Re: MR: Wlonk

[edh@ascc01.ascc.lucent.com (Ed Hopkins)]

Poster: edh@ascc01.ascc.lucent.com (Ed Hopkins)

Evan da Collaureo:
> WARNING! DANGER! Linguistic discussion ahead!

> Alfredo:
> > I believe that "w" is a member in good standing of the labial family,
> > on the bilabial side of the family (along with "b" and "p").

Evan:
> Technically, W as used in modern English is a semivowel. It would be
> impractical at best to have WL as the first two letters of a word. I
> suppose one could classify W as a liquid (like L and R), but the same
> problems apply even more strictly to combining two liquid consonants.
>
> However, what we're dealing with here is from Middle English. And then, in
> some places we find W pronounced as a bilabial fricative, much like the
> Spanish do with B and V between vowels these days. (Say Vvvv but take your
> teeth away from your lip.) That should be no problem combining with L.

Does this mean that there's very little difference in the sounds of
the Catalonian name "Tirant lo Blanc" and a (hypothetical) Middle English
name "Tiront low Wlonk" ?

(BTW, If Old English is called Ango-Saxon, shouldn't Middle English be
called Anglo-Norman?)

> Corun:
> > This is a very good question. I suppose it depends entirely on the language
> > you're speaking. You see, in German, w is pronounced like v...
>
> Alfredo:
> > Technically, you'd have to say, "In German, there is a letter that _looks_
> > a lot like the English letter 'w', but is pronounced like 'v'". (I think
> > it's called "vow". (In German, the abbreviation for "Volkswagen" actually
> > has _fewer_ syllables than the original word!))

Evan:
> No, the letter is "we" pronounced "veh." "Vau" pronounced "fow" is what
> Germans call V. The abbreviation part is true. I think I've even seen a
> "VAU WE" vanity plate on a Beetle once.

I heard of the following billed as a "Thirty-Second Geek Test":
a VW Beetle with a vanity plate that says, "FEATURE".

But I digress.

I've been entertaining the notion of writing a monthly feature for
whatever chronicler might be interested, presenting various obsolete
words from the Period to introduce into Modern Atlantian.  (The
tentative title is "Paleologisms").  Would this be a Good Idea at all?
If so, would it be a Good Idea to avoid words that are as challanging
to the modern tongue as "wlonk" is?

-- Alfredo
 
Alfredo el Bufon
Elvegast, Windmaster's Hill, Atlantia
edh@ascc01.ascc.lucent.com
______________________________________

Safe archery -- don't nock it till you've tried it.

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