Angrex

A tentativ name for a future Anglic language. May be switched to a geographic-based one eventually.

Owes much to Futurese.

Grand Master Plan

Initial dialect features

Note that these features' current geographical distribution does not necessarily limit Ängrex's, since a few of them are still spreding. We can fairly surely place it within North America, however…

• Whine-wine merger: /ʍ/ merged into /w/.
• Yod-dropping: Early Modern English /iʊ/ becomes /uː/ (GOOSE) if preceded by an initial consonant. Likewise /iʊɹ/ → /ʊɹ/. Typical exceptions, such as sugar, sure, apply.
• The following rhotic vowels are distinguished: /ɪɹ ɛɹ ɜɹ ɑɹ ɔɹ/ (NEAR SQUARE START NURSE NORTH). [ɚ] (LETTER) is an unstressed allophone of /ɜɹ/. /oɹ/ (FORCE) merges into /ɔɹ/; /ʊɹ/ CURE merges varyingly with /ɔɹ/ or the disyllable /uɜɹ/.
• The cot-caught and father-bother mergers apply, i.e. /ɒ ɔː/ both merge into /ɑː/.
• Medial flapping of /t d/ (to [ɾ] when posttonic) applies. Glottalization does not.
• The clusters /ns nz/ insert epenthetic /t d/ to become /nts ndz/.
• /tj tɹ dj dɹ/ are affricated to /ʧ ʧɹ ʤ ʤɹ/. (Note that affrication of /sj sɹ zj/ is older and applies to all English varieties, AFATAK.)
• Coda /d/ is lost after /n l/.
• Collapse to a three-vowel system in final unstressed position: /iː/ (HAPPY) becomes /eɪ/ (FACE), while /ə ɜɹ/ becomes /ɑː/. /oʊ/ remains. (Phonetically, these are pretty much [e a o].)

The following changes are still best considered phonetic changes that do not disturb the phonological system.

• /æ iː uː ʊ/ → [ɪə ɪj ʏw ʏ]

Labial/liquid chainshift

One of Ängrex's most caracteristic features.

• The main chain consists of /ɹ/ → /w/ → /v/ → /b/. Only the onset position is affected.
  • /v/ then devoices to /f/ adjacent to a voiceless consonant
• Coda /l/ ([ɫ]) → /w/ (the syllabic version lingers on for a while more)
• Onset /l/ → /ɾ/ before another consonant

Aspiration development

This series of sound changes forms a major isogloss among the Anglic languages.

• The trigger is the loss of onset /s/ before another consonant. This leads to the phonemicization of aspiration in voiceless stops — as well as of /ɾ/.
• Aspiration also develops before a syllabic consonant such as [ɫ̩].
  • I'd really like to extend this to [ɚ], but that doesn't seem to fit into the timeline.
• Additionally, /ts/ → /tʰ/.
• This system is then muddled by application of anti-Grassman's Law, i.e. in a word containing two aspirates within one syllable of one another, the latter is deaspirated.

Somewhat later

Two changes that, while common in even contemporary English dialects, should be considered late adoptions in Ängrex on the basis of their effects wrt. aspiration.

• A coda stop is lost before another obstruent. If another voiceless stop precedes, it gains aspiration.
• /θ ð/ become /t d/ in onset position; /f v/ in coda.

more vowel shifts

I E V Vw Vj > e & @ u i aU aI eI oI oU > Aw &j ji oj u I@ Ij Y(w) > jA jej jo(w) Or Ar 3r Er Ir > O A @ & j& r= l= n= > A o A~ @{m n N}. > &~

palatalization etc. glide stuff

tSh tS dZ S Z > ts`h ts` dz` s` z` thj tj dj sj zj nj > ts\h ts\ dz\ s\ z\ J jth jt jd js jz jn ditto j > 0 / _l_ _4_ _BLB_ s z > s` z`/ w_

v > w / V_ Aw > o w > 0 / _RFX_

various

h > 0 / V_V dz dz` dz\ > z z` z\ (except prenasal)

Phonology

pʰ	tʰ	tʂʰ	tɕʰ	kʰ
p	t	tʂ	tɕ	k
b	d			ɡ
f	s	ʂ	ɕ	h
v	z	ʐ	ʑ
m	n		ɲ	ŋ
w	l		j
	ɾ

i		u
e	ə	o
æ		ɑ

Difthongs iu eu ei äu äi ou oi (ai ui??)

Orthography

Per IPA, except:

• Obviously (?), <r> is /ɾ/ and a digraph with <h> signifies aspiration.
• /j/ is written as <i>; similarly /w/ as <u> when not in absolute syllable-initial position.
• <c x j> are /tɕ ɕ ʑ/ before an orthographic <i> (itself silent before another vowel), /tʂ ʂ ʐ/ elsewhere.
  • need to decide if coda position needs a different solution
• <ñ ng> are /ɲ ŋ/.
• <y> is /ə/.
• The lo vowels are <ä a> = /æ ɑ/.
  • or should /æ/ be the unmarked <a>? /ɑ/ could well be spelled with something derived from <ah> or <ar> or <aw>.