minimal pairs (was: PIE e/o Ablaut)

[proto-language]

[ Moderator's note:
  In what follows, I believe that "/g/" represents an 8-bit character
  (c-cedilla) that was mangled by the mail system.  Please, remember
  that this system is very old, and does not handle 8-bit mail at all.
  --rma ]

Dear Peter and IEists:

 ----- Original Message -----
From: "petegray" <petegray at btinternet.com>
Sent: Thursday, April 06, 2000 2:38 PM

[PG]

> My dialect might originally  have pronounced "hue" as /h-yu:/, but it
> certainly no longer does.  Such a pronunciation would not even be
> recognised.

[PR]

I believe you may be exaggerating a little here. In my travels around the
country, I have heard a number of pronunciations including /hjuw/; in fact.
the only time I can remember /g/, the palatal dorsal spirant, is here in the
South: /g|/.

[PG]

> The consonant has to be the ich-laut.   But still, some people
> (such as Pat, who on this occasion is in good company) deny its phonemicity.

[PR]

Yes, I would have to say that /g/ (c-cedilla) is an allophone of /h/ in this
instance though, of course, we might want to consider it a devoiced /j/.

[PG]

> Hence my point that minimal pairs are not a sufficient criterion - we also
> actually make decisions on the basis of a theoretical structure into which
> potential phonemes fit.

[PR]

I agree that qualification is sensible.

Pat

PATRICK C. RYAN | PROTO-LANGUAGE at email.msn.com (501) 227-9947 * 9115 W. 34th
St. Little Rock, AR 72204-4441 USA WEBPAGES: PROTO-LANGUAGE:
http://www.geocities.com/proto-language/ and PROTO-RELIGION:
http://www.geocities.com/proto-language/proto-religion/indexR.html "Veit ek,
at ek hekk, vindga meipi, nftr allar nmu, geiri undapr . . . a ~eim meipi er
mangi veit hvers hann af rstum renn." (Havamal 138)