Language A vs B crib?

[Emma May Smith]

Hi Julian, I haven't been doing any research lately but your post made me want to comment and speak up for my own hypothesis regarding [daiin] and [aiin].

I believe that your key observation is right: these are the same word. However, I think the reasoning is more complex than a simple difference between A and B languages. Both [aiin] and [daiin] occur in both languages and the split between them is not so clear based on this difference.

However, when we look at the beginning of sentences I feel that we find our best clue: [aiin] doesn't occur at the beginning of sentences, even in Currier B, but [daiin] does. The same pattern can be seen for words beginning with [d] and [a] as a whole: [d] is common at the beginning of lines, whereas [a] is almost absent. I believe that the environment at the beginning of a sentence can condition a change in the beginning of a word, and this is true for more characters than simply [d] and [a].

The cause is more difficult to pin down. I think it is phonetic, specifically to do with the interaction between preceding words (think of 'a box' and 'an apple' where the vowel at the beginning of the second word causes a change). I tried to work out a set of interlocking changes but could never square the circle, and now I've little time for research.

I would be happy to clarify any of my thoughts if you're interested, though I've put down some partial explanations on my blog.