Univax

Phonetic doodle inspired by a ZBB discussion about the "sound of polar languages" (from Aleut to Icelandic). Just to be contrary, I'm putting it in Sahara.

Phoneme inventory

Consonants

p	t		c	k
	θ	s		x
m̥	n̥		ɲ̊	h
m	n		ɲ
ʋ	l	r	j

Vowels

	Short			Long
	Front	Centr.	Back	Front	Centr.	Back
Hi	i	ʉ	u	iː	ʉː	uː
Non-hi		ə	ɑ			ɑː

Difthongs consist of a non-hi vowel + glide: front əj, back ɑw.

Allophony

• /k x/ backed to [q χ] before a back vowel or after one before a consonant
• /θ/ is lamino-interdental, /t n̥ n l/ are apico-dental, except apico-alveolar before /i/, /s r/ are apico-alveolar, /c ɲ̊ ɲ/ are lamino-postalveolar
• /θ x/ voiced to [ð ɣ~ʁ] between voiced sounds and initially
• /s/ voiced to [z] only intervocally & if the next consonant is also voiced
  • eg. /kisim/ [kizim], but /kisi/ [kisi], /kisixat/ [kisiχɑt̪]

Structure

Cluster table (obstruent-initials only for now):

1st ↓ · 2nd →	p	t	c	k	θ	s	x	m̥	n̥	ɲ̊	m	n	ɲ	ʋ	l	r
p		pt	pc			ps	px		pnh?	pñh?
t	tp			tk			tx	tmh						tv
c	cp			ck			cx	cmh						cv
k	kp	kt	kc					kmh	knh?	kñh?				kv
θ	ŧp			ŧk			ŧx	ŧmh	ŧnh?	ŧñh?	ŧm			ŧv	ŧl	ŧr
x	xp	xt	xc		xŧ	xs		xmh	xnh?	xñh?	xm	xn	xñ	xv

Coda /s/ occurs only word-finally.

Stress

• Level 1 (usually 2ndary) stress falls on the initial syllable, unless immediately pretonic
• Level 2 (usually primary) stress falls on
  • the rightmost superhevvy syllable, if there is one
  • otherwise the rightmost non-final hevvy syllable, if there is one

(so what's this in terms of feet? (C)V(V/C)(C)CV(C/V)(CV)(V/C)(CV)(V/C) I think?)

Grammar

Person markers:

• standalone pronouns sŋ. xuu suu uu [ʁuː(l) suː(l) uː(l)], pl. xusar tesar vaar [ʁusɑr t̪əsɑr ʋɑːr]
  • possessivs sŋ. xakta sakta vakta [ʁɑqt̪ɑ sɑqt̪ɑ ʋɑqt̪ɑ], pl. xaŧer saŧer vaŧer [ʁɑðər sɑðər ʋɑðər]
• subject markers sŋ. -xa -sa -va, pl. -x -s -u

Flavor test

• seriutvalem [ˌseriˈut̪ʋɑl̪əm] (not difthongal due to foot breik)
• kaarhuxmet [ˈqɑːrhuʁmət̪]
• terakvaasuxmit [ˌt̪ərɑqʋɑːˈzuʁmit̪] (do we have an -uxmit/-uxmet suffix here?)
• ŧykurpyycuu [ˌðʉqurˈpʉːcuː]
• uñiivacxamhyykap [ˌuɲiːʋɑcχɑˈm̥ʉːqɑp] (perhaps tripedal)
• xarvytxaanaa [ˌʁɑrʋʉˈt̪χɑːn̪ɑː]
• yŧkyr cepesak [ˈʉθkʉr ˈcəpəsɑq]
• kepuut sinikau suvatpeti [kəˈpuːt̪ ˈsiniqaw suˈʋɑt̪pəti]
• tylpyraktiipii [ˌt̪ʉl̪pʉrɑqˈtiːpiː]
• aŧrun kuulacxun [ˈɑðrun̪ quːˈl̪ɑcχun̪]