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Padraic replied thusly to my Capraian wonderings: > > Capraian Vowel Shift (courtesy of > > Thomas Leigh), such that the Germanic vowels > > shuffled round one: i > e > a > > > o > u > y. However, only the first vowel of > > diphthongs is so affected. > > > > This leaves a problem. While the diphthongs > > /au/ and /eu/ neatly turn into > > /ou/ and /au/ respectively, /ai/ and /ei/ are > > left as /oi/ and /ai/, with > > the vowel /i/ which no longer exists in > > Capraian. > > I guess if /i/ disappeared bef�re the shift, /ai/ > would have first become /a/ (perhaps with > compensatory lengthening) and then you might be > left with a plain vowel /o:/. /ei/ > /e:/ > /a:/ Well, /i/ disappeared *as a result of* the shift -- /i/ became /e/. I am inclining towards the diphthongs becoming long vowels, as you suggest. > What happened to the /i/ - did it simply > disappear in all environments or did it affect > neighbouring vowels? You might have an > opportunity to introduce a system of ablaut (like > man/men). Cool... but complicated! Need to think on that. Nik wrote: >> No reason that a diphthong can't contain a vowel that doesn't exist elsewhere in the language. << Indeed - although my aesthetic sensibilities (if they exist) lead me away from that. >> Also, if there's no /i/, but there *is* /y/, then it's quite likely that /y/ would become /i/. It would be very unusual to have /y/ but not /i/. << And, indeed, this is what happened. My initial mail may have been misleading. There was no /i/ after the shift, but then borrowings from Italic tongues reintroduced it, and in modern Capraian /y/ and /i/ have merged as /i/, normally written "y". Muke adds: > How about /oe_^/ and /ae_^/ diphthongs? > [As a plus you get to use � and �!] I already have /9/ due to umlaut... As you can see, the digest mangled your mail. I'm sure you didn't intend me to use fractions! Was that oe-lig? And I can't find _^ in the CXS definition, sorry. The search continues... Thanks for your comments, guys; please continue! James -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- �lvard J. te Kraamlep Vorquichtat, Binertglobakl�i Jameld Zolidaton kraamlep@hidden.email BJZ Wabplaz: http://www.zolid.com/zm -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --