Re: buffer vowel

[Paulo Barreto <BARRETO%VELAHF@ECCSA.TR.UNISYS.COM>]

Lojbab(?):
> True, but distinctions of only 2 central vowel sounds is not that
> uncommon.

And:
> Could you (or anyone else) give me a sample of such vowel systems &
> tell me which lgs they belong to? [...]
> I'll ask a straightforwarder question: which lgs have Lojban's 7
> vowel system (taking /%/ to be centred on central [I-])?

How about Rumanian? I think the Rumanian system is an answer to both
questions: there is a central middle vowel /@/, written as an "a" with
a brachia (sometimes with a circumflex), and a central top vowel /+/,
written as an "i" with circumflex. The other vowels are /a/, /e/, /i/,
/o/, /u/ (I'm not sure if /E/ and /O/ are also present, but the pairs
/e/ and /E/, and /o/ and /O/ constitute accepted variants of Lojban
"e" and "o", anyway).

BTW, the Tapirape language (a brazilian indian language) uses the same
six vowels as Lojban, though they can be nasalized depending on the
consonantal context (e.g. konomiryma /k~on~om~i'r~@ma/, meaning
"le pu'o verba", "one about-to-be a child", with nasalized vowels due
to the neighboring nasal consonants).

co'o mi'e paulos.

    Paulo S. L. M. Barreto  --  Software Analyst  --  Unisys Brazil
    Standard disclaimer applies ("I do not speak for Unisys", etc.)
                       e'osai ko sarji la lojban.