Re: Phoneme Question

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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