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Re: Abibin

From:Nik Taylor <fortytwo@...>
Date:Friday, October 15, 1999, 0:51
Theodore Kloba wrote:
> I don't have > many possible words to work with (because of the limited number of > phonemes and the restrictions on syllables). I decided it was a bit > extreme for a word like "nations" to be rendered as "ugabiguqum." Too > many syllables!
Well, that goes hand-in-hand with limited syllable-structure. If you're going to have very few phonemes, and simple syllables, you'll have to have long words. That's the reason I compromised Watakassi''s original very simple phonology. Originally, vowels were /i/, /u/, /a/, with or without length (which was later dropped, only to be resurrected). Consonants were /p t k n s l w/ with (C)V(:)(n) syllables, a total of 96 syllables. But, that required ridiculously long words, not to mention that nouns ended in -na/-ni/-nu, creating an unnecessary syllable in all nouns. Eventually, I abandoned the /n/ in those words (tho a few words kept the /n/). For instance, sani' (house). -- "Cats are rather delicate creatures and they are subject to a good many ailments, but I never heard of one who suffered from insomnia." -- Joseph Wood Krutch http://members.tripod.com/~Nik_Taylor/X-Files/ http://members.tripod.com/~Nik_Taylor/Books.html ICQ #: 18656696 AIM screen-name: NikTailor