Theiling Online    Sitemap    Conlang Mailing List HQ   

Re: Silent E

From:Tristan Alexander McLeay <zsau@...>
Date:Friday, October 5, 2001, 4:04
At 12.17 p.m. 5.10.2001, you wrote:
>Do any other languages (I am sure there are at least a few) have a silent >letter or especially a silent modifying letter (as in English "ate", the e >is silent and makes the a long)??? Where does this come from?? Do any of >ur conlangs have this??
The silent E in english was pronounced in Middle English (as a /@/). Eventually, it died, and caused compensatory lengthening of the vowel. This was later generalised as a 'feature' of the orthography. Et'abnanni ('a=a acute) /'r`amn`&n/ (`a=low tone on /a/ etc.) does. final i is silent, but i-mutates the previous vowel. other final and initial vowels are silent. all silent vowels (and non-silent) cause <t> and <d> to be /r/, rather than /T/. Et'abnanni has a really aweful orthography. Tristan