Created: 25 January 1999
Modified: 20 January 2006

Laves phonetics

Note: IPA and some other symbols on this page are displayed as small GIFs.

Suggested transcription conventions

These keyboarding conventions have been developed by Barry Alpher in studying the Athima notes.
 
transcription conventions
keyboard Laves’ handwriting
r (glide) printed lc "r"
rr (flap) script lc "r", 
u small uc "u"
e lc epsilon
v shwa symbol, 
: (length) .  single raised postcript dot
dj dj
ny nj
ng engma, 
th subscripted (dental) "t"
dh subscripted (dental) "d"
d2 "d" with a line through the loop
nggy nggj, as in Athima wuinggjinba ‘red kangaroo’, poss. /nyg/

Laves' notes on transcription

In his first notebook (August 1929), Laves has 9 pages of notes (numbered 92 to 100 in AIATSIS MS 2188) which Laves apparently made at Sydney from a booklet
Phonetic transcription and transliteration : proposals of the Copenhagen conference, April 1925.
Oxford : Clarendon Press, 1926.

His notes include notations for vowel length, stress, tone ("not . like Sapir"), syllabic & non-syllabic, voice & voiceless, nasalization, labialization, various series of consonants

Laves' notes on orthography

Laves stayed 6-8 March 1931 at the Grosvenor Hotel, Adelaide, on his way by train from Perth to Sydney
[information from Prof. I McBryde from Laves' receipts].
In Adelaide Laves consulted the Reuther mss.and made brief notes including:
Phonetics are not too
bad although the distinction
I object  to    ( r = r
           ( rr = ?
= ng
Laves made a further note after meeting Norman B Tindale:
Phonetic discussion with
Professor Ross-Herbert?
& Mr. Tyndale
Prof. is classically trained
& also interested in Provence
phonetics. Pretty bad
dj as in judge _ !
needs wholesale remodelling.
Leaving a copy of my
phonetic schema with
them and have discussed
phonetics at length with
Tyndale.  Curious how
G.L. should speak so
authoritatively! vielleicht
ein wenig zu fest aufgetreten*
but no use in wasting
time on endless arguments
à la standard gauge.
Laves notebook 2.27
"25 February 1931 - / Albany / Adelaide / Sydney"
? a lower-case script r; these pair of r's are in Tindale's chart
? this has to be Prof. JA Fitz-Herbert, Professor of Classics 1928-1957 at University of Adelaide
† a tailed-z, as in azure
* perhaps came on too strong [translation provided by LA Hercus]

Tindale's chart of "Gerhardt Lavis's Phonetic System"

Cf. NB Tindale note on Laves


Laves page

© 1999

 URL: http://www.anu.edu.au/linguistics/nash/aust/laves/phonetics.html