Re: OT: Nasalization of French Vowels

En réponse à Douglas Koller, Latin & French :


>/bO~te/ is "goodness" or "kindness", spelled "bonté"
>
>If /bOnte/ exists, I'm unaware of it.
Indeed, it doesn't exist :)) .

>I'm freeforming here, but I think, insofar as French is 
>concerned,  nasalization occurs when the nasal is at the end of the word 
>or if the following letter in a word is a consonant. Hence "bonté", 
>"compte", "fanfreluche", etc. When followed by a vowel, nasalization 
>doesn't kick in:  "anneau " is /ano/, not /a~no/, linoléum /linOleOm/, not 
>/lE~oleOm/, moineau, etc.
Actually, better consider sequences vowel+nasal at the end of a word or 
followed by another consonant which is not itself a nasal as digraphs 
representing a single sound (treat the following n like a trema in 
Portuguese). It explains why when followed by a vowel, there's no 
nasalisation (the nasal has become an onset consonant, not part of a 
digraph), while not forbidding the case of *pronounced* coda nasals which 
don't nasalise the previous vowel.

>I think that works, which is why I don't think /bOnte/ is  an actual 
>possibility in Frenc
Here you are incorrect. While *"bonneté" doesn't actually exist, nothing in 
the French language forbids its existence. It just happens not to happen ;))) .

>h.  At the moment, I can't think of any words  where that scenario works.
Not that common a word, but I can think of "annelé" [anle]: "ring-shaped" 
with a coda nasal which doesn't nasalise the previous vowel (see how the 
orthography solves it by adding a silent "e", and thus a silent syllable). 
Although other examples escape me at the moment, I'm sure they exist :)) .

Christophe Grandsire.

http://rainbow.conlang.free.fr

You need a straight mind to invent a twisted conlang.