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I have for some time experienced some woes about how to
spell /Z/ in Rhodrese.
It would arise only from VL SJ between vowels, like BASIUM,
ECCLESIA, PHASIANUS, HORTESIUS, VALESIUS, CAMISIA, CEREVISIA
etc. and Old and Middle Rhodrese would have no problem with
it, spelling it -si- between vowels and its devoiced final
representation as -x or -sz. Modern Rhodrese would however
not like those spellings, because,
1. it eschews _x_ and _sz_ (and _sx_) as spellings for /S/,
2. it spells devoiced finals as if they were voiced, much as
modern German.
3. it wouldn't want to get i + vowel except where there
actually is a /j/ + vowel, a lot of which did arise
thru diphthongization of VL /E:/ and /A:/ --
PHASIANUS actually
is /faZ'ja/ in Rhodrese.
The spelling _sj_ must be rejected because
1. I feel it looks out of place in a Romance language.
2. The orthographic distinction between _j_ and _i_ didn't
firmly establish itself until after the fashions for the
spelling of final /S/ and devoiced obstruents. In OTL
classicism in spelling was a 16th century thing, while
the distinguishing of _j_ and _v_ as separate from _i_
and _u_ didn't become general until the early 18th
century, although it had its beginnings in the late 16th.
I have considered the spelling _sdg_, and _sg_ before
written _e_ and _i_, but I think _sdg_ looks kludgy. I have
considered using _sg'_ before 'hard' vowels and finally. The
problem with that is that there is an infinitesimal risk
that an elided vowel would also get spelled with an
apostrophe after _sg_ /zg/, since theoretically _sg_ /zg/
could arise, e.g. in words that ended in -SICU or -SICA. Now
it turns out that the only such word with any 'popularity'
is VESICA[^1]; its singular would become _vaisghe_ /vajzgI/
and its plural /vajzg/ -- but this plural is a real trigger
of the problem! Possibly it could be spelled _vaisgh_, but
final _ch_ or _sch_ are never used -- instead _ç_ and _sç_
are used to explicitly indicate 'softness': BASSIO 'I sink'
becomes _basç_ /baS/. If it weren't for /vajzg/ I could
simply dictate that _sg_ with no following _h_ is always /Z/
or /S/ derived from underlying /Z/ -- not that I like that
solution either. To always spell /zg/ with _zg_ would FWIW
not go, as _z_ is only used for etymological _z_ or _c_
(e.g. _fiazre_ < FACERE)[^2], so it seems I'm back at _sg'_
for //Z//, having to use _sgh'_, should I need to write
"la vaisgh' et plaine" ILLA VESICA EST PLENA.
Thoughts?
[^1]: Other seemingly potential instances like MUSICA would
be learned words and thus become _músiche_, or perhaps
_múseche_ with a little more adaptation.
[^2]: The inflection of _fiazre_ really looks funny:
- fetx (possibly _fiatx_ or _fiaz_ or even _fuaz_)
- fiz
- fiaçt
- fiazm
- fiaç (FAC´'T'S)
- fetxen /'fetS@n/
The subjunctive is dull by comparison:
- fetxie
- fetxie
- fetxiet
- fetxiam
- fetxiaç
- fetxien