Re: The monumental stupidity of PIE theorists further illustrated

John Atkinson wrote:

"Harlan Messinger" <hmessinger.removethis@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message news:6cn53qF3hr7d7U1@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
John Atkinson wrote:
Well, Andrew Woode completely shot down that particular example, at least as far as Spanish is concerned (should have checked my facts before posting!). Maybe it (blocked s-deletion in plurals) still works in other Western Romance languages (Catalan, Occitan, earlier French?) -- or even Middle English -- but I don't know enough about them to say.

The final "s" is still pronounced in French "as" ("ace") and "os" ("bone"). The plural of the latter, also spelled "os", is, however, just [o].

That's wierd!

[os] < Vulg Latin <ossum> makes sense, but how could <ossa> become [o]?

I don't know, but likewise "oeuf" < "ovum" and "boeuf" < "bovem", and the "f" is pronounced in "oeuf" and "boeuf" but the "f" and "s" are both silent in "oeufs" and "boeufs".


[snip]

Like this:
Before s-deletion, <la mula>, [la mula], /la mula / has plural <las mulas>, [l&s mul&s], /las mulas /.
After s-deletion, <la mula>, [la mula], /la mula / has plural <las mulas>, [l& mul&], /l& mul& /.
Similarly, /e / > /e, E / and /o / > /o, O /.

Do you mean [A] rather than [&] (the vowel in "cat").

No, I meant [&]. According to Ralph Penny ("Variation and Change in Spanish" p 126), which is where I got it from, it's [&] in closed syllables.

In modern *SPANISH*? Not in any dialect I've ever heard.

[snip]
Of course, the distinguishing feature in all three of these putative new Andalusian phonemes, which, following Penny,

I don't know if I've ever heard Andalusian.

> I've written as /&/, /E/,
/O/, actually appears to be "laxness" rather than height or frontness.

Anyway, you're a native speaker, aren't you? What's the situation with allophones of /a/ in your variety?

Me? I've had 40 years of study and exposure to it on and off, but no, I'm far from a native speaker!
.

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