Verdurian ä

Davoush · Post by **Davoush** » Wed Jun 25, 2008 4:59 pm

I was just wondering, how did Verdurian acquite the long a? I think it was from a stressed 'au' in Cadhinor?
Also, isn't it strange for a language to have one long vowel which is phonemic when length is not distinctive in the other vowels? Wouldn't the vowel merge with short /a/ over time?
I was planning a conlang with had length-distinction in some vowels but not others, and I couldn't find a way to justify it so I would like to hear about the Verdurian long /a/.
Thanks!

Post by **zompist** » Wed Jun 25, 2008 5:22 pm

If I'm not mistaken, Southern American English has just one long vowel, also [a:] and also derived from a diphthong (though not the same one as Verdurian).

For some speakers, French makes a phonemic length distinction in /ɛ/ only.

Yiuel Raumbesrairc · Post by **Yiuel Raumbesrairc** » Wed Jun 25, 2008 8:04 pm

Specifically, Canadian French. You have at least one example here of such person (there are more Quebeckers around).

As for why QCFR maintained the distinction is unknown to me. However, it seems that most long /E:/ derive from "es" while other /E/ has no such consonant. But I can assure you it being real.