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From: kriha_p@actrix.gen.nz (Paul J. Kriha)
Subject: Vowelless story
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Date: Fri, 14 Apr 1995 14:34:03 GMT
References: <3k0rl6$mq7@netnews.upenn.edu> <AARS9PlG74@mlan.msk.ru> <D5upHE.G23@cogsci.ed.ac.uk> <1995Mar31.165552.19331@relay.acadiau.ca> <D6Br3p.2ML@ecf.toronto.edu> <3mkv42$kqh@kaiwan.kaiwan.com>
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In article <3mkv42$kqh@kaiwan.kaiwan.com>,
   schoner@kaiwan.com (Jeff Schoner) wrote:
>In article <D6Br3p.2ML@ecf.toronto.edu>, wongth@ecf.toronto.edu says...
>>
>>In article <1995Mar31.165552.19331@relay.acadiau.ca>,
>>Alan McKay <alan@dragon.acadiau.ca> wrote:
>>>My Russian prof in Germany (from Czech Republic) once gave us a whole
>>>Czech sentence that has no vowels, as such.  I can't remember what
>>>it was in Czech, but I know that it means something like:
>>>"Stick your finger down your throat"
>>>
>>>Apparantly when certain consonants appear together in Czech, they
>>>imply half-vowels, and thus eliminate the need to write a vowel.
>>>
>>>Can anyone give us this Czech sentence?
>>>
>>>-- 
>>"Strc^ prst v krk", where c^ is a 'c' with a hatchek (inverted macron), 
>>pronounced like English 'ch'; and 'v' is in this case pronounced like the 
>>English 'f'.  I don't think thcertain consonants 'imply vowels';
>>the consonants /r/, /l/ can in Cz be _used_ as vowels, that is syllabic
>>liquids.  They did, however, imply vowels in Old Church Slavic and even
>>early Cz, where they were pronounced with a vocalic accompaniment (non-
>>phonemic):  Cz vlk = O.C.S. vl@k@, where @ is probably similar to the vowel
>>in Eng 'book' (vlk = Greek lukos = Lat lupus < IE *wlkwos, which again had
>>a syllabic liquid).  An interesting situation exists in certain Moravian
>>dialects, which distinguish both length and palatalization among the 
syllabic
>>liquids.
>
>I've heard from a past chemistry professor (his wife was Czech) that there is 
a Czech 
>tounge twister.

That's not very surprising, most languages have some.

>A long sentence without any vowels.  Anybody know it?

Well, there it is just at the beginning of the above paragraph ;-)

I must disappoint you though, "Strc^ prst skrz krk" isn't a tongue
twister, it's easy to pronounce.  The real tongue twisters with
palatalised "r" are much more difficult.

>I think it's 
>a very interesting way to have a language.  I mean: why waste a letter for a 
vowel 
>when you don't really need one?

What do you mean?  The letters that are there represent the sounds 
that are there and vice versa. :-)  Nothing is wasted, nothing is saved :-)


For everybody's amusement, a short story:
-----------------------------------------
Pln skvrn z mlh, plz^ vtrhl v tvrz Krch skrz strz^.
Trp z Brd ztvrdl.  Vlk frnkl.  Plz^ scvrnkl drn v krb.
Drn prskl: "Prsk! Prsk!" Trp zprdl drn: "Drz^....".
Drn zmlkl.  Trp krkl.
Plz^ vrhl srp v prs: "Strc^ srp z prs skrz krk!"
Krk vrhl.  Trp prchl.  Prst strhl smrk z vrb. Prsk! Prsk!
Plz^ mrkl: "Zblbls? Strc^ prst!"
etc....

Help! I need a tissue to dry my screen....


Cheers,
Paul JK


P.S.
Czech Pronunciation: 
  "r" is trilled (sustainable)
  "l" cannot be sustained, if pronounced slowly it is l+schwa
  "ch" as in Scotish loch
  "p" is unvoiced
