Round Robin Conlang/Observations: Difference between revisions

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(additions seen during round 2 (commented-out for now))
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'''Vowels'''
'''Vowels'''
/i e ɛ a ɔ o u/; /oi/; possibly /ai/ (seriously now, is "we two" [tsoi] or [tsai] ?)
/i e ɛ a ɔ o u/; /oi/; possibly /ai/ (seriously now, is "they two" [tsoi] or [tsai] ?)
For purposes of vowel-harmonic suffixes, /a/ (phonetically open central [ä]?) counts as a back vowel.
For purposes of vowel-harmonic suffixes, /a/ (phonetically open central [ä]?) counts as a back vowel.
'''Tone'''
High and low.  Low is unmarked. 


===Lenition===
===Lenition===

Revision as of 13:23, 3 December 2009

Thought I'd look at what our phonology looks like so far. --Trɔpʏliʊmblah

Basic inventory

Consonants

Labial Coronal Velar Uvular Glottal
Stops /
affricates
Ejective tsʹ
Voiceless p t ts k q
Voiced b ɡ
Nasals m n
Fricatives Voiceless f s χ h
Voiced v
Liquid l


Semivowel (?) /j/

Vowels /i e ɛ a ɔ o u/; /oi/; possibly /ai/ (seriously now, is "they two" [tsoi] or [tsai] ?) For purposes of vowel-harmonic suffixes, /a/ (phonetically open central [ä]?) counts as a back vowel.

Tone High and low. Low is unmarked.

Lenition

The following changes are attested:

Original p b t n g q
Lenited f v s ð̃ ɣ χ

[ð̃ ɣ] have only been attested under spirant lenition thus far.

I would presume the process to apply regularly also to the "missing" buccal stops / nasals, ie. m, k → ṽ, x. Whether the other consonants do anything remains to be seen.

Other alternations

Gemination appears to be regular for at least lenitable consonants, with bb, tt, nn, gg attested. /tsʹ/ appears to resist gemination as seen from betsʼaq.

There is also prenasalization (apparently identical with gemination for nasals).

Syllable structure

Thus far (C)V(N)(C) seems sufficient (maximal example: boimb). Only clusters of two consonants have been observed medially, even them limited to geminates and nasal + consonant.