Sequential word repetitions in the VMS

[Emma May Smith]

A problem with Emma's proposal is, in my opinion, that certain sounds of the language mostly emerge as sandhi effects, making them rare within the core phoneme inventory of the language. The effect of this would be a similar limitation of the actual phonemes of the language, by making some sounds either rare or limited to sandhi effects.

There would certainly be some limitations of sounds, but I think that it only applies to certain positions in words. For example, initial [y] is not so common elsewhere as at line start, though final [y] is always common. Likewise, initial [s] would be strongly linked to line start, but final [s] is more widely spread. The only character which would be removed from the core set is [q], as far as I can tell (though Marco has provided evidence that my original theory about [q] is wrong).