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Phonology
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A general overview of Mi Hong's phonology.
This public article was written by [Deactivated User], and last updated on 13 Apr 2022, 16:24.

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Menu 1. Introduction 2. Consonants 3. Vowels 4. Diphthongs 5. Phonotactics
[edit] [top]Introduction

After a poor attempt from roughly 2 years ago of integrating Russian with French, I've decided to create a brand new constructed language typography-wise inspired by southeast-asian languages. Ladies and gentlemen, I'm proud to present the full phonology of my second constructed language, Mi Hong.

[edit] [top]Consonants

Consonant Phonemes
Mi Hong relies on a quite typical consonant system of 32 phonemes. Some features of Mi Hong's phonology are:

  • Plosives have voicing
  • Co-articulated consonants occur at 3 PoA's
  • No consonant gemination
  • No consonant harmony


  • The following table displays the consonant inventory of  Mi Hong:
    BilabialLabio-dentalAlveolarPost-alveolarRetroflexPalatalLabio-velarVelarGlottal
    plainpal.lab.plainpal.lab.plainpal.lab.
    Nasal
    m
    ɳ
    Plosivevoiced
    b
    ɖ
    g
    voiceless
    p
    ʈ
    k
    Fricativevoiced
    v
    (z)1
    voiceless
    f
    (s)2
    ʃ
    x
    h
    Affricate
    t͡ʃ
    Lateral Approximant
    l
    Approximant
    j
    w
    Trill
    r

    1 loan-words only
    2 loan-words only

    As opposed to many natural languages which feature the alveolar consonants /t d n/, Mi Hong bases itself on the retroflex consonants /ʈ ɖ ɳ/. Both /ʈ/ and /ɖ/ have variants: ⟨th⟩ and ⟨dh⟩. Mi Hong is also notable for its lack of alveolar fricatives in native words.

    Consonant examples:
    VoicedVoiceless
    PhonemeExamplePhonemeExample
    /m/
    ma
    /p/
    pay
    /mʲ/
    miet
    /pʲ/
    pia
    /mʷ/
    mua
    /pʷ/
    din puat
    /ɳ/
    nuok
    /ʈ/
    tap nay, than
    /b/
    ban
    /k/
    cik wung
    /bʲ/
    guag bia
    /f/
    fut ciak
    /bʷ/
    bua sing
    /fʲ/
    fiat
    /ɖ/
    xi dong, dhay
    /fʷ/
    fuot
    /g/
    fu gong
    /ʃ/
    say
    /v/
    vot
    /x/
    xien
    /vʲ/
    ay vien
    /h/
    hung
    /vʷ/
    ray vuat
    /t͡ʃ/
    di cung
    /l/
    lap
    /lʲ/
    lian
    /lʷ/
    tap lua
    /j/
    yang ma
    /w/
    mu wak
    /r/
    ra
    /rʲ/
    ria
    /rʷ/
    ruang


    Occurrence of Co-articulation
    As mentioned, both palatalization and labialization occur solely in bilabial, labio-dental and alveolar consonants. These are assigned the class-representing letter M. The other letters, particularly I and U, stand for every possible vowel that can come after palatalized/labialized consonants while obeying phonotactic rules. Class M consonants become palatalized/labialized when either /i/ or /u/ form a 2 letter sequence with its following letter and give the consonant its palatalization/labialization respectively. Keeping that in mind, palatalization/labialization of consonants in Mi Hong can be showcased like this:

    i > ʲ /M_I
    u > ʷ /M_U


    Silent /g/
    The phoneme /g/ will become silent when it follows /ɳ/, as shown in the following notation:

    g > ∅ /ɳ_

    [edit] [top]Vowels

    Vowel Phonemes
    Mi Hong features an average-sized vowel inventory of 6 vowels. Here are some of its features:

  • No vowel lengthening
  • No phonemic tones
  • No pitch
  • No vowel harmony
  • The vowels /e/ and /o/ have 2 realizations


  • The following table displays the vowel inventory of  Mi Hong:
    FrontCentralBack
    Close
    i
    u
    Close-mid
    e~ɛ
    o~ɔ
    Mid
    [ə]1
    Open-mid
    Open
    a

    1 dependent on the environment, allophone of /a/

    Occurrence of [ə]
    The vowel [ə] will always replace /a/ when it follows /w/. This can be demonstrated with the following notation:

    a > ə /w_

    /ə/ is also present in the diphthong /ʊə/. In this particular diphthong /ʊ/ is the less permanent member of the diphthong, meaning it can be transcribed like this: /wə/. Thus, the diphthong /ʊə/ obeys the phonological rules of Mi Hong considering its orthographic equivalent is ⟨ua⟩.

    Note that this rule does not apply to labialized consonants. In that case, /a/ will remain the same.

    [edit] [top]Diphthongs

    Diphthongs
    There is a total of 10 diphthongs in Mi Hong, which are classified into 2 distinct orthographic classes in accordance to their features: class X and class W. Both types of diphthongs occur in different environments and require different phonotactic rules.

    The following table displays the distribution of the diphthongs in  Mi Hong:
    Final Vowel
    aeoəɪʊ
    Initial
    Vowel
    ɪ
    ɪa
    ɪe
    ʊ
    ʊo
    ʊə
    a
    e
    o
    u


    Diphthong examples:
    Class XClass W
    DiphthongExampleDiphthongExample
    /ɪa/
    tian
    /aɪ/
    lay
    /ɪe/
    xien
    /aʊ/
    taw
    /ʊo/
    huong nui
    /eɪ/
    rey
    /ʊə/
    xuan vay
    /oɪ/
    roy
    /oʊ/
    low
    /uɪ/
    tuy wang


    Class X
    Mi Hong features 4 class X diphthongs. In this type of diphthongs, the first vowel of the diphthong will always be the less permanent member of the diphthong. Class X diphthongs form exclusively after post-alveolar, retroflex, palatal, labio-velar, velar or glottal consonants.

    Exceptions
    Class X diphthongs may not form after /ɳ/. If a class X diphthong is attached to the consonant /ɳ/, the vowel /ɳ/ is followed by will become silent:

    ɪ > ∅ /ɳ_D
    ʊ > ∅ /ɳ_T


    In this particular circumstance, the following vowels to /ʊ ɪ/ can be every phoneme, omitting diphthongs, vowels that are identical to the followed ones and the schwa. These are marked by the letters T and D.

    Class W
    There are 6 class W diphthongs in Mi Hong, in which the less permanent member of the diphthong will always be the second vowel of the diphthong. As opposed to class X diphthongs, class W diphthongs may form after every consonant with the exception of palatalized/labialized consonants. Additionally, the syllable should be devoid of coda in order for the nucleus to be a class W diphthong.

    [edit] [top]Phonotactics

    Syllable Structure
    Every syllable in Mi Hong should follow the following pattern:

    (C1)V(C2)

    C1 - every consonant.
    V - every vowel, including diphthongs.
    C2 - /ɖ ʈ g k p ɳ/.

    Exceptions
    As usual, there are a few exceptions. These include:

  • Voiced plosives that can be neither palatalized nor labialized cannot follow /e/
  • /ə/ on its own occurs only after /w/
  • /e u i ə/ cannot come after labialized consonants
  • /o u i ə/ cannot come after palatalized consonants
  • Diphthongs cannot come after palatalized/labialized consonants
  • Diphthongs cannot come after glides
  • The syllable has to be coda-less in order for the nucleus to be a class W diphthong
  • Class X diphthongs cannot come after class M consonants
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