Consonants
|
Labial
|
Alveolar
|
Palatal
|
Velar
|
Glottal
|
Nasal
|
|
/m/
|
|
/n/
|
|
/ɲ/
|
|
/ŋ/
|
|
|
Plosive
|
/p/
|
/b/
|
/t/
|
/d/
|
|
|
/k/
|
/ɡ/
|
|
|
Affricate
|
|
|
/ts/
|
/dz/
|
/tʃ/
|
/dʒ/
|
|
|
|
|
Fricative
|
/f/
|
/v/
|
/s/
|
/z/
|
/ʃ/
|
/ʒ/
|
|
|
/h/
|
|
Trill
|
|
|
|
/r/
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Approximants
|
|
|
|
/l/
|
|
/ʎ/
|
|
|
|
|
Unlike many Gallo-Romance languages (French technically lacked this), Garonnian lacks final obstruent devoicing. Unusually among Romance languages, Garonnian exhibits initial consonant mutations and contain somewhat unusual phoneme /ŋ/ which can occur in any positions.
Orthography
Spelling
|
Pronunciation value
|
Major
|
Examples
|
Minor
|
Examples
|
b
|
/b/
|
bull
|
|
|
c
|
Before a, o, u
|
/k/
|
cur
|
|
|
Before e, i
|
/tʃ/
|
ciul
|
|
|
Vowels
|
Front
|
Central
|
Back
|
Short
|
Long
|
Short
|
Long
|
Short
|
Long
|
Close
|
/i/
|
/iː/
|
|
|
/u/
|
/uː/
|
Mid
|
/ɛ/
|
/ɛː/
|
|
|
/ɔ/
|
/ɔː/
|
Open
|
|
|
/a/
|
/aː/
|
|
|
In unstressed positions, only the vowels /a, i, u/ are allowed. Vowel length are phonemicized as a result of losses of certain consonants (these are, */β, ð, ɣ/), but also as a result of simplification of certain vowel hiatuses (teir */ti.ˈir/ → /ˈtiːr/ "to hold", aad /ˈaːd/ "(s)he had").
Consonant structure
The maximal consonant structure in Garonnian is C¹C²S¹VS²C¹C².
Stress
Like French, Garonnian words are always stressed in the last syllable. However, words containing vowel hiatuses are stressed in the second-to-last (penultimate) syllable (bua /ˈbu.a/ "good (fem. sg.)"). As previously I, Willett said, only /a, i, u/ are allowed in unstressed syllables.
Phonological changes
Vulgar Latin to Proto-Gallo-Sicilian
- Deletion of vowels in contact with the liquids (/l/ or /r/): speculum → /isˈpɛkʲu/ → /isˈpjɔdʒu/ → pesçoģ /pisˈtʃɔdʒ/ "mirror"
- Early lenition: /b/ and /v/ merge to /β/ in intervocalic positions. Before liquids, however, the sounds change to /w/ instead (Latin parabolō → /paˈrawlu/ → Garonnian parol /paˈrɔl/ "I speak"). Note them will deleted before /j/.
- Palatalization of /l/ following a consonant to /j/ (note cluster /kl/ → /kʲ → /tʃ/ → /dʒ/, an unusual development in standards of Romance languages, e.g. Latin oculus → Garonnian ueģ "eye").
- Palatalization of /k(ɛ,i,j)/, /ɡ(ɛ,i,j)/ to /tʃ/ and /j/, respectively. The following original /j/ sounds (resulted from /e(ː)/ and /i(ː)/ preceding vowels) are deleted.
- Notice also additional palatalizations that only occur before /j/: /lʲ/ → /ʎ/, /nʲ/ → /ɲ/, /sʲ/ → /ʃ/, and /tʲ/ → /ts/. Others were still denoted by plain palatalization: /mʲ/, /pʲ/, and /rʲ/. Note that original /bʲ/ in early Proto-Gallo-Sicilian times transformed into /j/: habeō → ai "I have".
- Vowel shifts: ten vowels in Classical Latin are reduced to only five vowels in Proto-Gallo-Sicilian:
Classical Latin
|
a
|
aː
|
e
|
eː
|
i
|
iː
|
o
|
oː
|
u
|
uː
|
Proto-Gallo-Sicilian
|
a
|
ɛ
|
i
|
ɔ
|
u
|
- Chain shift involving lenitions occured when the Proto-Gallo-Sicilians migrate to Padania, occuring intervocalically, word-finally, or before liquids (/l/ or /r/):
Shift 1
|
→
|
Shift 2
|
→
|
Shift 3
|
/k/
|
/ɡ/
|
/ɣ/
|
/p/
|
/b/
|
/β/
|
/t/
|
/d/
|
/ð/
|
/f/
|
/v/
|
N/A
|
/s/
|
/z/
|
N/A
|
/ts/
|
/dz/
|
N/A
|
/tʃ/
|
/dʒ/
|
N/A
|