Re: CHAT: IPA Question

Hi all,

Recently, I've come across this feature in my conlang again, which poses a
problem with IPA. In Ebisedian, initial vowels sometimes may have a
"smooth breathing", marked with a (`) prefix. It indicates, approximately,
that the vowel begins with a semivowel.

For example, the well-known (to me :-P) feminine proper noun prefix,
_`y-_, is pronounced [jy], as opposed to the _y_ in the nullar
subordinating particle, _yni_, which is pronounced [?yni].

Now, for vowels like [y] and [u], it's pretty easy to represent the
"smoothening" in IPA: `y --> [jy], `i --> [ji], `u --> [wu].

The problem is, now I have a word, `o'mi, pronounced [omi] but with a
"smooth" sound before the [o], but I don't know how to represent this in
IPA. It's somewhere between [wo] and [Go] (with an almost non-fricative
[G]), but not quite like either one.

There's also another word which has the plural form _`aarii'_: the _`aa_
is [a:] with a smooth breathing. I've *no* idea how to indicate the smooth
breathing on the _a_ in IPA. It's approximately a [@a] glide, but not
quite.

Any ideas??


T

--
Why is the sea always restless? Its bed is too rocky to sleep on.

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