Re: DISC: phonological system of Adain

At 4:07 PM -0500 03/14/02, Aidan Grey wrote:
>At 03:50 PM 3/14/2002 -0500, I wrote:
>>  Follows is a discussion of phonological patterns in Adain (formerly known
>>as Sephas). And in case you wonder, no, it is not an anagram of my name! It
>>derives from _adan_ 'people' and the adjectival/language suffix -in.
>
>    ook, i forgot the happy euphonic rule!
><snip>
I think that what you're describing is reasonably natural, but your
description is, well, strange. The biggest problem I have is that I'm
not sure if you're talking about letters or sounds. If you are
talking about the orthography, you never make the connection to
pronunciation. My personal preference would be to describe the
phonological alternations in terms of the sounds involved, and then
show how the orthography handles the system. You seem to be working
the other way around, and then not talking about the sounds.

>   Also, if anyone has info on English stress patterns, i'd be greatly
>appreciative. It seems that Adain will use these stress patterns as well.
>at least, it certainly looks that way so far.
In English, like the other Germanic languages, stress may fall on any
one of the final three syllables. The choice of which syllable is
governed partly by lexical category, partly by morphological
complexity, and partly by syllable weight. There still isn't a single
clear introduction to the system, though Heinz Giegerich's _English
Phonology_ comes close.

Dirk
--
Dirk Elzinga                  Dirk_Elzinga@byu.edu

Man deth swa he byth thonne he mot swa he wile.
'A man does as he is when he can do what he wants.'

- Old English Proverb

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