Re: Phonology/orthography sketch

2008/5/28, Benct Philip Jonsson <bpj@...>:
> Phonetically there exists [H] or [j\_w] as
> allophones of /j/ next to a rounded vowel or
> /w/, and of /w/ next to /i/. The writing system
> writes this allophonic sound with _u_ in spite
> of its occurrence being wholly conditioned by
> adjacent sounds: a word spelled _uintou_ could
> only be /wintoj/; a spelling _wintoi_ could not
> be a distinct word, but only an unusual,
> although phonemically more 'correct', spelling of
> the same word. Similarly _au_ or _eu_ could
> never occur without a following conditioning _i
> u w o_; a spelling _euor_ would always represent
> /ejor/ and might be derived from a word _ei_.
> Similarly _euir_ would be /ewir/, possibly
> derived from an _ew_.
What happens if you have both /i/ and a rounded vowel next to these
approximants? Do you get [iju] or [iHu], [uwi] or [uHi], and so on?

Are there any contexts where this could cause the difference between
//i// and //w// to be neutralized?

(If /y/ would trigger [w] > [H] like /i/ does, we'd have tuut [tHyt]
for both //tu"yt// and //ti"yt//, and maybe tuut [tyHt] for //t"yut//
and //t"yit//).

Lars