Dirk Elzinga:
> On Thursday, January 22, 2004, at 07:59 AM, Andreas Johansson
wrote:
> > Does the notation /o/ suggested that there simply is no high back
> > vowel? I'd
> > expect the vowels of a four-vowel system to gravitate towards [i
E A
> > u] or so,
> > to maximize distinctiveness.
>
> This is an interesting problem. Both Navajo and Nahuatl have this
same
> basic four-vowel inventory, and in both languages there is
variation in
> the pronunciation of the round vowel from high to open mid.
I forgot to mention: thre is a lot of allophony in Tlapóa. /e/ can be
[e] or [E] and o can be [u] or [o] (also depending on the previous
vowel, if that vowel is high (/i/), then /o/ is likely pronounced [u].