> I am definitely with Jens here... Monovocalic theory cannot be excluded on
> typological grounds since some languages *can* (even if it is only a
> possibility) be analyzed like that and also there is the standard example -
> if all the Khoisan languages died out before linguists came there, I bet 99%
> of all linguists would swear that phonemic clics are absolutely impossibile.
Piotr mentioned something and I can elaborate a bit. Khoisan is NOT a
genetic unity in the sense of Indo-European. It is label to cover the
following bona-fide genetic units/isolates:
1) Hadza
2) Sandawe
3) Central Khoisan
4) South Khoisan
5) North Khoisan
6) Hoa
7) Kwadi
Kwadi is extinct and known only from some unpublished notes. Güldemann
has tentatively aligned genetically with Central Khoisan. They are all
click languages and as Piotr pointed out, there are click languages
in Nguni Bantu but also in the Bantu K30, R40, S30, S40 (S40 is Nguni).
Dahalo, a Cushitic language, also has one (if I remember corretly) click.
Damin, a speech register of Lardil (a Tangkic language of Australia)
also has phonemic clicks. The proper source for this (which is often
neglected) is:
Kenneth Hale and David Nash 1997 Damin and Lardil Phonotactics In:
Darrell Tryon, Michael Walsh (eds.) Boundary Rider: essays in honor of
Geoffrey O'Grady, Pacific Linguistics C136, 247-259.
As you seem to be well aware, para-linguistic clicks are widespread in
the world. (David Gil 2002 Clicks in space and time. Paper presented to
the Annual Conference of the North West Centre for Linguistics (NWCL),
2 Novemner 2002, Manchester).
For what you are suggestion, using an outdated example such as clicks,
there are much better examples in e.g:
@InCollection{,
author = {R. L. Trask},
title = {On Typologically Strange Reconstructions: the Case of
Pre-Basque},
editor = {Arthur Holmer, Jan-Olof Svantesson and \AA{}ke Viberg},
booktitle = {Proceedings of the 18th Scandinavian Conference of
Linguistics},
year = {2000},
volume = {1},
publisher = {Lund University},
series = {Travaux de l'Institut de Linguistique de Lund 39:1},
pages = {11-35}
}
all the best,
Harald