Re: Brithenig diphthongs (was: Yiddish influences in Brithenig)

[Andrew Smith <hobbit@mail.earthlight.co.nz>]

On Mon, 11 May 1998, Raymond A. Brown wrote:

> Yep - I would not do so, either.  I think Brithenig {u} would probably have
> followed the same path as in French, i.e. become high, rounded front vowel
> [y]; it is not improbable that rounded mid front vowels would have
> developed also (Breton has such a vowel).
>
In Brithenig the high back vowel was fronted and then unrounded, for
example yn, one, a, an, from u:num.  /U/ and /o:/ merged as {u}.  Would a
tense/lax front rounded vowel be needed in this system?
> 
> Yeah - I think three possibilities for {ae} and {oe}
> i. The diphthongs fall together with {ai} and {oi} as /ai/ & /oi/ respectively;
> ii. They developed (as in certain South Walian dialects) to /a:/ and /o:/;
> iii. Their development was not uniform in Brithenig, some dialects merging
> them with /ai/ and /oi/, others developing "long diphthongs" like Dutch
> {aai} and {ooi}. i.e. /a:i/ and /o:i/, while others developed simply the
> long vowels /a:/ and /o:/.
> 
> The third is the one I'd favor, with /a:i/ & /o:i/ perhaps being looked
> upon as "official".  Similar long diphthongs also occurred in ancient
>
This is workable.

- andrew. 

Andrew Smith                                  <hobbit@earthlight.co.nz>

MAN, despite his artistic pretensions, his sophistication, and his many
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