RE: [lojban] Re: Alice proofreading

["Craig" <ragnarok@pobox.com>]

>> > Classical Latin would have "kErasus" if it is a short a and "kerAsus"
if it
>> > is a long a. Seeing as the short A results in Spanish "*cierzo" and the
>>
>> my dictionary says it is a short 'a' by nature, and there is no
positional
>> length either, right?.
>>
>> > long a in "cerezo", meaning "cherry tree",

>In that case, I suppose that "cerezo" is either a fairly direct borrowing
>from Latin, or an inherited form that has been reshaped under Latin
influence.
>Spanish is full of both of these:  for an obvious example, inherited
"hablar"
>vs. Latinate "fabular".

Things like this are one reason why you can't reall tell for sure from just
the Spanish form (and I don't speak any other Romance languages, so they
won't help in my case.) In looking at things diachronically, guessing is
usually the best you can do with only one language.