Kevin Riley: origin of Didgeridoo

[Elizabeth J. Pyatt]

From: "Kevin Riley" <klriley at alphalink.com.au>
To: "The Celtic Linguistics List" <CELTLING at LISTSERV.LINGUISTLIST.ORG>
Subject: RE: Tom Pullman: origin of Didgeridoo
Date: Thu, 3 Jun 2004 09:50:26 +1000


>I recall a discussion of this on another list where the phrase "dúdaire
>dubh", "black trumpeter/horn blower", was mentioned. The consensus was, if
>I recall correctly, that this was unlikely because the sounds "didgeri"
>and "dúdaire" are really not similar enough. Also, why would the
>instrument be given the name of the person who played it?
>
>Tom
>
>
It depends on the 'local' language.  The 'broad' Irish 'd' is very similar
to the Aboriginal 'dh', which in *some* languages is an allophone of 'dj/dy'
[the basic distinction is between laminal and apical sounds - the full range
is: dental 'dh', palatal 'dy/j', VS alveolar 'd' and retroflex 'rd'.  Where
the four are not used as phonemes, they often occur as conditioned or free
variants].  I am not sure if 'ú' would change to 'i' though, as that is
unusual.  The instrument was restricted to a fairly small area in the north,
but it is also the area where the languages are most divergent.  From memory
no language has been lost in the area, but that doesn't rule out the
possibility that it was used by a small section of one language that has
died out.

Kevin Riley
--
o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o

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