[Spellyans] A little essay for "Penny"

[Michael Everson]

On 11 Feb 2009, at 10:40, Jon Mills wrote:

> I'm not sure what it is that you are trying to say with regard to  
> fortis and lenis consonants. It is, I believe, generally recognised  
> that Present Day English has fortis and lenis consonants.

Not phonemically. The phonemic distinction is voiceless and voiced.

> So why do you say, "It is unlikely that Dolly Pentreath or her  
> contemporaries  were speaking English or Cornish with fortis and  
> lenis consonants ..."?

I say that because I think the Brythonic system was replaced by the  
Germanic system due to intense language contact (including the  
learning of Cornish by Germanic speakers, which -- as in Mann -- is  
likely to have caused the process which led to pre-occlusion.

Michael Everson * http://www.evertype.com