Re: THEORY: derivation question

Carlos Thompson wrote:

> The plural of _mouse_
> /maws/ is _mouses_ /'mawses/ which is a regular spanish plural, but the plural of
> _byte_ /bajt/ is _bytes_ /bajts/ an irregular ... well, a regular spanish plural
> used in borrowins that end in consonants: _chips_, _robots_, _casettes_ /ka'sets/
> (also _casetes_ /ka'setes/).
Question, then:  all of those you've mentioned end (in English, at least) in voiceless
consonants:  by*t*e, chi*p*, robo*t*, etc.   What happens when Spanish borrows
a word that ends in a *voiced* consonant?  Do they switch to using the regular
Spanish plural, rather than the imported one?

> a pattern: orthography is the same as the original language (usually English), and
> pronunciation is borrowed but adapted into Spanish paterns... (well, there are
> people who say /maUZ/, /baIt_h/, /tSIp_h/, /'draIvr=/, etc.)
Though the first three of those are hypercorrections (if they're trying to
achieve a real English pronunciation):  /m&us/, /baIt'/, /tSip'/  (where the '
represents unrelease of the consonant, which makes it seem almost like a
glottal stop sometimes...)


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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
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