Re: Welsh "w" and "y"

On Tuesday, October 26, 2004, at 02:57 , Christian Thalmann wrote:

> --- In conlang@yahoogroups.com, Ray Brown <ray.brown@F...> wrote:
>
>>   "land, country", gwn- [gwn] as in _gwneud_ [gwn@jd] "to make, to
> do" and
>
> Is |eu| always [@j], or only after labialization?  I would
> have expected [ej]...
Welsh doesn't have [ej], nor indeed does 'Welsh English'. In Wales as in
some pats of England & Scotland, a word like "game" is pronounced [ge:m].
Welsh has in fact borrowed the word and spells it _gêm_.

The diphthong |ei| is always [@j] as is |eu| in the south. In north Wales,
  the semi-vocalic element tends towards the high center rather than high
front, but it begins [@].

>
>
>> (a) CLEAR
>> This is exactly the same as Welsh |u|, that is a high central unrounded
>> vowel in the north nnd exactly like |i| in the south.
>
> Then a spelin reeform replacing all clear |y| with |u| is
> practically inevitable.  =P
Nope - nothing's inevitable in natlangs  :)

> Would it hurt to write |dyn|
> as |dun|?
Not a great deal, but the plural is |dynion| ['d@njOn]; the Welsh feel
happier with |dyn| ~ |dynion|   :)

> Speaking of spelin reeforms...  I just had a deeper look
> at that Irish Gaelic Kauderwelsch booklet...  argh!
> Irish never fails to give me a headache!   =\
      :)

Ray
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Anything is possible in the fabulous Celtic twilight,
which is not so much a twilight of the gods
as of the reason."      [JRRT, "English and Welsh" ]