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Re: Brithenig diphthongs (was: Yiddish influences in Brithenig)
At 19:53 6/5/98, Andrew Smith wrote:
>On Tue, 5 May 1998, Raymond A. Brown wrote:
[....]
>> 2) In my copy {ae} is shown as identical with {ai} and {oe} with {oi} (this
>> is not the case in Welsh except among those to whom Welsh is a 2nd - or
>> 3rd, 4th etc - language). Is this intended? If so, why does Brithening
>> have this double representation for each diphthong?
>>
>It was 'convenient' to blur this distinction. My background reading led
>me to believe that even some South Walian speakers to not maintain this
>distinction,
This is correct in that ae & oe have fallen together with ai & oi in the
Welsh of the anglicized south east. If you move westward, however, you
find the pronunciations [a:] and [o:] are common for these digraphs. When
I taught in Croesyceiliog in SE Wales a Welsh speaking colleague of mine
always called Felin Foel ['vElIn vo:l] (maybe Sally sample a pint or two of
FF during her sojourn in Wales :-)
I'm told that the Gogs in the north pronounce them the same as their {au} &
{ou}, i.e. the tongue moves towards the high _central_ position of the
north Walian {u} (IPA barred-i). In the south {u} & {i} have universally
fallen together as /i/, and certainly {au} and {ou} have fallen together
with {ai} and {oi} in the south also. But, as you see above, this has not
happened universally with {ae} & {oe}.
>so I let it pass. I'll have to go back and read up on the
>e-final diphthongs now.
OK.
>Just when I think my update is ready, something else needs to be
>corrected. I know how the Prophet Zarquon feels! But thank you for your
>comments.
Sorry :=(
Raifun.
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Written in Net English Humor not necessarily marked
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