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Re: Syllabic consonants (was: Re: Beek)

From:Isidora Zamora <isidora@...>
Date:Tuesday, September 16, 2003, 2:28
>>For even more fun, you can apply the same thing to high vowels. I.e., have >>a word like /uma/, which when prefixed with /emi/ becomes [e.miw.ma], >>rather than [e.mi.u.ma]. For kicks, throw some high dissimilation in >>there, so that /emi + uma/ is actually [e.mew.ma]. Whee! > >I'll have to see what I can do with your recommendations.
I have considered what I can do with your recommendations. The first thing that I can do is to officially induct <uma> into my conlang as the verb "to die." (I think the stress will be on the first syllable, but I haven't finalized my decision just yet.) The second thing that I think I will do (because it seems more natural to me -- and I have less trouble pronouncing the result) is, in /emi-uma/, instead of turning the /u/ into a glide, I will turn the /i/ into one. So we have the form <emyuma> 'to not die' (or 'not to die' for those who will not split their infinitives)
>What would you recommend when making the verb <mta> into a pres. act. part. >by suffixing -eis. There are too many vowels together in /mta-eis/. One >or more of them's got to go. (BTW, the <ei> is a diphthong.) Maybe ><mtais> would be reasonable?
I've thought of another resonable alternative. /mta-eis/ could come out as either <mtais> or <mtayeis> (with the <y> being a jod.) Perhaps these two are variations between dialects? So with our new word, we can have <umais> or <umayeis> meaning 'dying' and <emyumais> or <emyumayeis> meaning 'undying.' Now, if someone will *please* double-check my semantics here...The language has a nominalizing suffix -m such that you have the pairs of words: <tovl> 'to instruct' and <tovlm> 'instruction' and <khange> 'to know' and <khangem> 'knowledge.' Am I within the right semantic range if I say that adding -m to the verb <uma> 'to die' should give a noun <umam> with the meaning of 'death'? Isidora replying to her own post

Replies

JS Bangs <jaspax@...>
Isidora Zamora <isidora@...>Cwendaso vowel combinations (was: Re: Syllabic consonants (was: Re: Beek))
BP Jonsson <bpj@...>