Re: sound change question

Quoting Christopher Wright <faceloran@...>:

> Roger Mills wrote:
> > Thomas Wier wrote:
> > > I think probably the first set, where *p becomes /k/.  Arapaho
> > > underwent a similar process on its way from Proto-Algonkian.
> > > It's reasonable to think that a pull-chain effect might have
> > > started with *k becoming [q], leaving an opening for *p to fill.
> > > It's an unusual change, but I know of no natural language that
> > > would take *p and turn it into [kw] -- quite the opposite change
> > > would be expected.
>
> > Agreed.  Evidently you want to keep it as a stop; my first thought
> > was for it to fricative [P] or [f], then/or > h, then/or 0. All
> > widely attested.
>
> For getting rid of /p/, I'd probably collapse /p/ and /k/ rather than
> turning /k/ to /q/, though I'm no linguist yet, so I don't know how
> plausible that is.
The idea is that there should be some motivating factor involved
in getting rid of /k/. In Arapaho, PA *k was lost, which motivated
a chain shift effect by pulling /p/ back.

> It would appear that the Kéleñi have long mouths with which to better
> distinguish between these stops, no?
They need not be longer than normal human mouths.

> As for /m/, you could possibly merge it with /w/.
Not a terribly common change in my experience;  the two sounds
are acoustically quite distinct aside from the labialization,
since /m/ has the nasal cavity available to resonate, and the
/w/ has a velar articulation in addition to the labial one.

 =========================================================================
Thomas Wier            "I find it useful to meet my subjects personally,
Dept. of Linguistics    because our secret police don't get it right
University of Chicago   half the time." -- octogenarian Sheikh Zayed of
1010 E. 59th Street     Abu Dhabi, to a French reporter.
Chicago, IL 60637

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