Yivrian phonology - Revision history

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[[Category:Yivriindi]] [[Category:Yivrian language]]


= Consonants =


== Phoneme set and standard orthography ==

The following chart gives all of the consonant phonemes in Praseo in the linguistic orthography, together with their core phonetic values.

{|
!
! Labial
! Dental
! Retroflex
! Palatal
! Velar
|-
| ''Voiceless stop''
| ''p'' [p]
| ''t'' [t]
|
|
| ''k'' [k]
|-
| ''Voiced stop''
| ''b'' [b]
| ''d'' [d]
|
|
| ''g'' [g]
|-
| ''Voiceless fricative''
|
| ''s'' [s]
| ''ś'' [ʂ]
| ''š'' [ɕ]
| ''h'' [x]
|-
| ''Voiced fricative''
|
| ''z'' [z]
|
|
|
|-
| ''Voiceless affricate''
|
| ''ts'' [ts]
|
| ''č'' [tɕ]
|
|-
| ''Voiced affricate''
|
|
|
| ''j'' [dʑ]
|
|-
| ''Nasal''
| ''m'' [m]
| ''n'' [n]
|
|
|
|-
| ''Liquid''
|
| ''l'' [l]
|
|
|
|-
|
|
| ''r'' [r]
|
|
|
|-
| ''Semivowel''
| ''o'' [w]
|
|
| ''y'' [j]
|
|}

The most peculiar aspect of the orthography is that the semivowel [w] is consistently rendered as ''o'', regardless of position in the word. Thus, the word ''oirde'' is [wirde], and ''taoma'' is [tawma]. The phoneme [j], on the other hand, is only spelled as ''y'' when it is a syllable onset; as the second part of a diphthong it’s spelled ''i'', giving ''yalu'' [jalu], but ''aisa'' [ajsa].


= Vowels =

Praseo has four oral vowels, three nasal vowels, and three diphthongs which can also be nasalized.

{|
!align="center"| Oral vowels
!align="center"| Nasal vowels
|-
|align="center"| i u
|align="center"|
|-
|align="center"| e
|align="center"| ẽ [ɛ̃] õ [ɔ̃]
|-
|align="center"| a
|align="center"| ã [ã]
|}


== Diphthongs ==

{|
!align="center"| Oral diphthongs
!align="center"| Nasal diphthongs
|-
|align="center"| ei [ej]
|align="center"| ẽi [ɛ̃j]
|-
|align="center"| eo [ew]
|align="center"| ẽo [ɛ̃w]
|-
|align="center"| ao [aw]
|align="center"| ão [ãw]
|}

All of the diphthongs in Praseo are falling diphthongs, and the exact quality of the second part of the diphthong is not explicitly specified. I’ve shown them above as semivowels, but the second part of ''ei'' may be as low as [ɪ], and the second part of ''ao'' may be [ɔ]. In nasalized diphthongs, the nasalization generally holds throughout the nasalized syllable.


== Stress placement ==

Praseo has a very strong word-level stress, which is predictable based on the morphology and phonology of the word. Stress in a Praseo word falls on the ''penultimate'' syllable, unless:

* The final syllable is morphologically marked as stressed (as in a few noun cases and verb forms)
* The final syllable is nasalized
* The final syllable contains a diphthong

In these cases, the final syllable is stressed.

Morphologically stressed final syllables are indicated with an acute accent on the vowel. This is the only way to distinguish between, for example, ''razi'' [ˈra.zi] (“heads (nom.pl.)”) and ''razí'' [raˈzi] (“head (construct sg.)”). Other cases in which the final syllable is stressed are not marked, since the final stress can be inferred from the nasalization of the final vowel or the presence of a diphthong.

Because Praseo stress is so regular, it is not usually indicated in my phonetic transcriptions.


= Book orthography =

The orthography given above is used for precise transliterations of Praseo, and is used throughout this site and in the Praseo lexicon. However, a slightly different orthography is used for names and bits of text which occur in ''Storm Bride'' and other books featuring the Praseo language. (See [[Why I Use a Book Orthography]].)

For the Praseo book orthography, the following substitutions are made:

{|
!align="center"| Standard orthography
!align="center"| Book orthography
|-
|align="center"| ś
|align="center"| s
|-
|align="center"| š
|align="center"| sh
|-
|align="center"| č
|align="center"| ch
|-
|align="center"| ẽ
|align="center"| e
|-
|align="center"| ã
|align="center"| a
|-
|align="center"| õ
|align="center"| o
|}

As a consequence of these substitutions, there are no diacritics found in the book orthography of Praseo: nasal vowels are not distinguished from oral vowels, and the phonemes ''s'' [s] and ''ś'' [ʂ] are not distinguished.


= Allophonic processes =


== Nasal place assimilation ==

Sound changes early in the history of Praseo resulted in most coda nasals being lost and converted to nasalization on the preceding vowel. However, when the coda nasal was immediately followed by an obstruent (stop or fricative), the nasal is retained in pronunciation and orthography, and is pronounced at the same place of articulation as the following stop. These homoorganic stops are always written with ''n'' except when followed by a labial, in which case they are written with ''m''.

{|
!align="center"| Orthography
!align="center"| Pronunciation
|-
|align="center"| mb
|align="center"| [mb]
|-
|align="center"| nd
|align="center"| [nd]
|-
|align="center"| nś
|align="center"| [ɳʂ]
|-
|align="center"| nj
|align="center"| [ɲʑ]
|-
|align="center"| ng
|align="center"| [ŋg]
|}

Vowels preceding such syllable-final nasals are still nasalized, but they are written without the tilde.


== Nasal vowel spreading ==

Vowel nasalization spreads to the left in Praseo until it meets a voiceless obstruent or a word boundary. Thus a word with a final nasal vowel which does not contain a voiceless obstruent, the ''entire'' word may be nasalized. As suggested by the vowel chart above, vowels in Praseo are lowered under nasalization: ''i'' and ''e'' become ''ẽ'', and ''u'' becomes ''õ''. This applies to allophonically nasalized vowels as well as underlying nasalized vowels; however, allophonically nasalized ''i'' and ''u'' are generally spelled using the underlying vowel, if it can be recovered.

{|
!align="center"| Orthography
!align="center"| Pronunciation
! Remarks
|-
|align="center"| ezande
|align="center"| [ɛ̃zãnde]
| No vowels are written with the tilde; nasalization of preceding vowels is implied by the ''n''.
|-
|align="center"| zulõ
|align="center"| [zɔ̃lɔ̃]
| Nasalization spreads to first ''u'', pronounced [ɔ̃], but the spelling from the root form ''zulu'' is maintained.
|-
|align="center"| urhõ
|align="center"| [urxɔ̃]
| Initial ''u'' is not nasalized, as the voiceless obstruent ''h'' blocks further nasalization.
|}


== Coronal place assimilation ==

Coronal obstruents (dental, retroflex, and palatal) assimilate for place across intervening vowels. This place assimilation spreads leftward across vocoids, but stops when interrupted by a non-assimilating segment such as a non-coronal or a coronal liquid (''l'' or ''r'').

A word such as ''niśa'' is pronounced [ɳiʂa], with the initial ''n'' assimilated to a retroflex in accordance with the following ''ś''. This can apply to multiple segments across multiple syllables: the word ''dusiśa'' is [ɖuʂiʂa], with all three coronal obstruents pronounced as retroflex. Note, however, that this is a form of the word ''dusu'', which in its root form reveals that the underlying segments are non-retroflex, and the orthography reflects this, marking only the last ''ś'' in the word as retroflex. More generally, since ''ś'' is the only phonemic retroflex, there is no orthographic indication of retroflexion on the stops ''t'' or ''d'', and ''s'' is only written as the retroflex ''ś'' if it is phonemically retroflex.

The palatals ''č'', ''j'', and ''š'', are also assimilated to other coronals. When the affricates ''č'' and ''j'' are assimilated to another place of articulation, they remain affricates: if an underlying ''č'' is assimilated to a dental, then it becomes ''ts'' (the affrication is lost). This can result in affricates such as [ʈʂ] and [ɖʐ] which do not otherwise occur in Praseo. However, if an underlying unaffricated stop such as ''t'' is assimilated to a palatal it becomes automatically affricated to ''č'' (a palatal affricate).

Examples:

{|
!align="center"| Orthography
!align="center"| Pronunciation
! Remarks
|-
|align="center"| dusiśa
|align="center"| [ɖuʂiʂa]
| Retroflex articulation spreads to the left from the underlying ''ś''. Orthography indicates underlying form.
|-
|align="center"| ličitsu
|align="center"| [litsitsu]
| Underlying palatal ''č'' is assimilated to [ts] from following ''ts''; affrication is preserved. Orthography indicates underlying form.
|-
|align="center"| nuči
|align="center"| [ɲutɕi]
| Underlying ''n'' is assimilated to [ɲ] from following ''č''
|}


== Voice assimilation ==

Obstruent clusters in Praseo always agree in voice, and the first element in the cluster is changed to agree in voice with the second. (This does not occur with clusters of obstruents and sonorants, however.) This occasionally generates phones which do not otherwise occur, such as the voiced retroflex spirant [ʐ], an allophone of ''ś'', or the voiced palatal fricative [ʑ], an allophone of ''š''.


== Affricate simplification ==

If an affricate occurs in a consonant cluster, it is reduced to its fricative part. The spelling of the affricate is generally unchanged in this scenario. This includes clusters with sonorants, so that ''ačru'' is pronounced [aɕru].


== Palatal absorption ==

When the finite verbal ending ''-ya'' is attached to a stem ending in a velar, the velar becomes palatalized (see below). The ''y'' of the verbal ending is often absorbed into this palatal, though in careful speech they may still be distinguished. It is always present in the orthography. Thus a work like ''ejya'' is usually pronounced simply [edʑa], but when enunciated carefully is [edʑja].


= Morphophonemic alternations =

The following alternations began as allophonic alternations in an earlier stage of Praseo, but have become morphologically conditioned following the loss of some aspects of their conditioning environment. Unlike many of the allophonic alternations above, these alternations are always reflected in the orthography.


== Palatalization ==

The velars ''k'', ''g'', and ''h'' are palatalized to ''č'', ''j'', and ''š'' when they occur at the end of a stem, and one of the following affixes is attached to the stem:

* The plural ending ''-i''
* The feminine singular ending ''-e''
* The accusative endings ''-ẽo'' and ''-ẽi''
* The finite verbal ending ''-ya''
* The participles ending ''-eo'' and ''-eśa''

Thus, we have the following forms derived from the word ''aku'' “knot”:

* aku ''knot''
* ači ''knots''
* ačẽo ''knot (acc.sg.)''
* ačya ''to tie''
* ačeo ''tying''

However, as a trap for the unwary, it is ''not'' simply the case that these velars are palatalized before any front vowel. The following front vowel affixes (among others) do ''not'' trigger palatalization:

* The instrumental plural ''-ẽi''
* The construct case endings ''-ei'' and ''-í''

So for ''aku'' the following non-palatalized forms occur:

* akẽi ''with knots (instr.pl)''
* akí ''knot (cons.sg)''

Throughout the rest of the grammar, affixes indicated whether or not they trigger palatalization when they are introduced.


== Affrication ==

The dental stops ''t'' and ''d'' at the end of a stem are affricated into ''ts'' and ''z'' (historically ''dz'', but simplified in Praseo) respectively when the following affix is one of the following:

* The plural ending ''-i''
* The accusative endings ''-ẽo'' and ''-ẽi''
* The finite verbal ending ''-ya''
* The participle ending ''-eo''

Thus, the word ''rada'' “leader, chief” has the following forms:

* rada ''leader''
* razi ''leaders''
* razẽoa ''leader (acc.sg.)''
* razya ''to lead''
* razeo ''leading''

When a given stem forms both a U-class noun and another noun in some other word class, the final consonant of the stem is affricated in like manner throughout the U-class paradigm. Thus, the stem ''rad-'' gives us both ''rada'' “leader” and ''razu'' “head (of the body)”, and the word ''razu'' uses the stem ''raz-'' in all cases and numbers. Thus you have the following forms, for contrast:

{|
! Case
! ''rada'' “leader”
! ''razu'' “head”
|-
| Acc. sg.
| razẽoa
| razẽo
|-
| Acc. pl.
| razẽoi
| razẽi
|-
| Dat. sg.
| radoa
| razú
|-
| Dat. pl.
| raduśi
| razuśi
|}

As this illustrates, the final ''z'' of the stem is preserved throughout the paradigm of ''razu'', even in those cases which do not trigger affrication of the ''d'' in the paradigm of ''rada''. This serves to distinguish the dative plural forms, which would otherwise be identical. See the full declension of ''razu'' [[Praseo%20nouns#U-Class%20Nouns|on the noun declension page]].

@@ Line 91: / Line 91: @@
 In word-final positions ''a'' is reduced to [ɐ]. The lax vowels ''i e'' don’t occur in word-final positions, nor in hiatus before another vowel; an underlying vowel of that type is always rendered as ''ii ei''. Similarly, the vowels ''o u'' tend to be higher and tenser (but of shorter duration) in word-final positions.
-There is also an exceptional vowel ''aa'' which is pronounced [a:] in contexts where the simple ''a'' would be pronounced [ɐ]. This quasi-phonemic long vowel is found almost exclusively as a verb ending (with a few rare instances in other contexts), but never in stems, and it is not productive (ie. new words with ''aa'' are never coined, not even in loan words).
+There is also an exceptional vowel ''aa'' which is pronounced [a:] in contexts where the simple ''a'' would be pronounced [ɐ]. This quasi-phonemic long vowel is found almost exclusively as a verb ending or in inflected nominal forms (with a few rare instances in other contexts), but never in stems, and it is not productive (ie. new words with ''aa'' are never coined, not even in loan words).
 <span id="diphthongs"></span>
@@ Line 139: / Line 139: @@
 |}
-Yivrian prefers that stressed syllables always be heavy. In the case of an intrinsically heavy vowel, no change is required, but when the stressed vowel is one of ''i e'' followed by a single consonant, that consonant is geminated to ensure that the stressed syllable is heavy.
+Yivrian prefers that stressed syllables always be heavy. In the case of an intrinsically heavy vowel, no change is required, but when the stressed vowel is one of ''i e'' followed by a single consonant, that consonant is geminated to ensure that the stressed syllable is heavy. In the romanization, this is represented by
 {|
@@ Line 153: / Line 153: @@
 As you can see above, the usual romanization uses a double consonant in this case to indicate this phonetic gemination. This double consonant is preserved (for the sanity of the reader) even in derived words where the stress has moved to a different syllable. For example, the word ''ennura'' is spelled with ''nn'' just like its root word ''enna'', even though gemination is only observed in the latter.

@@ Line 82: / Line 82: @@
 == Oral vowels ==
-<pre>  i          u
+<pre>  i        u
-    ɪ
+   ɪ
-     e      o
+    e      o
-      ɛ
+     ɛ
-          a</pre>
+         a</pre>
 In the romanization, the vowels [i e] are spelled ''ii ei'', while the corresponding lax vowels [ɪ ɛ] are spelled ''i e''.

@@ Line 82: / Line 82: @@
 == Oral vowels ==
-<pre>  i _ii_    u
+<pre>  i          u
-     ɪ _i_
+     ɪ
-   e _ei_   o
+     e      o
-    ɛ _e_
+      ɛ
            a</pre>
 In word-final positions ''a'' is reduced to [ɐ]. The lax vowels ''i e'' don’t occur in word-final positions, nor in hiatus before another vowel; an underlying vowel of that type is always rendered as ''ii ei''. Similarly, the vowels ''o u'' tend to be higher and tenser (but of shorter duration) in word-final positions.
 <span id="diphthongs"></span>
@@ Line 100: / Line 104: @@
 * The distinction between ''i''/''ii'' and ''e''/''ei'' is neutralized word-finally and in hiatus before another vowel. In those positions, only the tense vowels [i e] occur.
 * For the purposes of determining syllable weight (see below), the vowels ''ii'' and ''ei'' are considered “heavy”.
 <span id="prosody-and-word-stress"></span>

@@ Line 4: / Line 4: @@
 = Consonants =
-<span id="phoneme-set-and-standard-orthography"></span>
+<span id="consonants-1"></span>
-== Phoneme set and standard orthography ==
+== Consonants ==
 The following chart gives all of the consonant phonemes in Yivrian in the linguistic orthography, together with their core phonetic values.
@@ Line 82: / Line 82: @@
 == Oral vowels ==
-i ''ii'' u ɪ ''i'' e ''ei'' o ɛ ''e'' a
+<pre>  i _ii_    u
+    ɪ _i_
 In word-final positions ''a'' is reduced to [ɐ]. The lax vowels ''i e'' don’t occur in word-final positions, nor in hiatus before another vowel; an underlying vowel of that type is always rendered as ''ii ei''. Similarly, the vowels ''o u'' tend to be higher and tenser (but of shorter duration) in word-final positions.
@@ Line 89: / Line 92: @@
 == Diphthongs ==
-ai [aj] oi [oj] ui [uj]
+<pre> ai [aj]
+ oi [oj]
 While the tables above show the usual phonetic realization of the Yivrian vowels, there is reason to regard the vowels ''ii'' [i] and ''ei'' [e] as phonological diphthongs. In particular, the following similarities may be observed between the long vowels ''ii'' and ''ei'' and the diphthongs:

@@ Line 9: / Line 9: @@
 The following chart gives all of the consonant phonemes in Yivrian in the linguistic orthography, together with their core phonetic values.
-<pre>                    Labial      Interdental     Dental      Palatal     Velar
+<pre>                    Labial      Interdental     Dental      Palatal     Velar</pre>
-                    ------      ----------      ------      -------     -----</pre>
 ''Voiceless stop'' ''p'' [p] ''t'' [t] ''k'' [k] ''Voiced stop'' ''b'' [b] ''d'' [d] ''g'' [g] ''Voiceless fricative'' ''f'' [f] ''th'' [θ] ''s'' [s] ''h'' [x] ''Voiced fricative'' ''v'' [v] ''Nasal'' ''m'' [m] ''n'' [n] ''Liquid'' ''l'' [l] ''r'' [r] ''Semivowel'' ''w'' [w] ''y'' [j]
@@ Line 28: / Line 30: @@
 == Diphthongs ==
-<pre> ai [aj]
+ai [aj] oi [oj] ui [uj]
- oi [oj]
 While the tables above show the usual phonetic realization of the Yivrian vowels, there is reason to regard the vowels ''ii'' [i] and ''ei'' [e] as phonological diphthongs. In particular, the following similarities may be observed between the long vowels ''ii'' and ''ei'' and the diphthongs:

@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
-[[Category:Prasa]] [[Category:Praseo language]]
+[[Category:Yivrian]] [[Category:Yivrian language]]
 <span id="consonants"></span>
@@ Line 9: / Line 9: @@
 The following chart gives all of the consonant phonemes in Yivrian in the linguistic orthography, together with their core phonetic values.
-<pre>                    Labial      Interdental     Dental      Palatal     Velar</pre>
+{|
-−
+!
------
+! Labial
+! Interdental
-''Voiceless stop'' ''p'' [p] ''t'' [t] ''k'' [k] ''Voiced stop'' ''b'' [b] ''d'' [d] ''g'' [g] ''Voiceless fricative'' ''f'' [f] ''th'' [θ] ''s'' [s] ''h'' [x] ''Voiced fricative'' ''v'' [v] ''Nasal'' ''m'' [m] ''n'' [n] ''Liquid'' ''l'' [l] ''r'' [r] ''Semivowel'' ''w'' [w] ''y'' [j]
+! Dental
 <span id="vowels"></span>