Re: oh no, not Tech phonology again

On Wed, 23 Feb 2000 09:52:12 CST, Daniel A. Wier <dawier@...> wrote:

<...>
>Retroflex   ts`   ts`h  ts`'  ts`   ts`h  ts`'
>  Palatal   ts`j  ts`hj ts`'j ts`j  ts`hj ts`'j
>  Labiovel  ts`w  ts`hw ts`'w ts`w  ts`hw ts`'w
>Palatal     tS    tSh   tS'   dZ    dZh   dZ'
>  Palatal   tSj   tShj  tS'j  dZj   dZhj  dZ'j
>  Labiovel  tSw   tShw  tS'w  dZw   dZhw  dZ'w
<...>
>Fricatives/Nasals
>Retroflex   z`    s`    s`'   n`    n`h   n`'
>  Palatal   z`j   s`j   s`'j  n`j   n`hj  n`'j
>  Labiovel  z`w   s`w   s`'w  n`w   n`hw  n`'w
>Palatal     Z     S     S'    n~    n~h   n~Z'
>  Palatal   Zj    Sj    S'j   n~j   n~j   n~'j
>  Labiovel  Zw    Sw    S'w   n~w   n~hw  n~'w
<...>
>Laterals/Vibrants/Semivowels
>
<...>
>Retroflex   l`    r`
>  Palatal   l`j   r`j
>  Labiovel  l`w   r`w
- Palatalized retrofex (opposed to dentals, alveolars, and palatals
proper!) arouse some doubt... Seems anthropophonically difficult to me,
unless they are realized simply as clusters C + [j]. Any natlang
precedents?


>That's 307 consonants, unless I miscounted.  But some of these are probably
>allophones, and there might be other laterals, vibrants and semivowels,
>particularly voiceless and glottalized.  I don't know yet.
>
>Vowels are a bit simpler.  Though there are up to twelve vowel sounds:
>
>i  y  i- u
>e  o/ @  o
>ae oe a  A
>
>there might be as few as two vowel PHONEMES.
Couldn't find anything on Tech root structure, on your homepage or in
this list's archives. If CVC, that's, roughly, 300x300x2 = 180,000
potential roots. If the real number of roots is between 2000 and 10000,
they utilize somewhere between 1 and 5 per cents of the potential
inventory. Less than is usual in natlangs, but only slightly.

However, if you extensively use alternations, there are less deep
phonemes, and the stats become quite realistic. Alternatively, you may
use shorter roots.

Because of its symmetry, the whole system doesn't look too improbable.
Some features may be treated as suprasegmental. BTW, what is the Tech
syllable structure? Do you allow e.g. 2 labialized consonants within
one syllable?


Basilius