Re: double phonemes

Danny Wier <dawier@...> wrote:
> Another question.  In some languages, two phonemes, usually consonants,
> get placed together frequently, and are often represented by one letter.
> Examples are Sanskrit /ks./ (s. =3D retroflex s) and /jn~/ (n~ =3D pala=
tal
> n), Russian /StS/, and Greek and Latin /ks/.  These are often reduced t=
o
> a single consonant in modern dialects.  Double vowels of this sort woul=
d
> be diphthongs, such as Latin /ae/, /oe/.
>=20
> Is there a term for this phenomenon, and what other natlang examples ar=
e
> there?
Well, in Noltel Lethar (the Old Speech, ancestor of
Drasel=E9q), the groups /gw/ and /kw/ were probably
represented by a single letter (first there were two
consonants, /g/ + /w/, then a labiovelar coarticulated
sound). Indeed, in Drasel=E9q the labiovelars turned
into uvular (kw, gw > q, qg) and they were represented
by single letters (maybe even *before* the phonetic
change).

The same goes for the diphthongs /ae/ and /uj/, that
turned into /&/ (<=E4>) and /y/ (<=FC>). In Drasel=E9q writing,
both vowels are written as modifications of <a, u> resp.


--Pablo Flores

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