Foħθīrix phonology
- Main article: Foħθīrix
This page gives an extensive description of Foħθīrix phonological features.
Consonants
The consonant system distinguishes 30 phonemes, traditionally arranged in the following scheme:
plosive | voiceless | ||||||
voiced | |||||||
palatal | |||||||
uvular | |||||||
nasal | |||||||
liquid | |||||||
fricative | sibilant | ||||||
post-alveolar | |||||||
dental | |||||||
palatal | |||||||
velar | |||||||
glottal | |||||||
pharyngeal | |||||||
labio-dental | |||||||
affricate | |||||||
approximant |
The group of the plosive consonants distinguishes four sub-groups: voiceless, voiced, palatal and uvular, even though the uvular sub-group includes only the phoneme [q].
The groups of the nasal and of the liquid consonants are slighty poorer, but anyway quite developed. There are noticeably two clearly distinct rothic phonemes, namely [r] and [ɾ].
The group of the fricative consonants is overall well developed and rich in points of articulation, with a limited distinction between some voiced and voiceless phonemes.
There are two affricate consonants, voiceless [ʧ] and voiced [ʤ]. The phoneme [j] can have only a full consonantal value and it is never regarded as a semivowel.