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Re: vowel scheme for new language

From:JOEL MATTHEW PEARSON <mpearson@...>
Date:Wednesday, May 19, 1999, 21:07
On Wed, 19 May 1999, dunn patrick w wrote:

> Does this sound like a plausible vowel scheme? > > a -- low back > e -- mid front > i -- high front > o -- round low back > u -- round mid front
If by "plausible" you mean "likely to occur in natural languages", I would have to say no. Human languages prefer to have 'balanced' vowel systems, e.g.: i u a Or: i u @ a Or: i u e o a Or: i/u" u e/o" @ o & a Or something like that. Your vowel system is suspiciously lopsided, so that all the vowels run in a straight line from low/back to high/front: i e/u a/o I would think there would be pressure for one of those vowels to develop into a high back vowel, or something... Matt.