From: Oskar Gudlaugsson <[log in to unmask]>
Subject: Re: Nine (was: Re: Back)


> I love this 'Nine' project, so I'd like to comment...
>
> >Then I got an idea I really liked: the vowels preceding the /n/ get
> >nasalised. So I got:
> >p t k
> >e a o (liked those better than i a o)
> >e~ a~ o~
> >
> >with a rule saying: a~p > am  etc..
>
> Why don't you keep the /n/ phoneme and state that the sequences /en an on/
> are realized as [e~ a~ o~]? That way, you can have syllable initial /n/.
And
> you save yourself two phonemes, since the nasalized vowels would no longer
> be independent phonemes.

This is what I like about the conlang list.
It is so simple,why haven't I thought of it?
I'm going to do it that way! I think I will come up with another
problem, but is creates another possibility.
I'll explain down here.

> >VVV    singular noun    "ua~i"  [wa~y] house
> >VVtV   plural noun        "ua~ti" [wani] houses
> >VtVkV    genitive          "uta~ki" [utaNi] of the house
> >VtVktV                        "uta~kti" [utaNdi] of the houses
> >and so on.
>
> Wow, I'm confused. How did the [n] and [N] and [d] get there? Yeah, and
the
> [y]!? Radical allophonics? Say, are nasals allophones of the plosive
> phonemes? What about having fricatives as allophones of plosives?
Icelandic
> phonotactics, for example, realize occurences like /kt tk pt/ as [xt Tk
ft]
> (two plosives are not normally allowed to meet in Icelandic).

[n] is a nasal allophone of /t/. Very radical indeed. I borrowed the idea
from
Waorani [waorañi] /waoda~di/. As you see, in this language [n] is an
allophone
of /d/. Since in my Nine there are no voiced consonants, I decided the
voiceless
consonants have nasal allophones. The [d] is just an allophone because of
the
nasal [N].

I was looking for another method for creating more sounds with this limited
phonology. Maybe I can add a /d/, creating voiced allophones.
The Icelandic way to have fricatives is a good idea. I'll incorporate it
right away.

> So, by what I gather from your system, I think the system I'm proposing is
> like this:
>
>       /p t k/
>         /n/
>       /e a o/
>     /j       w/

The /i/ and /u/ become [y] and [w] as soon as they meet other vowels.
So the system is now:
/p t k/
   /n/
/i e a o u/

Nine phonemes! I go back to the drawing board and redesign the language.

> Just my five cents, keep up the good work! :)

Well, this is what I hate about the list:
I as working on Tlapoa again (my opus magnus :), but I think Ijust
have to divide my sparse spare time to Nine and Tlapoa.;)

Rob