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"jian_huang_ysword@hidden.email [romconlang]" <romconlang@yahoogroups.com> wrote: >The real reason is Latin form uses mostly the basic 5 vowels (a,e,i,o,u).Although Latin distinguishes long and short vowels, but they do not make much difference. Yes, in good book Latin there are five basic vowels that only distinguish for length. This will vary depending upon time, dialect and register. As you start to move among the volgus, you start to hear various colours of vowel: different kinds of Is & Es, nasalisation, formation of new diphthongs & loss of old ones and that sort of thing. >French and English forms have more kinds of vowels besides the basic 5 vowels, This is certainly true, to a certain extent. For English, it's mostly a matter of contrast between simple vowels and diphthongs: [a] ~ [ej], [E] ~ [i], [I] ~ [aj], [a] ~ [ow], [v] ~ [juw]. > and uses diphthong more frequently, which need more compensation and changes to fit them into C-V structures Of course, if they don't fit well with the phonetic scheme of your conlang, then best to stick with Latin's "simple" vowel structure. Keeping in mind that it too has its diphthongs: [aj], [oj], [eu], [au] at the least. Padraic