Mansi

This article is a stub. If you can contribute to its content, feel free to do so.

Dialectal developments (cf. Honti, Kálmán, Sammallahti '88)

Proto-Mansi: nominally *i *ü *u *ä *a *ë +length, also *o (-- is there really any short *ë?), so coverable as a cubic system distinguishing only [±close], [±front], [±labial] (with *ë treated as [+close]). In practice the inventory would've not been quite that neat as short *ä *ü *u may've been [e ø o], *ii *uu [eː oː].

• Tavda (South Mansi)
  • *ëë → ʌː
    • → eː / _[+palatal]
  • *üü, *ü → y (short!)
  • *uu → [uo] (perhaps in part a retention from POU)
  • *ii → [iː]; → [eː] / _r
  • *ë *u *ä → ʌ o ɛ
  • *i → ü / w_
  • *-əɣ → -əw
  • vowel harmony, thematic verbs
• Core Mansi
  • *ü → ⁽ʷ⁾ä (velars labialized)
  • *ä *ää *aa → ø øæ; separate æ æː remain (from PMs *e *ee?)
  • *aa → [oː] (except Sosva [uo])
  • *ii → [ie] (except North [eː])
  • *ć → ś
  • Konda (aka East Mansi; Upper, Mid, Lo subdialects)
    • *o *a → oa (yes, merged, lengthened and difthongized)
    • *u → o
    • Upper Konda: *ëë → ɑː (elsewhere ɤː)
    • *k → x / _B (some dial.)
    • *š → s (some dial.)
    • *-əɣ → -iː
  • North Mansi (Upper Lozva, Sosva, Sygva)
    • *ëë *ää → ɑː, *ä → ɑ, *a → o
    • *k → x / _B
    • *š → s (Sosva)
  • West Mansi (Pelymka, Mid/Lo Lozva, Vagilsk)
    • *öä → oa (??) (except North Vagilsk)
    • *ëë → ɤː
    • Pelymka: *a → o, ŋ → ŋk / _ś, _l (elsewhere?)