sum v initial languages several weeks ago posted query connection exceedingly frequent vowelinitial lexical items basque perhaps 50 native nouns adjectives v initial exclude verbs since ancient verbs almost invariably show prefix e nonfinite forms asked whether languages apart initialdropping languages australia show comparable frequency initial vowels whether historical explanation known particularly interested hearing possible cases lenition loss initial voiceless plosives explanation proposed ancient stage basque andre martinet one respondent queried whether adequate statistical evidence assert basque case indeed unusual know evidence indeed one purposes try find whether basque really unusual commonly believed vasconists following languages cited responses polynesian proto austronesian consonant system undergone considerable attrition polynesian languages today exhibit eight twelve consonants apiece hawaiian proto polynesian h categorically lost v initial words appear rather common could find explicit discussion impression hawaiian texts could find proportion v initial words probably approach 40 though ready corrected nigercongo initial vowels frequent number west african languages closely related initial vowels generally appear morphological origin uncertainty whether vowels fossilized nounclass prefixes popular explanation residue derivational processes making agentive nouns verbs cross river languages nigeria nouns v initial languages virtually nouns seems clear initial vs fossilizations ancient nounclass prefixes cases derived original cv prefixes loss c least languages verb forms also v initial presence fully functional agreement markers benue congo languages generally lack distinct class adjectives benue congo languages especially bantu languages cv prefixes instead augmented morphological reasons yield vcv prefixes producing frequent initial vowels ancient nounclass prefixes appear recoverable varying extents many niger congo languages especially bantu importantly original semantic values prefixes often determined though always case kwa language bini edo unusual every single noun must begin vowel even c initial loans english vowels prefixed apparently purely morphemestructure reasons yoruba noteworthy around 45 v initial words even though four ten vowels appear initially catalan rough estimate suggests catalan words 32 v initial rather one might expect language 7 vowels 22 consonants suspect typically found romance languages know particular reason arawan amazonia many languages frequent v initial words suggested established derive loss initial glottals least languages v initial words differ c initial words first group may never bear stress first syllable berber masculine gender nouns regularly take prefix feminine nouns take ta muskogean vc prefixes v initial words cv prefixes c initial words clear means overall siouxan seem undergone heavy reduction initials entirely unlike australian initialdropping languages results complex siouxan languages particularly show lenition initial p h f h possibly also cases h h germanic change k h x h well attested rule exclusively wordinitial position though sometimes syllableinitial position lenition voiceless plosives generally widespread germanic basis admittedly unscientific sample would therefore suggest following conclusions 1 languages 40 nouns v initial exceedingly rare appear common majority examples come niger congo 2 niger congo initial vowels derive chiefly morphological sources probably entirely apart reduction cv prefixes v languages fossilized nounclass prefixes appear widely accepted origin cases prefixes appear certain cases semantic value prefixes still recoverable morphological processes may responsible cases 3 outside niger congo appears little evidence morphological origins initial vowels loss initial consonants usually invoked consonants invoked unsurprisingly likely glottals oral obstruents 4 except perhaps siouxan little evidence systematic loss initial voiceless plosives happened basque still nt know american longranger john bengtson years defending fossilized nounclass prefix view basque initial vowels reasons seems trace semantic correlations initial vowels fact frequency five basque vowels appears initially elsewhere e u money therefore still systematic loss certain initial consonants surprised ever pay get collect thanks maile rehbock bruce connell max wheeler dan everett john koontz david stampe mark liberman herbert stahlke andrew carstairs mccarthy helpful responses larry trask cogs university sussex brighton bn1 9qh england larryt cogs susx ac uk