A little refinement to the Romance-logic sketch
In the first Romance-logic sketch, I wrote:
><i u> represent both /i u/ and /j w/. In pragmatic terms, the rules are:
- If <i u> can be pronounced as /j w/, then that is their pronunciation.
- Two adjacent <i u>'s, when they cannot be both consonants, give a /CV/ (Consonant-Vowel) pronunciation (/ju/, /ji/, /wu/, /wi/).
- /i u/ can be "forced" by the use of an acute, <í ú>, where plain <i u> would otherwise give /j w/.
I think things can be made less diacritic-heavy by changing slightly rule #2 to:
>2. Two adjacent <i u>'s, when they cannot be both consonants, give
(2-a) a /CV/ (Consonant-Vowel) pronunciation (/ju/, /ji/, /wu/, /wi/) before a consonant,
(2-b) a /VC/ (Consonant-Vowel) pronunciation (/iw/, /ij/, /uw/, /uj/) before a vowel.
So, the <cúuandu> noticed by u/Poligma2023 would become just... <cuuandu> /kuwa-/, with no diacritic needed.
<úia>, similarly, would become just <uia> /uja/.
The /ij-/ root, whether conserved for its original function or used for a different meaning, would give an <-iia> ending instead of an unpleasant <-íia>.
Other examples of words losing the diacritic:
- <dúiemo> → <duiemo> /duje-/ 'half' (if using this proposed root)
- <cúuante> → <cuuante> /kuwa-/ 'how much(?)'
- <qvíuanda> → <qviuanda> /kiwa-/ 'this moment'
- <qvíiannu> → <qviiannu> /kija-/ '[in] this year'
- <dúianna> → <duianna> /duja-/ 'biennium'
- <tríianna> → <triianna> /trija-/ 'triennium'
What do you think?
(More complex cases, like three or more adjacent <i u>'s, etc., are still to be investigated).