Subject: Re: [lojban] What's the logic behind Lojban's sound system?

From: John Cowan <[email-masked]>
Date: Sat, 27 Apr 2002 23:18:58 -0400 (EDT)

Craig scripsit:

> >1) Diphthongs ai, au, ei, oi, ia, ie, ii, io, iu, ua,
> >ue, ui, uo, uu are all allowed but not eu, ou. Why?
> 
> This one weirds me out, too.

English-speakers (and they make up a good part of the world) have
trouble keeping "o" and "ou" distinct, and pronouncing "eu" at all.

> >3) Why is voicing used for all stops and fricatives
> >except x?
> 
> Because somebody went a little crazy. This is discussed on the Wiki. We want
> our gh sound!

The original sounds were paired; /x/ is a later addition. There was
no demand for /G/ and we didn't add it.

> >4) Why are there so many gaps in the phoneme chart?
> >--the labial order has two stops (p/b), two fricatives
> >(f/v) and a nasal (m), the dentalveolar order has also
> >two stops (t/d), two fricatives (s/z) and a nasal (n),
> >but then the alveolopalatal order has only two
> >fricatives (c/j) and the velar order only two stops (k/g)
> >and one fricative (x)--

Alveopalatal stops are very rare. Affricates are well-known and
used in Lojban, but are considered two-phoneme sequences.

> >6) Why, on the other hand, doesn't it use /N/, which
> >is a very frequent phoneme of Chinese and appears also
> >in English and Hindi?
> 
> Just a guess: no convinient grapheme. If so, quite illogical.

Lojban treats [N] as a variant of /n/.

-- 
John Cowan <[email-masked]> http://www.reutershealth.com
I amar prestar aen, han mathon ne nen, http://www.ccil.org/~cowan
han mathon ne chae, a han noston ne 'wilith. --Galadriel, _LOTR:FOTR_