Re: [tied] Renfrew's theory renamed as Vasco-Caucasian

----- Original Message -----

From: Richard Wordingham

To: cybalist@yahoogroups.com

Sent: Saturday, September 22, 2007 4:46 AM

Subject: [Courrier indésirable] Re: [tied] Renfrew's theory renamed as Vasco-Caucasian

--- In cybalist@... s.com, "fournet.arnaud" <fournet.arnaud@ ...>
wrote:
>
> "letter-game" not phonology.
>
> Just because you don't happen to like it? :-)
>
> ============
> Do you have a real language on this planet
> where phonologically relevant /kw/ and /k/
> behave in a different way
> from the sequence /k/ + /w/ ?

====================
The contrast is certainly popular in reconstructions. A contrast *kW
v. *kw is reconstructed for Proto-Lolo-Burmese.

===

A.F :

Because of the mono-syllabic dogma, Chinese reconstructions are also compelled to resort to graphic gimmicks of the same kind. The dogma is wrong.

I suggest to discard this.

==================

I haven't found any definite examples, but the Ethiopic languages look
quite promising. Geez and Tigrinya look quite possible for a contrast
between /kW/ (labiovelar) and cluster /kw/.

A phonological difference
from the clusters, even if there be no minimal pair, is that while
Tigrinya quinquiliterals are extremely rare (reportedly just one true
quinquiliteral, namely g-r-n-g-r 'start to form pod (of legume)'),
roots with two labiovelars are not, e.g. gW-n-kW, kW-r-kW-m, kW-r-kW
and gW-r-gW.

=================

A.F

It looks like reduplication / infixation of root : R n/r/ R.

Are there roots like g _n_w / g_r_w / g_l_w ? or g _n_g / g_r_g / g_l_g ?

or k instead of g ?

==================

Richard.