Re: Rotokas (was: California Cheeseburger)

Mark P. Line scripsit:

> (If it had been said that Rotokas vowels occur *non-phonemically*
> lengthened, then [a:] would just be an allophone of /a/. This is what
> we have in English.)
Well, in most Englishes.  In Australian English, vowel length is phonemic
(sample minimal pair: [kap] 'cup', [ka:p] 'carp').

> > Why not?  The standard romanization of many languages includes
> > subphonemic distinctions.
>
> I can't think of any examples right now in modern, phonologically
> engineered orthographies. Can you remind me of some?
Petitio principii.  If I mention Hepburn Japanese, with its obviously
sub-phonemic distinctions, you can retort that it's not modern and
phonologically engineered enough.  Similarly, Samoan orthography is modern and
phonological, but does not represent the ongoing merger of /t/ and /k/.

--
Here lies the Christian,                        John Cowan
        judge, and poet Peter,                  http://www.reutershealth.com
Who broke the laws of God                       http://www.ccil.org/~cowan
        and man and metre.                      jcowan@reutershealth.com

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