Re: [tied] Abstractness (Was Re: [j] v. [i])

----- Original Message -----
From: Richard Wordingham
To: cybalist@yahoogroups.com
Sent: Thursday, June 05, 2003 6:18 PM
Subject: [tied] Abstractness (Was Re: [j] v. [i])


> The commonest 4 vowel system is /i, e, a, u/ (12 instancces in UPSID); the
next comonest seems to be /i, a, o, u/ (2 instances, I think), but I'm sure
not sure that that conclusion is statistically reliable. We need to access
the UPSID database for more details.

The requirement that low vowels should not contrast as [+/-front] may
override other preferences and lead to such skewed variations on the
"square" theme, making one (and _only_ one) of the non-high vowels assume a
non-low position. The /i, e, a, u/ variant is familiar from Proto-Germanic,
Balto-Slavic and Hittite, for example.

Piotr