Re: Q & X

Tero Vilkesalo wrote:
> Kukko means 'rooster' or 'cock'
I wonder if _kukko_ and _cock_ are cognates?  I know that the Finns
borrowed from the Germanic tribes long long ago, and maybe the other way
around too.

> -nen is the a very common ending in surnames.
What's it mean?  Is it a case ending?

> My new surname, Vilkesalo, is purely Finnish as well, just like my
> roots. I did have a thought of how foreign people would pronounce it. This
> surname really didn't seem too difficult. Or what do you say?
I doubt it would be too badly mutilated, assuming that the correct
pronunciation is something like /vilkesalo/, altho most English-speakers
would probably say something like /vIlk@salo/, I think, but that's not
too far.  And English-speakers will mutilate the simplest of names.  :-)

> Something about articles... If I would ask you anything, it would probably
> be "should I try use the articles even if I couldn't care less?"
Do you mean in conlangs?  Anything goes, a lot of people don't have
articles in their conlangs.  My main conlang, Uatakassí, doesn't, and my
secondary one, Román, does, but I'm not yet clear on its use.

> And now to a real question. Which sounds do you write with the letter Q or X
> in your a priori conlangs with Latin alphabet? What different sounds do they
> reflect in those languages of the world that use Latin alphabet? (What is Q
> in Greenlandic???)
Román (a Romance language, as you might've guessed) has no {q} - Latin
qu became p - and {x} is /x/ (velar fricative - like Spanish {j})
word-initially, and /ts/ elsewhere, it's very rare in non-initial
position, in initial position, it's typically derived from sc- (which
sounds reversed early on from /sk/ to /ks/, hence the respelling with
{x}).

In Greenlandic, I believe it's the same as in Romanized Arabic (and
Klingon), i.e., a uvular stop.  A uvular stop is pronounced further back
in the throat than a {k}, so that your tongue touches the flap in the
back of your throat.

> Furthermore, they look neater than those kh and sh.
Personally, I prefer {sh} over {x}, {x} makes me think of the velar
fricative.  But, just a matter of personal taste.  :-)
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