Thesome
Thesome [⁸tʰe.zɔ.mɛ] is a constructed language. It is similiar to Ancient Greek in terms of phonology and Finnish in terms of morphology.
Phonology
Vowels
Phonemes
/a e i o u y/ <a e i o u y>
Allophony
All vowels (except /a/) have a lax counterpart: /e/ - [ɛ], /i/ - [ɪ], /o/ - [ɔ], /u/ - [ʊ] and /y/ - [ʏ]. Lax vowels appear instead of the tense ones
- always in closed syllables; e.g. emnathon [⁸ɛm.na.tʰɔn]
- in the syllable following a stressed vowel; e.g. Thesome [⁸tʰe.zɔ.mɛ]
- in the last syllable of a word; e.g. deromi [⁸de.ɾɔ.mɪ]
Word final [ɛ] may be realised as [ə] in fast speech: Thesome /⁸tʰe.zɔ.mə/ When the penultimate syllable is stressed, the vowel is usually pronounced longer; contrast deromi [⁸de.ɾɔ.mɪ] with derthi [⁸dɛːɾ.tʰɪ]
Diphthongs
Phonemes
/aɪ eɪ ɔɪ aʊ/ <ai ei eu/oi au>
/ɔɪ/ is written <eu> in the first syllable of a word, <oi> anywhere else; probably a sound change that has occurred in an earlier stage but that has been undone.
Glide Insertion
When another vowel follows a diphthong,
- in formal speech diphthongs ending in /ɪ/ add a /j/-glide before the next vowel whereas after /aʊ/ a /w/ is added.
- in colloquial speech diphthongs become (long) monophthongs with a glide onset on the following syllable.
E.g. andromeía: 1. [an.dɾo.⁸meɪ.ja] 2. [an.dɾo.⁸meː.ja] and Sauos: 1. [⁸saʊ.wɔs] 2. [⁸saː.wɔs]
Consonants
Phonemes
Plosives: /p pʰ b t tʰ d k kʰ ɡ/
Fricatives: /f s x h/ <f s ch h> Nasals: /m n/ <m n> Liquid: /ɾ l/ <r l>
Allophony
The voiced stops /b d/ may be softened to [v ð] between vowels: eudein [⁸ɔɪ.ðeɪn] /k kʰ g/ are usually pronounced [c cʰ ɟ] before the vowels /e i y/ /s/ becomes [z] in the onset cluster sm- (pronounced [zm]) and between vowels: contrast thesomi [⁸tʰe.zɔ.mɪ] with thesthi [⁸tʰɛːs.tʰɪ] Nasals, if preceding plosives, assimilate to the latter's point of articulation (with the exception of compounds).
