realizations of > consonants, and 8 phonetic vowels. > > I could analyze this as a language with only 2 vowels that have > allophones based on the preceding consonant, in which case there are 8 > consonants, or I could describe this as a language with 8 vowels and > only 4 consonants, which have allophones based on the following vowel. > Which is it? How can I tell? > > The syllables are as follows, orthographical first, then XSAMPA: > > "pa fa ma va - te se ne re - či ši ñi li - qu xu Å?u wo" > "pâ fâ mâ vâ - tê sê nê rê - tî šî nî rî - kû hû Å?û wû" > > [pa fa ma Ba - te se ne 4e - cCi Si Ji Li - qu xu Nu wo] > [p6 f6 m6 B6 - t@ s@ n@ 4@ - tI SI nI 4I - kU hU NU wU]
If these really are the only CV combinations possible, then I suggest a more radical approach: no phonemes, but rather syllabemes. That is, each allowed CV combination is a distinct unit of the speech stream, roughly analogous to a segment. Apportioning features to the appropriate position within each syllabeme is a matter of phonetic implementation, and it wouldn't be hard to come up with such implementation principles. For example, [-cont] would precede [+low], not because there is a /p/ phoneme that precedes an /a/ phoneme, but because the phonetic cues for [-cont] are best perceived when preceding [+low]. And had done something similar with Livagian (if I am remembering his description correctly), though I don't know what the current state of L's phonology is now. I think it's an idea worth pursuing. Dirk

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And Rosta <and.rosta@...>