In a message dated 11/4/01 6:22:06 PM, fortytwo@GDN.NET writes:
>Josh Roth wrote:
>> (I read something once about a similar thing happening in English, with
>words
>> like "little" "itty-bitty" "tiny" (originally pronounced with a front
>vowel)
>> "teeny" (brough back to a front vowel!)
>
>That's a common phenomenon across languages. Another good example is
>Japanese "chibi" for "small". It just *sounds* little. :-)
Maybe it's cause when you make the /i/ sound, your mouth there is actually a
very small space in your mouth, compared to something like /A/ in "large"
where your mouth is wide open. Of course, that's not quite a front-back
distinction.
>In Uatakassi, I use _pifi_ for "small" and _zamuu_ for "large", also an
>example of my voiceless-voiced associations! :-)
What are your voiceless-voiced associations exactly? Forgive me if you've
posted it before and I missed it.
>> The people are happy about their building, but God isn't, so they use
>> different verbs.
>
>Interesting! I like that. :-)
sihyepcem hyus (thanks) :-)
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