Re: USAGE: minimum number of vowels?

French 'verlan' tends to use only one vowel: "eu", or
[9] if you prefer.

Verlan means "l'envers" (reversing the syllables).
Attested vocables sound like :

femme (woman) > meuf
flic (cop) > keuf
fete (party) > teuf
shit (haschish) > teush(i)...


--- "Mark J. Reed" <markjreed@...> wrote:
> I know some languages have only three vowel sounds .
> . . well,
> let me be more precise.  Some languages recognize
> only three
> vowel qualities, although they might extend the
> system to six
> phonemes via length contrasts.  These three vowels
> are
> (almost) always (analzyed as) /a/, /i/, /u/.  Most
> languages
> seem to have a triangular system with those three
> vowels at the
> vertices, differing mainly in how many stops in
> between are
> recognized as significant.
>
> My question: do any languages recognize *fewer* than
> three vowel
> qualities - two or even just one?    If so, which
> vowel(s) tend(s)
> to be "missing"?
>
> -Marcos
>

=====
Philippe Caquant

"High thoughts must have high language." (Aristophanes, Frogs)


		
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