Re: hello?

Danny Wier wrote:

> By the way, how many natlang examples can be found of the shift n > l?
What is initial "n" in Mandarin is "l" in Taiwanese (of the Minnan
dialects). Colloquial Cantonese also does this to a certain extent
(nei5, "you" > lei5), and I believe this is a trend on the rise. Most of
the varieties of Chinese I've been exposed to (this being in the South)
use "l" and "n" allophonically (in syllable initial position -- for that
matter, through initial "r" in there as well: lao2, nao2, and rao2 all
pronounced "lao2") to a greater or lesser extent.

Kou