This thread is doing what I wanted it to do: force me to look up a whole bunch of stuff to keep up with the discussion (my OE philology isn't that heavy on actual phonology).

The two sets of vowel harmony seem fun, but I wonder if we are going about this the wrong way. Should we build a language from intricate sound systems and add meaning later, or should we try to make a proper vocabulary and grammar and add flavor later? Because, correct me if I'm wrong, these proposed systems are flavor, not meaningful, right?