Long vowel notation

[jonathan.amith at yale.edu]

Dear listeros,

Use of double vowels to represent length is problematical with sequences of
double vowels, particularly in reduplication.

e.g., a:polaki can reduplicate in Ameyaltepec as a:a:polaki or 
aa:apolaki (the h
is lost word internally in Ameylatepec). With double letters one would write
aaaapolaki and
aaapolaki

A sequence of three vowels would be ambiguous between
VV:
and
V:V

Also, there are cases of double vowels
iich  ´his or her maguey hemp´
koo:lo:tl type of tree Guazuma ulmifolia.

I use colons for typing and macrons for writing by hand (e.g., students on the
blackboard) and in publication.

I have found that beginning students usually write the segments without vowel
length and then add length after going over the words. Macrons are best for
this. The problem is searching for macroned vowels in electronic format, as
well as typing.

Finally, in Oapan there are tones, so long vowels are distinguished by tone

a:polaki
á:polaki (the iterative form, in other variants aha:polaki)

jda


Quoting David Wright <dcwright at prodigy.net.mx>:

> Estimado John:
>
> Thanks for your input. I have one doubt:
>
> Does the lack of vowel ellision in your examples produce a result that
> sounds different from long vowels, perhaps a syllable boundary between the
> two like vowels, distinguished by stress? I suppose this would be harder to
> hear in the last example.
>
> Saludos,
>
> David
>
> ******************************
> Listeros,
> The use of the double vowel to represent length can be confusing for
> variants that tend not to eliminate one of two vowels that come together at
> a morpheme boundary. In Huastecan Nahuatl we have, for example, niitztoc
> (ni-itztoc), "I am [estar]"; quiittah " (qui-ittah), "they see him-her-it";
> mooholinia (mo-oholinia), "it moves".
> John
>



-- 
Jonathan D. Amith
Director: Mexico-North Program on Indigenous Languages
Research Affiliate: Gettysburg College; Yale University; University of Chicago
(O) 717-337-6795
(H) 717-338-1255
Mail to:
Dept. of Sociology and Anthropology
Gettysburg College
Campus Box 412
300 N. Washington Street
Gettysburg, PA  17325

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