zompist bboard

1. Does /f/ have any sources other than loanwords and aspirate mutation of /p/?

2. How well would it work without mutations?

alice wrote:1. Does /f/ have any sources other than loanwords and aspirate mutation of /p/?

At least two other sources:

Proto-Celtic *sφ (< PIE *sp) ffêr < *sφerā
Proto-Celtic initial *s before before *r ffroen < *srognā

2. How well would it work without mutations?

Hm. Not all that badly, I think.

Yeah, e.g. the loanwords, of which I suppose they have plenty, don't normally do mutations, right? One could do a study to determine whether the presence of those words causes some kind of practical problems for the speakers. I'm guessing no.

Losing the mutations would cause basically no problems per se. They rarely occur independently in any case, and there are only a handful of cases where they mark some kind of distinction (e.g. between two homophones).

Yeah, e.g. the loanwords, of which I suppose they have plenty, don't normally do mutations, right? One could do a study to determine whether the presence of those words causes some kind of practical problems for the speakers. I'm guessing no.

No, most loanwords do mutate with the exception of those beginning with g - even relatively ad-hoc ones (e.g. dy blaysuit for 'your playsuit') and ones that begin with non-native clusters (tships > djips). Also, foreign placenames (including English ones) are variably mutated, and names are not mutated at all.