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Extreme Consonant Clusters In Armenian


nairi

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do you notice how many of these words are (don't know the term) made up of the sounds that that actions make?

 

here is an interesting word. as far as i know it is the only word in Armenian that has triple letter in it.

 

կկկոցեմ [kkkotsem], meaning կթարթեմ [ktartem]

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do you notice how many of these words are (don't know the term) made up of the sounds that that actions make?

Yes :) They're called onomatopoeias (bnadzaynakan bar) :) And there is another pattern too. The max amount of consonants at the beginning of a word is usually 6. Those above 6 are merely a repetition of the first 3 or 4 consonants.

 

Another interesting feature is that inside words, the max usually seems to be 3, unless it's a prefix followed by the root word, like ankrkneli.

 

Then what about syllables? How many consonants can there be in one syllable before having to be "broken" by a vowel?

 

Qstmnecucich

&mrtkel

Mshtnjenavor

Hrmshtkel

 

Can we push the limits of the standard?

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All of these is not that difficult really. Those of you who are familiar with Polish and Lithuenian, know what I mean. I dated for a short time a girl from Lithuania and I couldn't pronounce her last name despite the tremendous efforts on my part. :)

This is all in fun so I won't rain on the parade. Keep the examples coming.

Gams, you read my mind. In fact I was searching to bring some examples from Polish. Just as TK is right as well, all of those consonants are pronounced in Armenian, perhaps with a silent @. While in other languages clusters are pronounced as anotherr consonant, look at TKs nickname KN pronounced as N? Even more as in Polish sometimes it will take a cluster of up to 4 consonants as czsc to produce the sound of Ch as in Czjajkowski(Chaikovski). Even simpler than that, look how many clusters/diphthongs there are in the English language.

How do spell FISH?

GHOTI!

Let's see how many can decipher it.

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So how many consonants max can there be in a syllable? :)

 

Also, can we break the law of clusters? For instance, there are no words beginning with lb or rt. We can say lplpal, but not lblbal. Why? (Sonority Hierarchy?)

 

And what exactly is the "natural" law of the hidden @? When do we have to insert it and when not? For instance, if you were to break up any of the above words, where would you insert a @? (btw, it's not a real shwa /@/, but sounds almost like it :)).

 

If I'm right, Bert Vaux did a whole research on just this topic. Unfortunately I haven't had a chance to study it in detail. But even without extensive research (and he has been criticized), can we find some basic patterns and "laws" ourselves? And once we know them, can we break or expand them?

 

Would a word like: lbrstal be possible in Armenian? Or Kdtpgmfqsel? Or does that go against natural laws? If so, why?

 

As for Ghoti, I'll let the non-English language students guess :)

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Would a word like: lbrstal be possible in Armenian? Or Kdtpgmfqsel? Or does that go against natural laws? If so, why?

 

As for Ghoti, I'll let the non-English language students guess :)

Nairchik, I'm not even going to try. This time I might cause serious physical injury to my tonque. :)

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Nairchik, I'm not even going to try. This time I might cause serious physical injury to my tonque. :)

And that's probably the main reason why every linguistic system (language if you will) is limited: words have to be pronounceable within that system!!

 

So here's a puzzle for those who like it so much :)

 

How many of these words are or could potentially be Armenian as we know it today? Hint: don't think, just feel.

 

Khlnkot

Khlmkot

Khlmpskot

Khlntroc

Lpstvel

Lprtskvel

Lmncnel

Lmntstkvel

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  • 2 months later...

Thank you Skit for reminding me that I had this thread to tend :)

 

Anyway, I'm not sure if any of you figured it out, but I don't know the answer :P However, I would guess that those above 6 consonants don't fit in the Armenian pronounciation system as we know it. They're simply too exhausting to pronounce.

 

The following might help to unravel the mystery of the Armenian consonant cluster a bit :)

 

From: Grammaire D'Armenien Oriental -- M. Minassian

 

Although linguists haven't come to an agreement as to when and where exactly the shwa /@/ is pronounced, there are four generalizations.

 

1. Preceding certain initial consonants

 

The following list does not apply to Russian loan words:

 

zb- : zbaghvel (pr. @zbaghvel)

zg- : zgal

sht- : shtapel

st- (aspirated /t/) : stapvel

sk- : sksel

sp- : spasel

st- : stanal

sp- (aspirated /p/) : spopel

sq- : sqancheli

 

This shwa is only pronounced if the vowel following the cluster is not elided. So stel is pronounced /s@tel/ since the verb is derived from sut.

 

2. Between adjacent consonants at the beginning of a word

 

C = consonant

V = vowel

- = separates syllables

 

a. Two adjacent consonants:

 

Pronounced: C@ - CV : gdal /g@ - dal/

 

b. Three adjacent consonants:

 

Pronounced:

 

(i) C@C - CV : brnel /b@r - nel/

(ii) C@ - C@ - CV : kh&&el /kh@ - &@ - &el/

 

c. Four adjacent consonants:

 

(i) C@ - C@C - CV : mkrtel /m@ - k@r - tel/

(ii) C@C - C@ - CV : mtcnel /m@t - c@ - nel/

 

d. Five adjacent consonants:

 

(i) C@C - C@C - CV : grgrvel /g@r - g@r - vel/

(ii) C@ - C@CC - CV : &mrtkel /&@ - m@rt - kel/

 

e. Six adjacent consonants:

 

(i) C@C - C@C - C@ - CV : hrmshtkel /h@r - m@sh - t@ - kel/

(ii) C@CC - C@C - CV : zngzngoc /z@ng - z@n - goc/

 

3. Between medial consonants

 

a. Two adjacent consonants:

 

There is no shwa since they usually break into two syllables: karmir /kar - mir/

 

b. Three adjacent consonants:

 

(i) 1st syllable - C@ - CV : karktel /kar - k@ - tel/

(ii) 1st syl - C@C - CV : patrvak /pa - t@r - vak/

 

c. Four adjacent consonants:

 

These are usually either derived or compound words, e.g. ankrkneli.

 

4. Between two final consonants

 

Only in these few limited cases. All other cases do not pronounce the shwa.

 

a. The possessive article, e.g. -s, -d

 

tuns /tu - n@s/ (my house)

 

But also: verjers /ver - je - r@s/ (lately)

 

b. Where -s is not an article

 

yevs /ye - v@s/

deryevs

terevs

 

c.

 

ayzhm /ay - zh@m/

@st aysm

@st aynm

 

d.

 

anhimn /an - hi - m@n/

omn

 

e. When the word ends in /gh, r, r'/

 

arkgh /ar - k@gh/

poqr /po - q@r/

gampr' /gam - p@r'/

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  • 4 months later...
  • 2 years later...
shntrkel - to sleep

Շնթռկել՝ պառկել շմերի նման, քնել

Շնթռկել բառը վիրաւորական ձևով է գործ ածվում, օր.՝ «Ոչիփուչը շնթռկել է», այսպես են արտահայտվում մեկի մասին որի հանդեպ հարգանք չկա, իսկ եթփ շնորհքով պետք է արտահայտվել ապա՝ «նա քնել է» ձևն են օգտագործում:

vartahoor

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Plplan

Tnkvel

Lghr&vel

Lkrtvats

Mkrtvel

Trtnjuk

Klmndrik

Khndmndal

Feel free to add :)

ՊլպլանPlplan

ՏնկվելTnkvel

Լղրվել Lghr&vel

Լկստված Lkstvats

Մկրտվել Mkrtvel

Տրտնջուք Trtnjuk

Klmndrik ?

Խնդմնդալ Khndmndal

Լկստված

Edited by vartahoor
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