Talk:Habeo languages
Vowel frequency
While making a sound change file for the Habeo languages, I've noticed a flaw in the diachrony: the vowel frequencies are very unbalanced, with almost no /i/ and an overwhelming amount of /e/. With the changes given by Pocketful of Songs, the Proto-Xoronic lexicon yields the following frequencies for Proto-Habeo:
| i | 13 | (0.7%) | i: | 0 | (0.0%) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| e | 788 | (41.8%) | e: | 125 | (6.6%) |
| a | 381 | (20.2%) | a: | 175 | (9.3%) |
| u | 358 | (19.0%) | u: | 44 | (2.3%) |
In order to get more /i/, I'd suggest the following modifications of the sound changes:
- add the following rule to the vowel shift:
- e: u: > i: i:
- change these two rules:
- i > e not when adjacent to š
- use i instead of e for epenthesis
This would give the following frequencies:
| i | 237 | (12.6%) | i: | 9 | (0.5%) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| e | 578 | (30.7%) | e: | 118 | (6.3%) |
| a | 381 | (20.2%) | a: | 175 | (9.3%) |
| u | 344 | (18.3%) | u: | 42 | (2.2%) |
IMHO these are much better. /i/ is still the least frequent of the vowels, so the general feel of the language remains similar, with almost two out of three vowels non-high, but it would enable Proto-Habeo to have a true four-vowel-system with length distinction (which was obviously the intention), not a strange /e a u/ three-vowel-system with very few /i/ oddballs.
Cedh 10:33, 15 September 2008 (UTC)