Phonology
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This public article was written by [Deactivated User], and last updated on 25 Jun 2023, 21:45.
[comments] foxphonology
1. Orthography
2. Phonology
?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.
This is the phonology for
Foxish.[top]Consonants
| Nasal | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Stop | ||||||||
| Fricative | ||||||||
| Affricate | ||||||||
| Lateral | ||||||||
| Approximant | ||||||||
Before /i/ (written [i]) and /j/ (written [i] between a consonant and a vowel and [j] otherwise) but not /ʝ/ (written [j] between a consonant and a vowel or [y] between a palatalized consonant and a vowel, the consonants undergo palatalization. To represent palatalized consonants without leaving a /i/ or /j/ sound, especially in consonant clusters, [j] is used. It has no pronunciation, but it palatalizes the preceding consonant.
In most speakers, /j/ after a palatalized consonant disappears, but for many speakers and in fast speech, /ʝ/ also disappears or varies between /j/ and /ʝ/, which can lead into minimal pairs where a consonant differs in palatalization and homophones resulting from the elision.
There is free variation between /j/ and /ʝ/ in diphthongs, but it can also be realized as /i̯/.
| Unpalatalized/plain | Palatalized |
|---|---|
| /n/ | /ɲ/ |
| /t/, /t͡s/ | /t͡ɕ/ |
| /d/, /d͡z/ | /d͡ʑ/ |
| /s/ | /ɕ/ |
| /z/ | /ʑ/ |
| /l/ | /ʎ/ |
| /k/ | /x/ |
| /g/ | /ɣ/ |
[r] is normally /r/, but it can be also /ɹ/, especially in consonant clusters and in codas after a vowel.
[f] and [v] are normally /f/ and /v/, but they're in free variation with /ɸ/ and /β/.
[w] is normally /w/, but it tends to become /ɰ/ in unstressed syllables, and there is free variation between /w/ and /ɰ/ in diphthongs. Again, it can also be realized as /u̯/.
In native words, [z] can represent /z/ and /d͡z/, which are in free variation and this also applies to its palatalized equivalents. However, in loanwords, [z] always represents /z/, with [dz] representing /d͡z/.
/x/ and /ɣ/ are written [k(i)] and [g(i)], respectively. However, in loanwords, both phonemes can be also written [h].
/ŋ/ is a rare phoneme, mostly only appearing in loanwords as a standalone phoneme, and as an allophone of /n/ before any velar consonant. Many speakers can't pronounce the standalone /ŋ/ phoneme, opting to replace it with /ɲ/ or /ŋg/.
[top]Vowels
| Front | Central | Back | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| short | long | short | long | |||||
| Close | ||||||||
| Mid | ||||||||
| Open | ||||||||
| Short (open) | Short (closed) | Long | Unstressed |
|---|---|---|---|
| /a/ | /æ/ | /a:/ | /ə/ |
| /e/ | /ɛ/ | /e̞:/ | /ə/ |
| /i/ | /ɪ/ | /i:/ | /ɨ/ |
| /o/ | /ɔ/ | /o̞:/ | /ə/ |
| /u/ | /ɯ/ | /u:/ | /ʉ/ |
What determines if a syllable should have a short or long vowel is very inconsistent. However, there are some general rules: It is normally long on open syllables (except before another vowel across syllable boundaries) and before /r/ in closed syllables. In other cases, it is normally short.
However, the vowel qualities for short vowels in open and closed syllables are predictable. As seen in the table, vowels are pronounced /a e i o u/ in open syllables and /æ ɛ ɪ ɔ ɯ/ in closed syllables. There are spelling conventions in order to represent the "open syllable" vowels in closed syllables and vice versa.
In diphthongs ending with either /j w/, the vowed varies between "open" and "closed" qualities. However, if any consonant comes after the diphthong, the vowel usually becomes "closed" quality.
In unstressed syllables, they reduce into /ə ɨ ʉ/.
Some reduced vowel inventory changes exhibited by some speakers include the merger of /ɨ/ and /ʉ/ to /ɨ/ and inclusion of /ɐ/, which comes from unstressed /a/.
[top]Phonotactics
The phonotactics of Foxish is generally (C)(C)(C)(G)V(G)(C)(C)(C).
There are some restrictions on what can appear on the onset and the coda.
[top]Stress
Stress is phonemic in Foxish. Additionally, it is highly irregular, which is reason why dictionaries, linguistic materials and learner materials for children and adults use diacritics to mark stressed syllables. See the article on orthography to what the diacritics mean and how it's used.
For example, síne (water) /ˈɕi:nə/ and siná (to say) /ɕɨˈna:/ differ in which syllable is stressed. Pronouncing a word with stress in the wrong syllable can change a sentence's meaning, as illustrated with the example presented earlier.
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