Understanding of a folk etymology

Campbell, R. Joe campbel at indiana.edu
Fri Apr 24 19:24:25 UTC 2009


   I forgot to mention one important point about "ne:m" -- the 
phonological identity of its final segment.  It occurs most often as 
[n], but, as we know,
nasal consonants in many languages assimilate to the point of 
articulation of the following consonant and, further, in word final 
position, show no contrast in point of articulation (e.g., only [m] or 
[n] may occur).  So since its pronunciation as [n] is *determined*, it 
is not relevant in revealing whether it is really /m/ or /n/.

   But a few examples of "ne:m" before vowels reveal that the final 
consonant is /m/:

   quinemia       qui-nem-i-[y]a      he drank it in vain

   nemihquitqui   nem-ihquit[i]-qui   poorly woven


...............

   I referred to Ayer 1478 mistakenly as "Vocabulario anonimo";  it 
*is* anonimo, but it is referred to as: Vocabulario trilingue.

Joe

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