We made a breakthrough today with the third phoneme. God, eleven months of research and we have one, ONE, recognized sound. “‘Wai” or to be more exact in this case “‘wai” (note the leading accent) and always placed at the end of the word.
At first glance it obviously seems a great deal of work for very little return but the significance of actually translating a possessive as our first phoneme is beyond immeasurable for our future work. The very existence of possessives in a cultural language suggest so much more advancement and this in a culture that predates the Jiahu symbols of the seventh millenium B.C. by almost 20,000 years!!!
We are ecstatic to say the least.
On a side note, the Chancellor attempted to call me yet again. Sigh. I have neglected most of my regular academic duties to a fault (although I haven’t heard the students complain yet.) Perhaps it may be time to dust off the old resume.
No, perhaps a week off from the lab. Celebrate in style. A nice dinner at Palomino’s and then maybe dancing. It’d be good to let my hair down a bit. My dreams keep telling me that anyway.
SC