Search found 352 matches

by vokzhen
Wed Sep 13, 2017 2:40 am
Forum: Conlangery & Conworlds
Topic: Minimizing the noun-verb distinction? [split from Random Thread]
Replies: 67
Views: 20638

Re: Minimizing the noun-verb distinction? [split from Random

So, what do people here think about claims that the Salishan languages have no distinction between nouns and verbs ? Overstated. If, using Halkomelem as an example, you have a whole class off roots that don't take all available verb-like morphology (progressive aspect), do take all available noun-l...
by vokzhen
Sat Sep 09, 2017 5:21 am
Forum: Conlangery & Conworlds
Topic: Minimizing the noun-verb distinction? [split from Random Thread]
Replies: 67
Views: 20638

Re: Minimizing the noun-verb distinction? [split from Random

As a syntax fan, I tend to think we should ban the word "adverb". :P So far as I know, it's easiest to understand Finnish cases as cases, but then I'm familiar with cases. If someone wasn't, I'd probably explain them by analogy with prepositions, not adverbs. Returning to this point: if you don't b...
by vokzhen
Sun Aug 27, 2017 1:36 pm
Forum: Languages & Linguistics
Topic: The "How do You Pronounce X" Thread
Replies: 3108
Views: 640095

Re: The "How do You Pronounce X" Thread

It's weird when you suddenly realize you pronounce something really oddly. Again is [əˈgjɪn~əˈgjɛn] for me, with a very clear palatal glide.
by vokzhen
Wed Aug 16, 2017 5:40 pm
Forum: Languages & Linguistics
Topic: Metathesis in languages that are mostly CV?
Replies: 7
Views: 3522

Re: Metathesis in languages that are mostly CV?

Apparently Nahuatl has a lot of VCCV roots that appear to descend from Uto-Aztecan CVCV, but I haven't looked into it further.
by vokzhen
Wed Mar 29, 2017 9:33 pm
Forum: Languages & Linguistics
Topic: Questions about Japanese
Replies: 34
Views: 12999

Re: Questions about Japanese

Ingush voices all final fricatives in suffixes, but not in roots. I think I've run across a language that did it to all suffix fricatives, but I can't remember for sure and may be just misremembering Ingush.
by vokzhen
Thu Mar 02, 2017 3:11 am
Forum: L&L Museum
Topic: A guide to small consonant inventories
Replies: 129
Views: 75803

Re: A guide to small consonant inventories

Mixe-Zoquean languages seem to be "almost" languages, whether they count as twelve or less is going to depend on where you draw the line. Ayutla/South Highlands Mixe has 12 *native* consonants /p t ts k ʔ s ʂ h m n j w/ (with the interesting feature that /ʂ/ is the basic sibilant, /s/ is highly limi...
by vokzhen
Wed Feb 15, 2017 2:29 pm
Forum: Languages & Linguistics
Topic: English syllabification discussion
Replies: 26
Views: 7498

Re: English syllabification discussion

Absolutely no difference in connected speech as far as I can tell, both "inner" and "in her" are identical with a nasalized flap. I can artificially "lengthen" (de-flap) the /n/ of "inner," but as linguoboy says if I try the same thing with "in her" the /h/ obligatorily appears.
by vokzhen
Fri Feb 03, 2017 5:19 pm
Forum: Languages & Linguistics
Topic: The "How do You Pronounce X" Thread
Replies: 3108
Views: 640095

Re: The "How do You Pronounce X" Thread

ne xt [kst̚]. In allegro speech, the /t/ may be dropped. cl uster [kʰɫ]. The /l/ is probably partly devoiced, but definitely not fully. form er exp ansion [ɚ.ɛksp] ~ [ɚ.ɪksp]. No resyllabification and no cluster simplification. I agree with these, with the addendum that /k/ is allophonically backer...
by vokzhen
Sun Jan 22, 2017 10:50 am
Forum: Languages & Linguistics
Topic: The "How do You Pronounce X" Thread
Replies: 3108
Views: 640095

Re: The "How do You Pronounce X" Thread

Then there is real versus reel , which are homophones for me as [ʁʷi(ː)ɯ̯]. How can any dialect/accent/whatever of English in the US have [ʁ]? Is there so much French influence in the northern states? Nothing to do with French, afaik. It's common in the US, at least, to lack any coronal contact in ...
by vokzhen
Wed Jan 11, 2017 10:26 pm
Forum: Languages & Linguistics
Topic: The "How do You Pronounce X" Thread
Replies: 3108
Views: 640095

Re: The "How do You Pronounce X" Thread

If I said [boːɾiŋ], would the average American really think I was saying "botting" or "bodding" or something else rather than "boring"? I'd get "boring" because you're not using the right vowel for "botting" or "bodding." If you said [ba:ɾiŋ], I'd assume botting/bodding unless you've got a noticeab...
by vokzhen
Sun Jan 01, 2017 6:37 pm
Forum: Conlangery & Conworlds
Topic: Sound Change Quickie Thread
Replies: 2827
Views: 613938

Re: Sound Change Quickie Thread

a>o resisted before a front vowel, or a shift of e>a before back vowel. e>a triggered by velars, nasals, or liquids could work, not just uvulars/pharyngeals. You could have a>o only trigger near those same consonants. You could have at the same time a shift of o>u *blocked* by those conditions, crea...
by vokzhen
Sat Dec 31, 2016 4:25 pm
Forum: Languages & Linguistics
Topic: The "How do You Pronounce X" Thread
Replies: 3108
Views: 640095

Re: The "How do You Pronounce X" Thread

That's interesting. Perhaps just use the normal velarisation and pharyngealisation marks? If it is pharyngealisation in codas. But is it pharyngealization, that's the question! Is it a pharyngealized lateral in the onset and a coarticulated coronal-pharyngeal in the coda? Mine is either uvular or u...
by vokzhen
Mon Dec 26, 2016 3:25 pm
Forum: Conlangery & Conworlds
Topic: Sound Change Quickie Thread
Replies: 2827
Views: 613938

Re: Sound Change Quickie Thread

I'm wondering if there are any natlang examples of affricates deaffricating at one POA while remaining affricates at another, e.g. alveolar affricates deaffricating while palatoalveolars are preserved. Spanish says hi :wink: There's also Taishanese tsʰ > tʰ,s>ɬ versus tɕʰ > tsʰ that appears to have...
by vokzhen
Wed Dec 14, 2016 2:35 pm
Forum: Languages & Linguistics
Topic: The "How do You Pronounce X" Thread
Replies: 3108
Views: 640095

Re: The "How do You Pronounce X" Thread

hyperbole as /hʌɪˈpəːbəli/ which, to me, just sounds wrong. The "bole" part being anything except [boʊ̯ɫ̪~bɔu̯ɫ̪] makes no sense to me and doesn't only sound wrong, but feels wrong. I have bad news for you concerning epitome and syncope. Pronouncing epitome as /'EpIto:m/ instead of /@'pIt@mi/ is a ...
by vokzhen
Thu Dec 01, 2016 5:40 pm
Forum: Languages & Linguistics
Topic: Stressed /ə/ in English
Replies: 31
Views: 7458

Re: Stressed /ə/ in English

I'm a mix of North Midlands and Inland North (a couple hour's drive north of where GA is/was naturally spoken), and it definitely feels in more careful pronunciation that I have a syllabic /l/ in <pull full>, except there's still optionally some pulling in of the lips on the /p f/. If it's artificia...
by vokzhen
Sat Nov 26, 2016 5:54 pm
Forum: Languages & Linguistics
Topic: origin of Arabic /ɟ/ (plus centum/satem musings)
Replies: 18
Views: 6278

Re: origin of Arabic /ɟ/ (plus centum/satem musings)

If you start out with no palatovelars at all, then it might be hard to explain the palatal reflexes in Uralic (assuming I have that part right in the first place). Not really, afaik most Uralic loans come from satem languages that already would have had fronting of some kind by the time borrowing o...
by vokzhen
Wed Nov 16, 2016 5:00 pm
Forum: Languages & Linguistics
Topic: Unusual verbal person-marking systems
Replies: 24
Views: 6798

Re: Unusual verbal person-marking systems

The Ainu system reminded me of Ayutla Mixe, which isn't what Chagen is looking for in the OP but I still think is worth bringing up. In Ayutla Mixe, there are two conjugation patterns, traditionally called dependent and independent. These don't really have to do with subordination, but rather whethe...
by vokzhen
Sat Nov 12, 2016 7:31 pm
Forum: Conlangery & Conworlds
Topic: Sound Change Quickie Thread
Replies: 2827
Views: 613938

Re: Sound Change Quickie Thread

Most uvulars I know of come from velars near back vowels, or occasionally contact with pharyngeals or other uvulars - e.g. French /kr/ showing up sometimes as [qX]. Given how commonly dorsal frivatives vary between velar and uvular, that might be a source. Armenian shifted its dark lateral to a uvul...
by vokzhen
Sat Nov 12, 2016 4:40 pm
Forum: Languages & Linguistics
Topic: May have vs. might have
Replies: 25
Views: 7375

Re: May have vs. might have

Honestly, I'm not seeing the supposed distinction you're mentioning here. Both "you could have broken..." and "it's possible that you have broken..." mean pretty much the same thing. I *believe* he's making a distinction between a counterfactual (you could've broken it, but you didn't) versus possi...
by vokzhen
Sun Nov 06, 2016 2:15 am
Forum: Languages & Linguistics
Topic: H/æ/lloween versus H/ɑ/lloween
Replies: 17
Views: 4914

Re: H/æ/lloween versus H/ɑ/lloween

I'm honestly not even sure I have one more common than the other, both sound equally correct. My default *might* be with a front vowel, but I think they're just in free variation. Also, interestingly enough, I believe I have [hɒləʊ(w)ɨd] in The Lord's Prayer, with three syllables and a back vowel, b...
by vokzhen
Wed Nov 02, 2016 11:50 am
Forum: Languages & Linguistics
Topic: Native speakers giving misleading information
Replies: 86
Views: 24083

Re: Native speakers giving misleading information

Rants about the passive voice are the best for this, in my experience; you get people trumpeting that "a sentence has to have a subject and a verb", or the person who I heard say, in all apparent seriousness, that "the passive voice should be eschewed." Not to mention the ones who go on about the e...
by vokzhen
Tue Nov 01, 2016 7:06 pm
Forum: Conlangery & Conworlds
Topic: Sound Change Quickie Thread
Replies: 2827
Views: 613938

Re: Sound Change Quickie Thread

[mj] > [l] I'd buy it. My bigger concern would actually be whether mj>ml is attested outside of Slavic, or if it's kind of a freak occurrence. Aside from that, I'm still interested in different ways languages have generated labialized velars. Slavey has ts>tθ and then some dialects took it to eithe...
by vokzhen
Mon Oct 31, 2016 4:06 am
Forum: Conlangery & Conworlds
Topic: Sound Change Quickie Thread
Replies: 2827
Views: 613938

Re: Sound Change Quickie Thread

Some Great Basin languages borrowed ejectives from their California neighbors and ended up with native ejectives. Same appears to have happened in Southern Quechua from Aymara and Ossetian from Caucasian languages, most ejectives are borrowings but through either highly specific or irregular change...
by vokzhen
Thu Oct 27, 2016 6:56 pm
Forum: Languages & Linguistics
Topic: A few linguistic questions
Replies: 14
Views: 4177

Re: A few linguistic questions

For the first, jeʃuaʕ > dʒiːzəs says hi. I think you're fine keeping the nativized ones.
by vokzhen
Tue Oct 25, 2016 4:38 pm
Forum: Conlangery & Conworlds
Topic: Ilosean Shayana, AKA this is your English on space drugs.
Replies: 54
Views: 13864

Re: Ilosean Shayana, AKA this is your English on space drugs

In any case, the verdict is that a lack of palatalisation on aspirates is unrealistic, and I'll try to rectify it immediately. The question is, then - what would the aspirates palatalise to? Maybe they would undergo full palatalisation, as opposed to the partial aspiration of their tenuis counterpa...