Vadi: Difference between revisions

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===Phonotactics===

~~Early work on~~ Vadi ~~concluded that~~ the ~~language~~ was a CV ~~language~~, with ~~the exception that~~ final syllables ~~may be CVC, provided the final consonant was the alveolar nasal /n/~~. ~~Schumann's work was a continuation~~ of ~~this earlier work~~. ~~This viewpoint was to a large extent due to the paucity of materials before the Kalapái Scriptum was discovered.~~

Before the Kalapái Scriptum was discovered, little was known of Vadi phonotactics. The spelling in the Aħħur texts was consistently CV, with CVn allowed in final syllables. The spelling yielded no discernible evidence of sandhi processes, if anything it suggested that Vadi phonotactics were quite uncomplicated.

The excellent condition of the texts from the Scriptum were a veritable gold mine for understanding Vadi phonology and phonotactics. Tashunka, who was working on Minhast dialectology at the time of the discovery of the Scriptum, was among the first scholars to examine the texts. He immediately realized the spelling anomalies and other unorthodox usage of the ''Širkattarnaft'' characters conveyed a more complex picture than that of previous work. He posited that either the phoneme /β/ or /v/ was part of the phonemic inventory of Vadi, based on the digraph <bi><f> found in the Scriptum's texts, which coincided with the alternation of <ba> and <wa> in the Aħħur texts. So while the Aħħur texts' spelling for "Vadi" alternated erratically between <ba><di> or <wa><di>, the texts from the Scriptum consistently spelled "Vadi" as <bi><f><'a><di>. Tashunka had to return to his work on Minhast dialectology, so work on Vadi phonotactics did not proceed much further until Iyyaħmi took up where Tashunka left off.

The excellent condition of the texts from the Scriptum were a veritable gold mine for understanding Vadi phonology and phonotactics and quickly dispelled earlier views that Vadi phonotactics were simple. Rather, Vadi phonotactics were far more complex than earlier thought. Moreover, the phonemic inventory was underestimated.

Tashunka, who was working on Minhast dialectology at the time of the discovery of the Scriptum, was among the first scholars to examine the texts. He immediately realized the spelling anomalies and other unorthodox usage of the ''Širkattarnaft'' characters conveyed a more complex picture than that of previous work. He posited that either the phoneme /β/ or /v/ was part of the phonemic inventory of Vadi, based on the digraph <bi><f> found in the Scriptum's texts, which coincided with the alternation of <ba> and <wa> in the Aħħur texts. So while the Aħħur texts' spelling for "Vadi" alternated erratically between <ba><di> or <wa><di>, the texts from the Scriptum consistently spelled "Vadi" as <bi><f><'a><di>. Tashunka had to return to his work on Minhast dialectology, so work on Vadi phonotactics did not proceed much further until Iyyaħmi took up where Tashunka left off.

Iyyaħmi's discovery of consonantal mutations reminiscent of the Celtic languages created much controversy in the Vadist community. In time, after presenting statistical frequency distributions of the occurrence of certain spelling patterns throughout the Scriptum's corpora, his views gained credence. Today, the consensus of Vadists is that mutations and other complex sandhi processes were an important feature of the language.

@@ Line 188: / Line 188: @@
 ===Phonotactics===
-Early work on Vadi concluded that the language was a CV language, with the exception that final syllables may be CVC, provided the final consonant was the alveolar nasal /n/.  Schumann's work was a continuation of this earlier work.  This viewpoint was to a large extent due to the paucity of materials before the Kalapái Scriptum was discovered.
+Before the Kalapái Scriptum was discovered, little was known of Vadi phonotactics.  The spelling in the Aħħur texts was consistently CV, with CVn allowed in final syllables.  The spelling yielded no discernible evidence of sandhi processes, if anything it suggested that Vadi phonotactics were quite uncomplicated.
-The excellent condition of the texts from the Scriptum were a veritable gold mine for understanding Vadi phonology and phonotactics.  Tashunka, who was working on Minhast dialectology at the time of the discovery of the Scriptum, was among the first scholars to examine the texts.  He immediately realized the spelling anomalies and other unorthodox usage of the ''Širkattarnaft'' characters conveyed a more complex picture than that of previous work.  He posited that either the phoneme /β/ or /v/ was part of the phonemic inventory of Vadi, based on the digraph <bi><f> found in the Scriptum's texts, which coincided with the alternation of <ba> and <wa> in the Aħħur texts.  So while the Aħħur texts' spelling for "Vadi" alternated erratically between <ba><di> or <wa><di>, the texts from the Scriptum consistently spelled "Vadi" as <bi><f><'a><di>.  Tashunka had to return to his work on Minhast dialectology, so work on Vadi phonotactics did not proceed much further until Iyyaħmi took up where Tashunka left off.
+The excellent condition of the texts from the Scriptum were a veritable gold mine for understanding Vadi phonology and phonotactics and quickly dispelled earlier views that Vadi phonotactics were simple.  Rather, Vadi phonotactics were far more complex than earlier thought.  Moreover, the phonemic inventory was underestimated.
+Tashunka, who was working on Minhast dialectology at the time of the discovery of the Scriptum, was among the first scholars to examine the texts.  He immediately realized the spelling anomalies and other unorthodox usage of the ''Širkattarnaft'' characters conveyed a more complex picture than that of previous work.  He posited that either the phoneme /β/ or /v/ was part of the phonemic inventory of Vadi, based on the digraph <bi><f> found in the Scriptum's texts, which coincided with the alternation of <ba> and <wa> in the Aħħur texts.  So while the Aħħur texts' spelling for "Vadi" alternated erratically between <ba><di> or <wa><di>, the texts from the Scriptum consistently spelled "Vadi" as <bi><f><'a><di>.  Tashunka had to return to his work on Minhast dialectology, so work on Vadi phonotactics did not proceed much further until Iyyaħmi took up where Tashunka left off.
 Iyyaħmi's discovery of consonantal mutations reminiscent of the Celtic languages created much controversy in the Vadist community.  In time, after presenting statistical frequency distributions of the occurrence of certain spelling patterns throughout the Scriptum's corpora, his views gained credence.  Today, the consensus of Vadists is that mutations and other complex sandhi processes were an important feature of the language.