--- In qalam@yahoogroups.com, "Richard Wordingham"
<richard.wordingham@...> wrote:

> --- In qalam@yahoogroups.com, "Peter T. Daniels" <grammatim@...>

wrote:

> > Richard Wordingham wrote:
>
> > > It seems to me that most 'moraic' systems are really writing

(onset +

> > > nucleus) + coda, but I'm not aware of a word for 'onset +

nucleus'.

> > >
> > > What writing systems actually work in terms of onset + rhyme?
>
> > Check out Pahawh Hmong, on which you can consult Martha Ratliff's
> > chapter in WWS, or the book by Smalley et al. from Chicago. (Or
> > bopomofo, though it's never become more than an auxiliary

phonetic

> > notation.)
>
> Pahawh Hmong is just an alphabet - it has eleven oral vowels and

two

> nasal vowels. All the Hmong codas are implicit in the nucleus!

Yes, but I have often seen Pahaw Hmong analysed as onset and rime,
as well as bomofo. This also relates to the ancient fanqie (dating
back to 2oo AD) and rhyme tables (600 and later). Onset and rime is
a very common way to analyse and organize the Chinese writing system
phonologically and relates to more than just contemporary Mandarin.
I believe the final consonants were more varied historically. I
think onset and rime is a valid group and often used in Chinese
linguisitc studies.

However, I distinctly disagree that 'moraic' matches Cree. It is
clear from Nichols' article in WWS, (excellent IMHO) that unmarked
Cree does not write finals unless they are word final. In unmarked
Cree it truly is one symbol - one syllable, recognizing that the
syllables are CV units and anything smaller than that can go
unrepresented unless needed to disambiguate, which is rarely.

Suzanne