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Re: Why Not More Nasals!!!!? (was: Is this a realistic phonology?)

From:Tom Wier <artabanos@...>
Date:Tuesday, March 9, 1999, 3:49
Nik Taylor wrote:

> > IMO, there is absolutely nothing unusual about having more voiced > > nasal stops than voiced oral stops. > > Except that they ARE unusual, in that they are uncommon.
Well, I think the implication of this argument has been that, though it certainly is unusual in any European language for that to occur, it's by no means uncommon in many Asian languages, and since few of us have actually studied in depth many languages outside those contexts (European or Asian), how can we be certain that, universally speaking, it's not in fact the reverse? That is to say, couldn't it be the reverse in fact, if we here in this forum just knew more about say African or Native American tribal languages? Does anyone here *know* that those languages have fewer nasals than voiced stops? I would surmise that since nasals and oral voiced stops are so closely related anyways, that your average language will have about equal numbers of them, give or take a few. I would think that no language has, like, seven nasal consonants, while at the same time having no voiced oral stops :) ======================================================= Tom Wier <artabanos@...> ICQ#: 4315704 AIM: Deuterotom Website: <http://www.angelfire.com/tx/eclectorium/> "Cogito ergo sum, sed credo ergo ero." There's nothing particularly wrong with the proletariat. It's the hamburgers of the proletariat that I have a problem with. - Alfred Wallace ========================================================