User:Xipirho/Folksprak
This is the version of the language, known as "Folkspraak" more generally, favoured by Roland Sookias.
Phonology and orthography
My preferred phonology can be summed up as this:
Long and short versions of /a/, /e/, /i/, /o/, /u/ (and possibly /y/), with the addition of the diphthongs /au/ and /ai/, and the sort-of-diphthong /iu/. The diphthongs are really just combinations of the other vowels - i.e. they contain no new/other sounds. English/German consonants with /ʃ/ and /x/, no /θ/ or /ð/, /w/ as an alternative to /v/ My preferred orthography can be summed up as this:
'Roman-style' vowels and consonants <w>/<v>, <h>/<ch>, <sh>/<sch> for /w/, /x/ and /ʃ/ (difficult to decide, as Latin didn't have an extra letter for /w/ and didn't have the /ʃ/ and /x/ sounds) Vowels are short if unstressed or if followed by two or more consonants As well as the unstressed syllables in polysyllabic words, certain groups (articles, interrogatives, prepositions, demonstratives, monosyllabic pronouns) monosyllabic words are considered 'unstressed', and thus do not need two consonants to mark a short vowel
Here's a table laying it all out:
Phoneme | Orthography | Pronunciation (IPA) | Proto-Germanic origin | Example word | Meaning of word |
Short vowels | |||||
/a/ | aCC (C=consonant) or unstressed non-terminal | [a], [ɑ], [æ], [ɐ] | Mostly /a/ | mann | man |
/e/ | eCC or unstressed, <e> followed by <g> (alternative prono.) | [ɛ], [e] is acceptable, [ə] when unstressed | /e/, dimunition of other vowels | et | it |
/i/ | iCC or unstressed non-terminal | /i/ mostly | in | in | |
/o/ | oCC or unstressed non-terminal | /u/ with a-mutation, /a/ | frost | frost | |
/u/ | uCC or unstressed non-terminal | /u/ without mutation | uss | us | |
/y/ | yCC or unstressed non-terminal | /i/ mostly | in | in | |
/i/ | iCC or unstressed non-terminal | /u/ with i-mutation | rygg | back (ridge is cognate) | |
Long vowels | |||||
/aː/ | aC stressed, terminal a | [aː], [ɑː], [ɐː] (poss. [æː], although could cause confusion with /a/ for American English speakers) | /æ/, sometimes /a/ | sprak | language, speech (latter is cognate) |
/eː/ | eC stressed, terminal e | [eː], [ei], [ɛː] etc. | /e/ usually | breke | to break |
/iː/ | iC stressed, terminal i | [iː] | /eu/ usually | dip | deep |
/oː/ | oC stressed, terminal o | [oː], [ɔː], diphthong of /ou/ type | /u/, /a/, /au/ | over, so, bom | over, so, tree (beam is cognate) |
/uː/ | uC stressed, terminal u | [uː] | /oː/ | gud | good |
/yː/ | yC stressed, terminal y | [yː], N.B. Could be merged with /iː/, allowing [yː] as an alternative pronunciation for /uː/ | i-mutated /oː/ and /eu/ | gryn, dyr | green, expensive (cognate is dear) |
Diphthongs | |||||
/au/ | au | Diphthong of type /au/ | /uː/ | aut | out |
/ai/ | ai | Diphthong of type /ai/ | /iː/ | main | my, mine |
/iu/ | iu | [ˈiu], [ˈiːu], [iˈuː] | /euw/, /euhw/ | niu | new |
Consonants | |||||
/p/ | p | [pʰ], [p] | /p/ | help | help |
/b/ | b | [b] | Initial /b/ | better | better |
/f/ | f | [f] | /f/ | fader | father |
/v/ | v | [v] | Non-initial /b/ | have | to have |
/t/ | t | [tʰ], [t] | /t/, initial /θ/ except in pronouns and articles | ting | thing |
/d/ | d | [d] | /d/, non-initial /θ/ and initial /θ/ in pronouns and articles | de | the |
/s/ | s | [s], [z] | /s/ | wese | to be |
/k/ | k | [kʰ], [k] | /k/ | kysse | to kiss |
/g/ | g | g], [ɣ], [j] after a (us. palatal) vowel acceptable, although <eg> must either have a long /e/ or be clearly [ɛj] to avoid confusion with /eː/ | /g/ | gud, sege | good, to say |
/x/ | ch/h | [x], [ç], [hʲ] | Non-initial /x/ | licht/liht | light |
/h/ | h | [h] | Initial /x/ | hand | hand |
/ʃ/ | sch/sh | [ʃ] | /sk/ | schall/shall | will, shall |
/j/ | j | [j] | /j/ | jung | young |
/w/ | w, possibly v | [v], [ʋ], [w] - just [v] if written "v" | Initial /w/ or /xw/ | wat/vat | what |
/m/ | m | [m] | /m/ | milk | milk |
/n/ | n | [n] | /n/ | nit | not |
/ŋ/ | ng | [ŋ], [ŋg] | /ng/ | singe | to sing |
/r/ | r | [r]ˌ [ʁ]ˌ [ɹ]ˌ [ʀ] | /r/ | rod | red |
/l/ | l | [l] | /l/ | land | land |