Re: diachrony

--- O'Connell James <jamestomas2@...> wrote:
> I need some help with the dachrony therefore - how
> do
> imake realistic changes, except for, for example,
> changing letters that exist in the protolang but not
> in the later lang. Just deciding that p > b wouldn't
> make sense as both letters exist in both the proto-
> and later lang.
> Also, if I start with the protolang, how do I ensure
> that the later lang will have the texture and beauty
> I want it to have?
  Well, for starters, the fact that the protolanguage
has p and b doesn't matter. Maybe p becomes b only
between vowels, or maybe b followed by a front vowel
becomes p or f. Don't pay attention to what sounds you
have, but what sounds they would become. An important
thing to keep in mind is that sound changes rarely
work across the board, and even then only on very weak
sounds (such as /h/ and /@/).

  The way to reach the ridhness you want, in my
experience, has been to figure out a small set of
rules, then start applying them to protolanguage
roots. As you go, you'll decide what you do and don't
like, and can adjust as you see fit. Eventually,
you'll end up with a lot of rules that make for a rich
daughter language.

   An example from Aelya, for example:

   pitya 'small' (I hate the sound of this word) >
      peitya : i-affection from the y
      peitha : ty > th /T/
      peith : loss of final vowels
  peith being Aelya for small.

  As you see, I didn't pay attention to what I started
with ("it can't > th because I already have that
letter in the protolang") but to what they'd become.

  An example from english: we have t and d as separate
letters, but t often > d in speech (matter pronounced
/m&dder/).

  Hopefully this will help a little...

   Aidan

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