On Wed, May 9, 2012 at 7:51 AM, Miles Forster
<m3o@plasmatix.com> wrote:
.ui does require the initial pause, there are no exceptions to the vowel initial is preceded by pause rule.
First of all, stop calling it a pause. Second of all, this is not an exception. A Lojban word may not begin in a vowel (spelling doesn't matter here). A word that would begin in a vowel needs a denpa bu before it. ui does not begin in a vowel. Therefore, no denpa bu is needed.
First of all, it /is/ a pause, so that's what I'm calling it. It is the textual representation of a mandatory pause in a Lojban speech stream. Secondly, .ui /does/ begin in a vowel. .ubu is a vowel. It is not a "sometimes-consonant" like English 'y'. .abu, .ebu, .ibu, .obu, .ubu, and .ybu are /always/ vowels. They are never /not/ vowels.