Thesome
Thesome [⁸tʰe.zɔ.mɛ] is a constructed language. It is similiar to Ancient Greek in terms of phonology and Finnish in terms of morphology.
Phonology
Vowels
Phonemes
/a e i o u y/ <a e i o u y>
Allophony
All vowels (except /a/) have a lax counterpart: /e/ - [ɛ], /i/ - [ɪ], /o/ - [ɔ], /u/ - [ʊ] and /y/ - [ʏ]. Lax vowels appear instead of the tense ones
- always in closed syllables; e.g. emnathon [⁸ɛm.na.tʰɔn]
- in the syllable following a stressed vowel; e.g. Thesome [⁸tʰe.zɔ.mɛ]
- in the last syllable of a word; e.g. deromi [⁸de.ɾɔ.mɪ]
Word final [ɛ] may be realised as [ə] in fast speech: Thesome /⁸tʰe.zɔ.mə/ When the penultimate syllable is stressed, the vowel is usually pronounced longer; contrast deromi [⁸de.ɾɔ.mɪ] with derthi [⁸dɛːɾ.tʰɪ]
Diphthongs
Phonemes
/aɪ eɪ ɔɪ aʊ/ <ai ei eu/oi au>
/ɔɪ/ is written <eu> in the first syllable of a word, <oi> anywhere else; probably a sound change that has occurred in an earlier stage but that has been undone.
Glide Insertion
When another vowel follows a diphthong,
- in formal speech diphthongs ending in /ɪ/ add a /j/-glide before the next vowel whereas after /aʊ/ a /w/ is added.
- in colloquial speech diphthongs become (long) monophthongs with a glide onset on the following syllable.
E.g. andromeía: 1. [an.dɾo.⁸meɪ.ja] 2. [an.dɾo.⁸meː.ja] and Sauos: 1. [⁸saʊ.wɔs] 2. [⁸saː.wɔs]
Consonants
Phonemes
Plosives: /p pʰ b t tʰ d k kʰ ɡ/ < p ph b t th d k kh g>
Fricatives: /f s x h/ <f s ch h>
Nasals: /m n/ <m n>
Liquid: /ɾ l/ <r l>
Allophony
The voiced stops /b d/ may be softened to [v ð] between vowels: eudein [⁸ɔɪ.ðeɪn] /k kʰ g/ are usually pronounced [c cʰ ɟ] before the vowels /e i y/ /s/ becomes [z] in the onset cluster sm- (pronounced [zm]) and between vowels: contrast thesomi [⁸tʰe.zɔ.mɪ] with thesthi [⁸tʰɛːs.tʰɪ] Nasals, if preceding plosives, assimilate to the latter's point of articulation (with the exception of compounds).
Stress
Stress usually falls on the antepenultimate syllable.
If stress falls on any other syllable, it is marked with an acute accent (which, if part of a diphthong, is placed it's second part). If the penultimate syllable is stressed, it is pronounced longer than usual.
E.g. mnathygata [mna.⁸tʰy.ga.ta] mnathygataí [mna.tʰy.ga.⁸taɪ] mnathygatánen [mna.tʰy.ga.⁸ta:.nɛn]
