Re: Hellenish oddities

Oskar Gudlaugsson wrote:
> not to mention that there's no [k] in standard English, just [k^h].
[k] exists syllable-finally (I think that this may not hold true in all
accents) and after /s/ - sky = [skaj], back = [b&k]

> * the stress pattern seems so horribly chaotic to me
Not as bad as English where stress can go pretty much anywhere, while
Greek has restrictions on where stress can go.

> * Those initials are nothing compared to the [p^ht^h], or later [fT]
I kind of like /fT/, but multiple stops in a row, especially initially
or finally, I dislike.  English words like "fact", "hoped", etc., I find
unasthetic.  Of course, as several others have mentioned, they're by no
means uncommon.

> (though with heavy competition from Icelandic [vErmstl^0]).
A bit heavy, but I like that word.  What's it mean?

> * indeed, the vowel system is rather void of back vowels, supposedly
> because Attic Greek was in a transition stage.
Makes me feel a little bit better about Uatakassí, which has very few
occurrences of /u/, and many of /i/ and /a/.  :-)

> * orthographic initials <mp> <nt> <gk> pronounced [b d g]...I haven't seen
> any initial [mp]'s or such in my book of Ancient Greek, so I'm presuming
> the nasals are just a spelling trick
In some cases, in others it's due to a lost vowel, like [drEpomE] "I
feel ashamed", which originally started with [Endr-] -> [Edr-] -> [dr-]

> * chaotic stress pattern remains; perhaps I just fail to see the pattern in
> it.
Predictable stress is so boring.  ;-)

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