Initial Position

All vowels may appear in initial position in both ST and LT, but there is one major difference between LT and ST in that high short vowels (É i and Ë u) when followed by a single consonant and the vowel Ç a, are replaced by Í e and Ð o respectively. I.e., the high vowels are lowered to mid-vowel position, if they occur in the first syllable. (They may be preceded by a consonant, but are not required to be.) This means that there are no words in ST that now begin with short high vowels followed by a single consonant and the vowel Ç a or Ï ai (which in ST usually is replaced by Í e).

• LT ɹ£ itam --> ͹£ edam `place'
• LT ˹£ä it utampu --> й£ä odambu `body'
• LT ÉÙÁ ilai --> Í×Á ele `leaf'
• ÞÃÿÙ» ku= to0pt.25ex ##= by .25ex antai --> ×´ÔÃÿ×» ko= to0pt.25ex ##= by .25ex ande
• ¼ÕÙÆ ninai --> ×¼×Æ nene `think'

Note that in these forms, LT final Ï ai's all become Í e.