Re: Tasratal: phonology

Christophe Grandsire scripsit:

> It is. Basque writes /S/ as 'x' and /tS/ as 'tx'. It writes /s/ as 'z' and /ts/
> as 'tz', and 's' and 'ts' are special fricative and affricate (though I never
> really knew what they are: alveo-palatal compared to 'z' alveolar?)
They are made by approximating the tip (not the blade) of the tongue to the
alveolar ridge, and produce a sort of faint whistling sound.
Technically it is called a "rill spirant" as opposed to the usual
"slit spirant", [s].

In Castilian proper (that is, the Castilian of Castile itself), this same "s" is
or was used for written "s", which probably accounts for the Basque orthography.
The phonological influence most likely runs the other way, since no other
Romance lg has this "s" that I know of.

--
John Cowan           http://www.ccil.org/~cowan              cowan@ccil.org
Please leave your values        |       Check your assumptions.  In fact,
   at the front desk.           |          check your assumptions at the door.
     --sign in Paris hotel      |            --Miles Vorkosigan

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