I decided to start with the reproductive system, not only because of its prurient interest but also because it seemed like the point of departure for… - James Alan Matisoff

Rhinoglottophilia–an affinity between the feature of nasality and the articulatory involvement of the glottis–is more prevalent than is generally realized. Although it sounds like a disease, or even a perversion, rhinoglottophilia is actually quite a benign and natural condition. It is of interest chiefly because it is not obvious why there should be such an affinity at all.

The computer will be crucial to handle the etymological information explosion of the future, but machines will never be able to do all the work for us. There will still doubtless be room for gut feelings, intuitions, temperamental quirks, and professional rivalries, even in the Computer Age. In making etymological 'judgment calls' there will never be a substitute for hands-on human experience in a given language or language family.

The South-East Asian mono-syllable often seems to be bulging at the seams with phonetic material: consonantal, vocalic, and supra-segmental.