Theiling Online    Sitemap    Conlang Mailing List HQ   

Re: OT: Icelandic help

From:Eugene Oh <un.doing@...>
Date:Friday, May 9, 2008, 16:52
On Fri, May 9, 2008 at 3:19 PM, Lars Finsen <lars.finsen@...> wrote:
> It strikes me as probable as well that quick languages may lose some of the > distiction between long and short vowels, and would tend to simplify > diphthongs. I've had Urianian go through one or two such phases. For example, > thw vowel shifts in highland Urianian are the same for long and short vowels, > while in lowland Urianian, long and short vowels are shifted differently. > This suggests that highland Urianian has lost at least some of the long/short > distinction before the vowel shifts. > > LEF
In fact, Japanese retains vowel-length distinctions from its earliest days, although it has indeed simplified its diphthongs, e.g. /keu/ > /kjo:/ Eugene