Search found 1128 matches

by Zaarin
Mon Jul 02, 2018 1:36 pm
Forum: Conlangery & Conworlds
Topic: Sound Change Quickie Thread
Replies: 2827
Views: 610982

Re: Sound Change Quickie Thread

How do these changes look? ts tɬ tɕ→ s ɬ ɕ (but ts' tɬ' tɕ' preserved) (later) p’ k’ q’ → pf’ kx’ qχ’ → f’ x’ χ’ f' → f Assuming an initial inventory without ejective fricatives? Ejective fricatives are rare; I have a hard time imagining a system with ejective fricatives but no ejective stops. Ejec...
by Zaarin
Sun Jun 03, 2018 1:42 pm
Forum: Languages & Linguistics
Topic: Is German/Japanese sentence structure natural?
Replies: 10
Views: 31441

Re: Is German/Japanese sentence structure natural?

OP, just because something is unusual for you doesn't mean it's unnatural or any reason to believe that Japanese speakers' brains are inherently structured differently than English speakers'. Languages are stuffed full of variation that can seem quite surprising to people who aren't familiar with t...
by Zaarin
Sat Jun 02, 2018 11:10 am
Forum: Languages & Linguistics
Topic: Is German/Japanese sentence structure natural?
Replies: 10
Views: 31441

Re: Is German/Japanese sentence structure natural?

No, it's not natural. It was artificially constructed by Basque and Ainu monks, respectively. ;) I mean, what sort of answer exactly were you expecting here? Of course it's "natural"; just because it's not the way your native language does it doesn't make it "unnatural." If relevance or importance w...
by Zaarin
Tue May 29, 2018 7:56 pm
Forum: Conlangery & Conworlds
Topic: Aʻatun Scratchpad: Inventory questions
Replies: 116
Views: 61077

Re: Altrunian Conlang Scratchpad: Inventory questions

Is /χ/ more naturally an allophone of /x/ or /h/? Currently, the relationship is /x→χ/ adjacent to /ɑ ⱺ/ regardless of syllable coda/mora or another uvular in the same syllable. [χ] seems more likely to be an allophone of /x/ than /h/ if both /x h/ are phonemic; if not, either one of them could hav...
by Zaarin
Mon May 28, 2018 11:11 am
Forum: Conlangery & Conworlds
Topic: Aʻatun Scratchpad: Inventory questions
Replies: 116
Views: 61077

Re: Altrunian Conlang Scratchpad: Inventory questions

Not nearly as strange as having no back rounded vowels...
by Zaarin
Sun May 27, 2018 10:51 am
Forum: Conlangery & Conworlds
Topic: Aʻatun Scratchpad: Inventory questions
Replies: 116
Views: 61077

Re: Altrunian Conlang Scratchpad: Inventory questions

I find /i e̞ u ɑ/ more likely than /i e̞ o̞ ɑ/. Some variation of /i e o a/ is pretty common in North America. Okay, but what about outside of there? Off the top of my head I can't think of any four vowel systems outside of North America, though I'm sure they exist; every Old World language I can t...
by Zaarin
Sat May 26, 2018 9:07 pm
Forum: Conlangery & Conworlds
Topic: Aʻatun Scratchpad: Inventory questions
Replies: 116
Views: 61077

Re: Altrunian Conlang Scratchpad: Inventory questions

Vijay wrote:I find /i e̞ u ɑ/ more likely than /i e̞ o̞ ɑ/.
Some variation of /i e o a/ is pretty common in North America.
by Zaarin
Sat May 26, 2018 8:34 pm
Forum: Conlangery & Conworlds
Topic: Aʻatun Scratchpad: Inventory questions
Replies: 116
Views: 61077

Re: Altrunian Conlang Scratchpad: Inventory questions

yangfiretiger121 wrote:Okay. I may end up with a four (/i e̞ u ɑ/ or /i e̞ o̞ ɑ/) or five (/i e̞ u o̞ ɑ/) system. If there's a four vowel system, is /u>o̞/ or /o̞>u/ more likely?
I'd say equally likely.
by Zaarin
Fri May 25, 2018 10:36 am
Forum: Languages & Linguistics
Topic: The "How do You Pronounce X" Thread
Replies: 3108
Views: 636650

Re: The "How do You Pronounce X" Thread

bbbosborne wrote:does anyone say english with an /i/ and not an /ɪ/??
Sporadically.
by Zaarin
Wed May 23, 2018 9:12 pm
Forum: Languages & Linguistics
Topic: The "How do You Pronounce X" Thread
Replies: 3108
Views: 636650

Re: The "How do You Pronounce X" Thread

Indo-European [ˌɪndəʊ̯ˈjʊɹ̠ˁəʊ̯ˌpʰiən]
Algonquian [æɫˈgɒŋkiɪn]
Japonic [ʤæˈpʰɑnɪk]
Korean [kʰɵˈɹ̠ˁiən]
Xhosa [ˈkʰəʊ̯sə]
Cherokee [ʧʰɛɹ̠ˁɵˈkʰi]
Klingon [ˈt͡ɬɪŋɑn ˈχol] -- I'm just kidding: [ˈkʰɫɪŋɑn]
English [ˈɪŋgɫɪʃ]
by Zaarin
Tue May 22, 2018 5:14 pm
Forum: Languages & Linguistics
Topic: The "How do You Pronounce X" Thread
Replies: 3108
Views: 636650

Re: The "How do You Pronounce X" Thread

Joseph Stalin [ˈʤəʊ̯sɪf ˈstɑɫɪn] Wilhelm Röntgen [ˈwɪɫhɛɫm ˈrɒntgɛn] OR [ˈvɪɫhɛɫm ˈrœntgən] Marie Skłodowska-Curie [məˈɹ̠ˁi ˈkʰʊɹ̠ˁi~ˈkʰjuɹ̠ˁi] Niels Bohr [ˈniɫz ˈbɔɹ̠ˁ] (NB [ɔ] is not my CAUGHT vowel but a reduce /oː/ [əʊ̯] before a liquid) Erwin Schrödinger [ˈɹ̩wɪn ʃɹ̠ˁəʊ̯diŋɹ̩~ʃɹ̠ˁœdiŋɹ̩] Gerard...
by Zaarin
Sun May 20, 2018 2:17 pm
Forum: Conlangery & Conworlds
Topic: Aʻatun Scratchpad: Inventory questions
Replies: 116
Views: 61077

Re: Altrunian Conlang Scratchpad: Inventory questions

/ç ç ʝ ʝ/ or /ç ç ʝ j/ are perhaps the most obvious short of depalatalizing. /ʋʲ/ > /v/ is also not inconceivable. I'd buy /θʲ/ > /ɕ~ʃ/.
by Zaarin
Sat May 19, 2018 7:44 pm
Forum: Conlangery & Conworlds
Topic: Lortho: An Artistic Conlang
Replies: 6
Views: 5932

Re: Lortho: An Artistic Conlang

That script (and papyrus) is gorgeous. :D
by Zaarin
Fri May 18, 2018 4:08 pm
Forum: Conlangery & Conworlds
Topic: Aʻatun Scratchpad: Inventory questions
Replies: 116
Views: 61077

Re: Altrunian Conlang Scratchpad: Inventory questions

yangfiretiger121 wrote:Is /l→ʋ/ a likely change?
/l > ɫ > w~ɰ > ʋ/ is plausible.
by Zaarin
Mon May 14, 2018 5:04 pm
Forum: Languages & Linguistics
Topic: Incorrect pronunciations you have (or have had) to unlearn
Replies: 669
Views: 148844

Re: Incorrect pronunciations you have (or have had) to unlea

I have /ɪ/ in wyvern, probably due to Dragon Age, and Wiktionary lists it as an acceptable pronunciation, though it gives /ai/ first.
by Zaarin
Mon May 14, 2018 11:21 am
Forum: Languages & Linguistics
Topic: The "How do You Pronounce X" Thread
Replies: 3108
Views: 636650

Re: The "How do You Pronounce X" Thread

salty [ˈsɑɫti~ˈsɑɫʔi]
suit [ˈsuʔ]
by Zaarin
Fri May 11, 2018 9:01 pm
Forum: Languages & Linguistics
Topic: Incorrect pronunciations you have (or have had) to unlearn
Replies: 669
Views: 148844

Re: Incorrect pronunciations you have (or have had) to unlea

Undine is apparently pronounced to rhyme with "mean", not "mine". I don't think I will change my pronunciation, but I haven't said the word out loud in 20 years and probably won't within the next 20. (It was in a popular video game and an unrelated book I found once.) Huh, so it is. Somehow that ma...
by Zaarin
Wed May 09, 2018 5:49 pm
Forum: Languages & Linguistics
Topic: The "How do You Pronounce X" Thread
Replies: 3108
Views: 636650

Re: The "How do You Pronounce X" Thread

Atlantic [æʔˈɫæntɪk] (the first [æ] may be realized as [æ~ɛ~ɪ] in quick speech)
czar [ˈzɑɹ̱ˁ]
by Zaarin
Sun May 06, 2018 4:20 pm
Forum: Languages & Linguistics
Topic: The "How do You Pronounce X" Thread
Replies: 3108
Views: 636650

Re: The "How do You Pronounce X" Thread

I vary between [θɛɪ̯ŋk] in careful speech and [θɛŋk] in more casual speech, the latter being homophonous with a quick pronunciation of think as well ([θɪŋk] in more careful speech).
by Zaarin
Sun May 06, 2018 4:17 pm
Forum: Languages & Linguistics
Topic: Is it better to say "for you and me" than "for me and you"?
Replies: 7
Views: 6032

Re: Is it better to say "for you and me" than "for me and yo

Traditionally it's considered "good form" to put the first person pronoun second, but colloquially I doubt many people care.
by Zaarin
Sat May 05, 2018 10:36 am
Forum: Conlangery & Conworlds
Topic: Writing system, not sure which one to use.
Replies: 16
Views: 11151

Re: Writing system, not sure which one to use.

For a more constructed effect, it's a question of finding a new system which makes it possible to maximize the possibilities of your conlang ... The fact that Akkadian used Sumerian cuneiform for hundreds of years or that Middle Persian used Aramaic words as logograms suggests that "maximizing the ...
by Zaarin
Mon Apr 30, 2018 10:24 am
Forum: Conlangery & Conworlds
Topic: Sound Change Quickie Thread
Replies: 2827
Views: 610982

Re: Sound Change Quickie Thread

Knit Tie wrote:Would it be possible to have sound changes first result in /s̺ z̺/ > /ʃ ʒ/, and then have /ʒ dz/ > /z/, so that the most common sibilants in the language are /ʃ/ and /z/?
s z > ʃ ʒ, no problem.
dz > z, no problem

I am, however, a little skeptical of ʒ > z but not ʃ > s.
by Zaarin
Thu Apr 26, 2018 2:33 pm
Forum: Conlangery & Conworlds
Topic: Lortho: An Artistic Conlang
Replies: 6
Views: 5932

Re: Lortho: An Artistic Conlang

I like the aesthetic, both of the writing system and the language itself.
by Zaarin
Thu Apr 26, 2018 12:24 pm
Forum: Languages & Linguistics
Topic: A sixth pronunciation for the letter "x".
Replies: 33
Views: 17658

Re: A sixth pronunciation for the letter "x".

I'm just astonished people still name their poor child "Ralph." It's like naming your daughter "Gertrude" or "Beatrice." :p I mean, that's the connotation in the USA (where the name is as good as dead ), but "Ralph" has a different history in other countries. "Beatrice" has actually made a slight c...
by Zaarin
Wed Apr 25, 2018 10:54 am
Forum: Languages & Linguistics
Topic: A sixth pronunciation for the letter "x".
Replies: 33
Views: 17658

Re: A sixth pronunciation for the letter "x".

I'm just astonished people still name their poor child "Ralph." It's like naming your daughter "Gertrude" or "Beatrice." :p