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<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-ansi-language:EN-US"
lang="EN-US">Dear all,</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-ansi-language:EN-US"
lang="EN-US"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-ansi-language:EN-US"
lang="EN-US">Ludlings (aka
play languages or secret languages) are often constructed by
reversing the
order of syllables in a word.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Using
numerals to denote syllables, 12 > 21.<span
style="mso-spacerun:yes">
</span>But what happens when there are three (or more) syllables
in the word?<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>For
tri-syllabic words, the two most common
outcomes are</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-ansi-language:EN-US"
lang="EN-US"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-ansi-language:EN-US"
lang="EN-US">(a) 123
> 312</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-ansi-language:EN-US"
lang="EN-US">(b) 123
> 231</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-ansi-language:EN-US"
lang="EN-US"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-ansi-language:EN-US"
lang="EN-US">The Riau
Indonesian ludling I have written about has the (a) pattern, eg.
<i>bahasa >
sabaha</i>. But a friend of mine in Papua has recently started
writing to me in
a ludling using the (b) pattern, e.g. <i>bahasa > hasaba</i>.<span
style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Which got me curious.<span
style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>According to Wikipedia, the
French ludling <i>verlan</i>
may use either option, e.g. <i>cigarette</i> > <i>restiga</i>
or <i>garetsi</i>.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-ansi-language:EN-US"
lang="EN-US"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-ansi-language:EN-US"
lang="EN-US">I would
appreciate any information you might be able to provide with
regard to syllable-reversing
ludlings of this kind that you might be familiar with in other
languages.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Specifically,
I would like to know:</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-ansi-language:EN-US"
lang="EN-US"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-ansi-language:EN-US"
lang="EN-US">(1) which pattern is followed in tri-syllabic
words: (a), (b), or perhaps other?</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-ansi-language:EN-US"
lang="EN-US">(2) what is
the location of word-stress in the language?</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-ansi-language:EN-US"
lang="EN-US"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-ansi-language:EN-US"
lang="EN-US">The
motivation behind the second question is that I have a hunch
that the difference
between the ludlings in closely related Riau Indonesian and
Papuan Malay might
be due to their different stress patterns — a hypothesis that is
easily tested by
looking at a handful of other languages.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-ansi-language:EN-US"
lang="EN-US"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-ansi-language:EN-US"
lang="EN-US">Thanks,</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-ansi-language:EN-US"
lang="EN-US"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-ansi-language:EN-US"
lang="EN-US">David</span></p>
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<pre class="moz-signature" cols="72">--
David Gil
Senior Scientist (Associate)
Department of Linguistic and Cultural Evolution
Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History
Kahlaische Strasse 10, 07745 Jena, Germany
Email: <a class="moz-txt-link-abbreviated" href="mailto:gil@shh.mpg.de">gil@shh.mpg.de</a>
Mobile Phone (Israel): +972-556825895
Mobile Phone (Indonesia): +62-81344082091</pre>
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