Phonology and Orthography
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Amlãxici ii Pomaǫ̃wizaaprų
This private article was written by [Deactivated User], and last updated on 13 Jul 2020, 22:28.
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This article is a work in progress! Check back later in case any changes have occurred.
Like many other languages, Amazon has wide variation in pronunciation, both historically and from dialect to dialect. In general, however, the regional dialects of Amazon share largely similar (but not identical) phonological systems. This article primarily covers the phonology of Western/Adriatic Amazon, one of the most widely spoken and studied dialects of Amazon but other dialects are covered too, especially when they diverge considerably from this one.
The exact number and distribution of phonemes in Amazon varies quite considerably from dialect to dialect. The number of consonants is usually said to be 32, with 5 additional phonemes being geminates of certain consonants. Some linguists argue that some phonemes shouldn't be counted as they vary considerably, such as /ʟ/ which, whilst technically phonemic, is archaic and is usually realised as [l] by modern speakers. Additionally, there are 3 accepted consonant allophones but some argue that there are more due to the variations in voicing that occur in Amazon clusters. For example, /r̥/ may be voiced [r] after /d g/ or a flap [ɾ̥] intervocalically yet neither of these are usually considered standard allophones of /r̥/, but rather as idiolectual realisations.
The number of vowels is subject to considerably wider variation. The usual number of phonemes is set at 19 (7 short, 7 long, 5 nasalised) but as the actual number of phones is fairly low at just 8 distinct vowel phones, the places and manners of articulation can vary quite dramatically. For example, /ɑ:/ is usually a long back, open unrounded vowel [ɑ:] but it may also be pronounced as an open/near-open central vowel [ɐ: ä:] or even a diphthong [ɑə̯]. The length of long vowels also varies depending on surrounding phones or stress, sometimes being half-long, sometimes long and sometimes even overlong. However, as with the consonants, many of these realisations are considered non-standard and are viewed as idiolectual pronunciations, although some linguists continue to argue otherwise.
In some dialects, namely Greek Amazon, Thracian Amazon, Dardanelles Amazon and Turkish Amazon, voiced stops are lower pitch than voiceless stops, which are themselves pronounced more strongly than their voiced counterparts. This is sometimes viewed as pitch accent as vowels following a voiced stop are pronounced with a lower tone [˨], causing a rising tone to occur in following vowels [˨˥]. However, this isn't used to distinguish words and is usually seen as a quirk of certain dialects' prosodies meaning it isn't normally considered a phonemic or particularly important feature. It's possible that this feature may have actually been influenced by Ancient Greek as it's only present in the dialects found in Greece and Turkey.
| Labial | Dental | Alveolar | Retroflex | Palatal | Velar | Uvular | Glottal | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nasal | |||||||||||
| Plosive | voiceless | ||||||||||
| voiced | |||||||||||
| Fricative | voiceless | ||||||||||
| voiced | |||||||||||
| Lateral Fricative | |||||||||||
| Affricate | |||||||||||
| Trill | |||||||||||
| Approximant | |||||||||||
| Lateral Approximant | |||||||||||
| Click | tenuis | ||||||||||
| nasalised | |||||||||||
- The voiceless velar stop [k] is an allophonic realisation of coda /q/. Although some linguists argue that it isn't distinctive enough to be recognised phonemically, the fact that it is the standard pronunciation in this dialect (and several others) has resulted in coda /q/ being transcribed as /k/ in standard texts.
- The voiceless palatal fricative [ç] is the realisation of coda /j/. Whilst distinctive from /j/, it's considered an allophone by most linguists as it only occurs in syllable-final position, reverting back to an approximant [j] before any succeeding vowels.
- The voiceless uvular fricative [χ] is also the realisation of coda /h/. Whilst distinctive from /h/, it's considered an allophone by most linguists as it only occurs allophonically in syllable-final position, reverting back to a glottal fricative [h] before any succeeding vowels. Note however that phonemic /χ/ also exists and can occur both finally and intervocalically.
- Although this phoneme is listed as voiced, it is actually a breathy-voiced glottal fricative [ɦ]. The exact phonation of /ɦ/ is a debated topic, with linguists also variously describing it as a glottalised velar fricative [xˀ] or glottal affricate [ʔ͡h].
- Actually a strongly-rounded labiovelar approximant [w̹]
- /m̥/ is voiced [m] between nasal vowels and a consonant or after a nasal vowel and at the end of a word.
- /r̥/ exhibits a degree of variation, becoming voiced [r] after /d g/ and a flap [ɾ̥] when between vowels.
- /z/ is typically retracted [z̠].
- The velar consonants, excluding [k], are usually slightly labialised [ŋʷ gʷ ʟʷ] except in coda position for /ŋ g/, or when /g/ occurs in clusters where they are instead plain [ŋ g].
- The palatal approximant /j/ may be weakly fricated [ʝ] in onset position
- The labiovelar approximant /w/ may be voiceless [ʍ] after voiceless stops.
- The clicks /ǀ ǃ/ are nasalised [ᵑǀ ᵑǃ] between nasal vowels or after a nasal stop where the stop assimilates to the click and becomes a nasal phonation.
- There is some debate over the validity of the velar lateral approximant /ʟ/ as a phoneme as it is almost exclusively restricted to formal and religious conversations, having been replaced by the alveolar lateral approximant [l] in common speech. Most linguists argue that it is still a valid phoneme and a distinctive sound but it is being replaced quite rapidly by [l] and may not remain as such for much longer.
- The alveolar approximants /l̥ l/ are typically post-alveolar [l̠̊ l̠]
- There is considerable debate over the contrast between the voiceless approximant /l̥/ and the voiceless fricative /ɬ/. Due to the extreme similarities between the two, many have argued that they aren't distinctive phonemes but rather differently articulated forms of the same phoneme in different phonetic environments, typically described as 'tense' and 'lax' forms of [ɬ] where the distinction may be one of length [ɬˑ ɬ] or tenseness [ɬꟸ ɬ], where the lax forms corresponds to /l̥/. Most linguists argue otherwise on the grounds that a tense-lax distinction in a fricative is difficult and unstable. Most point out that Amazon speakers are able to distinguish between the approximant and fricative with relative ease due to the difference in the degree of frication, not tenseness.
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