Upper Imstian Phonology
This site describes the phonology of Upper Imstian tending to the local idiom of Imst (Iisch, adj. iischlorisch). As mentioned in the main article, there is no official orthography used for the language. Nevertheless here it is tried to establish one based partly on German.
Consonants
| Consonants | ||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bilabial | Labiod. | Alveolar | Post-alv. | Palatal | Velar | Uvular | ||||||||||
| Nasal | m | n | ||||||||||||||
| Plosive | p | ḅ (b) | t | ḍ (d) | k | ġ (g) | q (g, k) | |||||||||
| Fricative | f | v (w) | s | ʃ (sch) | χ (ch) | |||||||||||
| Affricate | pf | ʦ (tz) | ʧ (tsch) | |||||||||||||
| Approximants | j | |||||||||||||||
| Trill | r | ʀ (rr) | ||||||||||||||
| Lateral Approximant | l | |||||||||||||||
- [q] is an allophone of [k] and [ġ] and only appears in front of [ʀ]: krromo ['qʀɔmʌ] come (participle).
- [ʀ] <rr> developed from Germanic *kw > Old Upper Imstian [χw] <chw>. It is not an allophone of original [r]: krroit ['qʀɔɪt] had (participle) vs. krottzo ['krɔʦ:ʌ] to scratch.
Vowels
| Vowels | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Front | Front Central | Back-to-mid | Back | |||||||
| Unround | Rounded | Unrounded | Rounded | Unround | Rounded | Unrounded | Rounded | |||
| High | i (i) | u (u) | ||||||||
| Near-close | ɪ (i) | ʊ (u) | ||||||||
| Open-mid | ɛ (e) | ʌ (o) | ɔ (o) | |||||||
- [ɪ] and [ʌ] are allophones of [i] and [ɔ] in unstressed syllables: progrom [prʌ'ġrɔm] program vs progromiero [prʌġrʌ'miɪ̯rʌ] to program
- [ɛ] becomes [ɪ] if unstressed: telfo ['tɛlfʌ] phone vs. tilfoniero [tɪlfʌn'iɪrʌ] to phone
- [i], [u] and [ɔ] can also appear as long vowels in stressed syllables: meer ['mɛːr] more.
Diphthongs
Diphthongs only appear in stressed position.
uo [uɔ]: luo ['luɔ] to watch
ou [ɔʊ]: lou ['lɔʊ] lamb
eu [ɛʊ]: leubi ['lɛʊḅɪ] lambs
ie [iɪ]: kostriero ['kʌ'ʃtriɪrʌ] to castrate
oi [ɔɪ]: goi [ġɔɪ] to go
Gemination
Unlike Standart German, Upper Imstian shows consonant gemination within words. This is marked with a double letter:
wello ['vɛlːʌ] to want
schpittzo ['ʃpiʦ:ʌ] pike;top
Stress
As in German, the stress is usually on the first Syllable of the stem, even in foreign loanwords, especially those from French (trotwo ['trɔtvʌ] pavement by French trottoir, biiro ['ḅi:rʌ] bureau). Exceptions are some verbal prefixes of motion: loufo ['lɔʊfʌ] to walk vs. uufoloufo ['u:fʌˌlɔʊfʌ] to walk up.
