Qaila'u and Tulla phonology
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This public article was written by [Deactivated User], and last updated on 6 Oct 2019, 15:56.
[comments] qluqlu-tal
?FYI...
This article is a work in progress! Check back later in case any changes have occurred.
This article is a work in progress! Check back later in case any changes have occurred.
Qaila'u /ˀka͡ilaʔu/ and 
Tulla /təɭə/ form a closely related pair of languages within the Sañuan branch of the Saru-Asuran family. Tulla is often considered as a dialect of the the more widely-spoken Qaila'u. The languages both have moderately small phoneme inventories, notable for their rare pre-glottalized obstruent phonemes, and fairly strict phonotactics. Qaila'u was made with a vaguely Polynesian phonoasthetic in mind, before it went and got a bit funny.| Consonants | Qaila'u | Tulla | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Labial | Alveolar | Prevelar | Velar | Glottal | Labial | Alveolar | Prevelar | Velar | Glottal | |
| Nasal | m | n | ɲ | m | n | |||||
| Plosive | p ˀp | t ˀt | t͡ɕ ˀt͡ɕ | k ˀk | ʔ | p ˀb | t ˀd | k ˀg | ʔ | |
| Fricative | ɸ | s s: ˀs | ɕ | s s: ˀz | ʂ | h | ||||
| Liquid | w | l | j | w | ɭ j | |||||
The two languages share very similar consonant inventories, with the main exception that Tulla voices its preglottalized stops; Qaila'u only has voiced consonants at the phonetic level. Tulla also has a small retroflex series in place of Qaila'u's more numerous alveo-palatals and palatals; and retains historic /h/ whereas Qaila'u has universally deleted it.
In both languages, the preglottalized stops may be produced as implosives, but the preglottalized fricatives cannot.
| Vowels | Qaila'u | Tulla | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Front | Central | Back | Front | Central | Back | |
| Close | i i: | u u: | i i: | ʉ | u: | |
| Mid | ə͡i | ə | ə͡u | e: | ə | o: |
| Open | a͡i | a | a͡u | ä͡i | a | ä͡u |
The major difference between the two language's vowel inventories is the ratio of diphthongs to monophthongs. Both underwent similar diphthongization changes, but Qaila'u went further.
The languages share the same fairly strict phonotactics: CV accounts for the vast majority of syllables in the language, although word-initial vowels are permitted, as are word-final consonants.
Very rarely, medial consonant clusters can be found; in this case, the coda consonant is only ever /s/ (only short and non-glottalized), /l/, or a nasal /m n (ɲ)/ ; and with /s/, many speakers will add an epenthetic vowel (usually one of [i ɨ ə]) afterwards (e.g. in Qaila'u kīstē 'dry' /ki:stə͡i/ as [ki:sɨtə͡i]).
Besides the 2–4 phonemic diphthongs, hiatus is well-tolerated in the language, but this typically marks a syllable break. The phonemic low diphthongs contrast with non-phonemic sequences of the same vowels, e.g. in aikū 'at' /äigu:/ [ä.i.gu:].
- Qaila'u will voice its stops, both glottalic and plain, intervocalically.
ipō 'cause, force' /ipa͡u/ → [iba͡u]
ībi 'a bit' /i:ˀpi/ → [i:ˀbi~i:ɓi]
- word-final /əi əu/ → [ei ou] when the preceding syllable has /ai au/
cōwo 'cut' /t͡ɕa͡uwə͡u/ [t͡ɕa͡uwo͡u]
- /u i/ → [w j] intervocalic
e.g. ...
Tulla, in contrast, has no voicing allophony. The voiceless stops aspirate in [condition], and the voiced glottalic stops become implosives [condition].
I think it's initial? or possibly attracted to syllables beginning with glottalics... ✎ Edit Article ✖ Delete Article
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