Random phonology/phonemic inventory thread

A forum for all topics related to constructed languages
Post Reply
Birdlang
greek
greek
Posts: 631
Joined: 25 Dec 2014 20:17
Location: Virginia

Random phonology/phonemic inventory thread

Post by Birdlang »

Edit: (Original thread description:)
Anybody else just have random ideas for phonemic inventories and/or more fully fleshed out phonologies? I do. So I thought it might be an interesting...or not so interesting thread....to have a place to put them.

Quick sketch
/m n ɲ ŋ/ m n ɲ ŋ
/b t d k q/ b t d k g
/v ð s ʒ ʁ ʕ h/ v z s j ǥ ƹ h
/ʤ/ ǰ
/β̞ ð̞ j w ɰ ʁ̞ ʕ̞/ ƀ đ j w ǥ ȝ ع
/l ʎ/ l ɫ
/ɽ/ ɽ
/r/ r
/ɮ͝ð/ ꝇ

/i y ɪ ʏ e ø ɛ œ æ a/ i ü ị ụ̈ e ö ẹ ọ̈ ạ a
/ɨ ʉ ɪ̈ ʊ̈ ɘ ɵ ə ɷ ɜ ɞ ɑ̈ ɒ̈/ î û ị̂ ụ̂ ê ô ê̱ ô̱ ệ ộ ậ ạ̊
/ɯ u ʊ̜ ʊ ɤ o ʌ ɔ ɑ ɒ/ ï u ị̈ ụ ë o ẹ̈ ọ â å
Length is marked with a macron.

Edit: Split from the first Random phonology/phonemic inventory thread. -Aevas, 2020-05-08
User avatar
Frislander
mayan
mayan
Posts: 2088
Joined: 14 May 2016 18:47
Location: The North

Re: Random phonology/phonemic inventory thread

Post by Frislander »

/p t̪ ʈ t͡ʃ k kʷ ʔ/
/s h/
/m n/
/ɽ j w/

The contrast between plain and labio-velar is neutralised after rounded vowels in favour of the labio-velar, except word-finally where instead the plain velar wins out since labio-velars do not appear word-finally.

/i u/
/(e) eː ə (o) oː/
/(a) aː/

The long vowels are shortened before consonant clusters/coda consonants. Other cluster-simplifying changes then render these short non-high vowel marginally contrast.

Syllable structure is CV(C), where any consonant may appear in the coda bar /kʷ ʔ h j w/. Suffixes take the form -(ʔ, h)VC, where when the root ends in a stop the glottal stop is realised as gemination of the stop, and with /h/ it is only found overtly as gemination of /s/ and as /h/ after vowels, being deleted in all other contexts. These geminates and consonant + ʔ clusters are the only ones found both inside roots and across affix boundaries.
Birdlang
greek
greek
Posts: 631
Joined: 25 Dec 2014 20:17
Location: Virginia

Re: Random phonology/phonemic inventory thread

Post by Birdlang »

Another quick sketch that might turn into the language for the dog people
/p pʼ b ɓ t tʼ d ɗ c cʼ ɟ ʄ k kʼ g ɠ ʔ/ p ṗ b ḅ t ṭ d ḍ c ċ ȷ j k ḳ g ġ ɂ
/ɸ β f v θ ð s z ʃ ʒ ç ʝ x ɣ X ʁ ħ ʕ ʜ ʢ h ɦ/ ꝑ ƀ f v ŧ đ s z š ž ś ź ꝁ ǥ ꝗ ȝ ħ ɛ ꜧ ꝯ h ɦ
/pɸ bβ tθ dð ʦ ʣ ʧ ʤ kx gɣ qX ɢʁ ʡʜ ʔh/ p̄ ḇ ṯ ḏ c ʒ č ǯ ḵ ḡ q̄ ƣ ƹ ɣ
/m ɱ n ɲ ŋ ɴ/ m ɱ n ŋ ɲ n̄
/β̞ ð̞ ɹ j ɥ ɰ w ʁ̞ ʕ̞ ʢ̞/ ƃ ƌ ɽ ĭ y̆ w̆ ŭ ʀ ɔ ə
/l ʎ/ l ƚ
/r/ r
/ɬ ɮ ʎ̝̊ ʎ̝/ ł ɫ ꝉ ⱡ
/tɬ dɮ cʎ̝̊ ɟʎ̝/ ƛ λ ɬ l̈

/i y e æ a/ i y e ă a
/ə/ ĕ
/ɯ u o ɔ/ w u o ŏ
Long vowels occur, which are marked with a macron.
wintiver
sinic
sinic
Posts: 214
Joined: 09 Oct 2012 03:37

Re: Random phonology/phonemic inventory thread

Post by wintiver »

This idea is for a language spoken by an isolated group of people. There's an archipelago that is surrounded by a thousand miles of ocean on any side of it.

/m n ŋ/ m n ŋ
/p t k q ʔ/ p t k q '
/p͡f t͡s t͡ʃ k͡x q͡χ/ pf ts ch kh qh
/p̕ t̕ k̕ q̕/ p' t' k' q'
/f s ʃ x χ h/ f s sh x ȟ h
/l r j~ɥ ɰ~w ʁ̞/ l r y w ř
  • The approximants are underdefined for rounding. I only indicated the variance in this where there was a standardized IPA symbol, but in rounded vowel environments /l r ʁ̞/ become /lʷ rʷ ʁ̞ʷ/.
  • The affricate series is the direct result of a strongly aspirated series of plosives which diachronically gained more of an affricativized nature.
  • After the loss of the aspirated series of plosives, the unaspirated series became under-defined for aspiration, generally having a light-to-moderate aspiration.
  • Ejectives only occur at onset.
  • In some dialects there is a retention of /t͡ʃ̕/
/i y ɯ u/ i ü ï u
/ɛ œ ʌ ɔ/ e ö ë o
/ä/ a
  • The long vowels are split up into two dialectal groups. Dialect Group A, generally lengthens most of their vowels, maintaining a monophthong realization and in Dialect Group B, most of the vowels are centering diphthongs with a schwa as the second component of the diphthong. The long vowels that are orthographized with an umlaut take on a double-acute accent (I would display this but this box simply doesn't display it right).
  • High vowels tend to be come near-high or mid-close in realization before or after uvulars and glottals (including glottalized segments like the ejectives).
/l̩ r̩/ĺ ŕ

There is a remote part of the archipelago spoken by around 30,000 where there are syllabic nasals as well. I haven't thought of the details on this yet though.

Syllable structure is roughly CV(n,l,r)(C),
brblues
sinic
sinic
Posts: 248
Joined: 03 Aug 2018 15:34

Re: Random phonology/phonemic inventory thread

Post by brblues »

For my second conlang I want to do at least some diachronics, so have sketched some stages of the language. Sorry for not using the correct notation, I will get on that, likely with lots of questions ( ;) ), once I know I will have something I could generally work with, and am kind of just throwing this out here now...


Baseline phonology would be this:

Inventory:
Spoiler:
CONSONANTS
Plosive p b t d k ɡ ʔ
Nasal m n
Fricative s z (ʃ) (ʒ) x ɣ h
Approximant ɹ j
Lateral approximant l

VOWELS
Close i (ɯ) u
Near-close
Close-mid e o
Mid (ə)
Open-mid ɛ
Near-open
Open a (ɑ)
The ones in () will only be added later on during the process.

Phonotactics
Syllable shape: CV(N), except for the end of a word, which can be CVC


Now the following changes would happen over multiple stages:

Stage 1

-> Sound change: syllable shape CV(C) permitted everywhere
-> Sound change: Allophones /ɯ/ and /ɑ/ for /u/ and /o/ if syllable does not contain a labial consonant

Stage 2:

-> Sound change: Devoicing in clusters
-> Sound change: /s/ and /z/ change to /ʃ/ and /ʒ/ respectively before front vowels
-> Sound change: voiced consonants at the end of a word followed by a short /ə/

Stage 3:

-> Sound change: fricatives become stops in consonant clusters, e.g.:
tastu (water.INSTR)=> tattu
bustu (head.INSTR) => buttu

-> Sound change: Unstressed /ɛ/ turns into /ə/

Stage 4:

-> Sound change: Dissimilation of geminates by replacing the second consonant by glide /j/ (except for /p/ and /m/, where /w/ is used to replace the second consonant), e.g.:

mottu (house.INSTR) => motju
tattu (water.INSTR) => tatju
buttu (head.INSTR) => butju


Stage 5:

-> Sound change: assimilation of /np/ -> /mp/
-> Sound change: deletion of /ə/
-> Sound change: deletion of /ʔ/ unless intervocalic

Thanks in advance if anybody wants to comment/help [:)]
Solarius
roman
roman
Posts: 1173
Joined: 30 Aug 2010 01:23

Re: Random phonology/phonemic inventory thread

Post by Solarius »

Which one of these do you think is the most pleasing? I have inventory 1 for my current project, but I've been thinking of switching to 2, as I quite like the minimalism:

Inventory 1:
/p b t d t͡s d͡z t͡ʃ d͡ʒ k g q/
/t͡s' t͡ʃ' k' q'/
/s z/
/s'/
/m n ŋ/
/l ɾ w/

Inventory 2:
/p b t d t͡s d͡z k g q/
/s z/
/m n ŋ/
/l ɾ w/

My main concern is that jettisoning the ejectives in particularly will give the phonology too much of a European appearance, as well as weaken the vaguely Ethiopian Semitic qualities which inspired a lot of the language. What do yall think?
User avatar
LinguoFranco
greek
greek
Posts: 613
Joined: 20 Jul 2016 17:49
Location: U.S.

Re: Random phonology/phonemic inventory thread

Post by LinguoFranco »

A quick phoneme inventory I came up with for an experimental proto-language. I hope it isn't too weird or unnatural.

/m n ŋ/
/p b t ʈ d ɖ k ʔ/
/v s z x ɣ ɬ ɮ/
/l ɫ ɻ/
/j w/
/t͡s d͡z/

/i iː u uː/
/a aː/

The syllable structure is CV(C).
User avatar
Frislander
mayan
mayan
Posts: 2088
Joined: 14 May 2016 18:47
Location: The North

Re: Random phonology/phonemic inventory thread

Post by Frislander »

/p t t͡ʃ k/
/mb nd ɲd͡ʒ ŋg/
/s x/
/m n ɲ ŋ/
/w ɺ j/

The stops show some significant allophonic variation. The main thing to note is that pernasalised stops are devoiced before voiceless consonants and absolute phrase-finally and voiceless stops become pre-glottalised before another voiceless stop, a nasal and phrase-finally. For example /æːmbpə/ [jæˑmpːə], /uːtmik/ [wuˑˀtmɪˀk], /ɑːtxuŋg/ [ɑːtxʊŋk]

/i iː u uː/
/eː ə oː/
/æː ɑː/

The short vowels are centralised slightly before glottalisation and geminates, and the long vowels are similarly slightly shortened in the same environments.

Syllable structure is CV(C), where any consonant bar /t͡ʃ ɲd͡ʒ ɲ w j/ may appear in the coda. There are some significant distributional restrictions on which consonants may appear word-initially - only stops (plain and pre-nasalised) and fricatives may appear in this position, with other sonorants being restricted to word-internal position, with the exception that word-initially before front vowels /j/ is automatically inserted and similarly for /w/ and rounded vowels. Additionally the nasal-prenasalised stop contrast is neutralised after consonants in favour of the plain nasals, indicating that the latter likely developed from the former in some contexts. Finally there is some degree of place assimilation - when two stops come together the first assimilates to the place of the second producing a geminate (with glottalisation), and the same applies to nasals before stops/nasals, e.g. /oːt-kət͡ʃ/ [woˑˀkːəˀt͡ʃ], /kæːⁿd-mbuɺ/ [kæːⁿdmuɺ], /xum-ⁿdɑːs/ [xʊnːɑːs]. When a nasal assimilates to a voiceless stop like this they coalesce into a single prenasalised stop, e.g. /t͡ʃeːn-t͡ʃin/ [t͡ʃeːɲd͡ʒin].

The vowels are similarly constrained - the long vowels are entirely restricted to the first syllable of roots, which is also the primary stressed syllable. All subsequent vowels in a root, and in most of affixes, are exclusively from the "reduced" set /i u ə/, and there is even a diminutive reduplication where a reduplicant with a long vowel has its vowel reduced as follows: /iː eː æː uː oː ɑː/ > /i i ə u u ə/, e.g. /ɲd͡ʒæːx-ɲd͡ʒəx/ [ɲd͡ʒæːxɲəx], /soːŋgəɺ-suŋgəɺ/ [soːŋgəɺsuŋgəɺ]. No such reduplication takes place in compounds however (outside of certain frozen forms), and certain affixes, likely of recently grammaticalised status, show full vowels.
User avatar
Frislander
mayan
mayan
Posts: 2088
Joined: 14 May 2016 18:47
Location: The North

Re: Random phonology/phonemic inventory thread

Post by Frislander »

/p ⁿd̪ tˤ tʃ k/
/s x/
/m n~ɾ/

The flap is restricted to single intervocalic position, where single /n/ is not found. The pharyngealised alveolar stop lowers adjacent vowels/backs /a/ to [ɑ]

/i~j ɨ~ɰ u~w/
/e a o/

The high vowels are found as glides before low vowels, but are deleted before other high vowels. This can lead to the creation of contour tones on high vowels (see below). When low vowels are adjacent they form a true diphthong.

There is a two-way tonal contrast between high and low, both of which can be free-floating and neither being unmarked. These tones are to some extent free-floating, with tones being assigned to fully vocalic elements only, with deleted/de-syllabified high vowels permitting their tones to float to the nearest vowel e.g. /màtʃì-ún/ > [màtʃǔn], /pósé-èⁿd̪/ > [pósêⁿt̪], /tˤàɾɨ́-èⁿd̪/ > [tˤɑ̀ɾɰêⁿt̪].

Syllable structure is (C)(V)V(C), where VV stands for either a dipthong or a sequence of vowel and glide in either order, and a coda C may consist of any consonant. There are some assimilations which take place when consonants are adjoined. Firstly /n/ assimilates to the POA of a following consonant, e.g. /séèn-kù/ > [sêŋkù], /ⁿd̪òtˤìn-mà/ > [ⁿd̪ɔ̀tˤèmːà]. Secondly coda /ⁿd̪/ devoices word-finally and assimilates to a following obstruent, e.g. /pàùàⁿd̪/ > [pàwàⁿt̪], /kìóⁿd̪-t͡ʃí/ > [kjǒⁿt͡ʃːí]. Finally /tˤ/ adjacent to another consonant spreads it pharyngealisation through said consonant, e.g. /nɨ́p-tˤò/ > [nɘ́pˤtˤɔ̀].
Birdlang
greek
greek
Posts: 631
Joined: 25 Dec 2014 20:17
Location: Virginia

Re: Random phonology/phonemic inventory thread

Post by Birdlang »

Central Birdish
Aa Āā Ää Ǟǟ Bb Ḅḅ Cc Čč Dd Ḏḏ Ḍḍ Ee Ēē Ff Gg Ġġ Hh Ḫḫ Ii Īī Jj Kk Ḳḳ Ll Ḷḷ Ɫɫ Ḻḻ Mm Nn Ŋŋ Ṉṉ Oo Ōō Öö Ȫȫ Pp Ṗṗ Rr Ṙṙ Ṟṟ Ss Šš Tt Ṯṯ Ṭṭ Uu Ūū Üü Ǖǖ Ww Ŵŵ Yy Ŷŷ Zz Žž Ẑẑ ⁷
/i y u e ø o æ a/ i ü u e ö o ä a
Vowel length is indicated by a macron
/p b t d c ɟ k g ʔ/ p b t d ṯ ḏ k g ⁷
/pʼ~ɸ ɓ~β tʼ~θ ɗ~ð kʼ~x ɠ~ɣ/ ṗ ḅ ṭ ḍ ḳ ġ
/f v s z ʃ ʒ ʝ ʁ ʕ h/ f v s z š ž j ṙ ḫ h
/m n ɲ ŋ/ m n ṉ ŋ
/ʦ ʣ ʧ/ c ẑ č
/j ɥ w ɰ/ y ŷ w ŵ
/l ʎ/ l ḻ
/r r̝/ r ṟ
/ɬ ɮ/ ḷ ɫ
User avatar
Frislander
mayan
mayan
Posts: 2088
Joined: 14 May 2016 18:47
Location: The North

Re: Random phonology/phonemic inventory thread

Post by Frislander »

/p k ʔ/
/b~m d~ɾ~n/
/s h/
/w j/

/ɪ~e ɘ ʊ~o/
/a/

Nasalisation is a suprasegmental feature which primarily manifests on vowels but causes the nasalisation of voiced stops and spreads through /ʔ m n h w j/ in either direction.

Syllable structure is (C)V(C), where V syllables only occur word-initially and consonants are restricted to /ʔ b d h/. /d/ is flapped intervocalically when not nasalised.
User avatar
DesEsseintes
mongolian
mongolian
Posts: 4331
Joined: 31 Mar 2013 13:16

Re: Random phonology/phonemic inventory thread

Post by DesEsseintes »

The phonology of Project Narwhal, which is at the tinkering stage.

/m n/ m n
/p t t͡s t͡ʃ k ʔ/ p t c ć k ’
/b d d͡z d͡ʒ g/ b d z j g
/s ʃ h/ s ś h
/l r j w/ l r y w

/a e o/ a e o

Syllable structure is mostly CN, where N is a simple or complex nucleus. In word-final position, a consonant coda is permitted. I’m still undecided whether there are any word-internal clusters, but at the very least medial geminate consonants will occur.

Complex nuclei consist of a vowel followed by one of the six resonants m n l r y w. A nucleus can be short or long. When a complex nucleus is lengthened, it is mostly the resonant offglide that is audibly longer in duration. Length is indicated with an interpunct written after the nucleus.

The inventory of possible nuclei is therefore as follows:

a am an al ar ay aw
e em en el er ey ew
o om on ol or oy ow

a· am· an· al· ar· ay· aw·
e· em· en· el· er· ey· ew·
o· om· on· ol· or· oy· ow·
Last edited by DesEsseintes on 11 Feb 2019 17:05, edited 1 time in total.
User avatar
Zekoslav
sinic
sinic
Posts: 340
Joined: 07 Oct 2017 16:54

Re: Random phonology/phonemic inventory thread

Post by Zekoslav »

/m n ŋ/
/p t t͡s k/
/f s χ*/
/r/
/i e ɛ a ɔ o u/

*voiceless uvular fricative, i.e. Greek Chi

(C)V(C), with geminates, nasal + stop clusters, /tk/ and /sχ/ at the least (exact phonotactics are as of yet undecided - I might go for an Algonquian-like distribution).
Languages:
:hrv: [:D], :bih: :srb: [;)], :eng: [:D], :fra: [:|], :lat: [:(], :deu: [:'(]

A linguistics enthusiast who occasionally frequents the CBB.

- Guide to Slavic accentuation
Birdlang
greek
greek
Posts: 631
Joined: 25 Dec 2014 20:17
Location: Virginia

Re: Random phonology/phonemic inventory thread

Post by Birdlang »

Working on Proto-Birdic because I’m still trying to work on the Birdic languages.

/m n ɲ ŋ/ m n ñ ŋ
/p b t d c ɟ k g ʔ/ p b t d ť ď k g q
/f v θ ð s z ʃ ʒ x ɣ ħ ʕ h ɦ/ f v ţ ḑ s z š ž x ǥ ẋ ḩ h ğ
/ʦ ʣ ʧ ʤ/ c ʒ č ǯ
/ɻ l j ɥ ɰ w/ ż l j ÿ ẅ w
/r/ r

/i y ʉ u ʊ e ø ɵ o ə ɛ ʌ ɔ æ a ɒ/ + length: i ü y u ŭ e ö œ o ï è ä ò æ a å + macron

Old Birdic

/m n ŋ/ m n ñ / ḿ ń ŋ
/p b t d k g/ p b t d k g / ṗ ḅ ť ď ǩ ǧ
/f v s z ɕ ʑ ɣ h/ f v s z ś ź x h / ḟ ṿ š ž ĝ ĵ
/l j w/ l j w / ľ ŵ
/r/ r / ř
All consonants except ś, ź and j can be palatized, written as the second option.

/i ʉ u ʊ e ɤ o ʌ a ɒ/ i y û u e ö o ǔ a ō

Middle Birdic

/m n ɲ ŋ/ m n ỹ g̃
/p b t d c ɟ k g q ɢ ʔ/ p b t d t̃ d̃ k g ḳ ġ q/ʼ (second at end of words or syllable)
/f v s z ʃ ʒ ɕ ʑ ç ʝ x ɣ χ ʁ ħ ʕ h ɦ/ f ƀ s z š ž ś ź ṡ ż ķ ģ ḫ ǥ ḥ ə h ĥ
/p͝f b͝v ʦ ʣ ʧ ʤ ʨ ʥ c͝ç ɟ͝ʝ k͝x g͝ɣ q͝χ ɢ͝ʁ ʔ͝h/ ƥ ɓ c ʒ č ǯ ć ʒ́ ċ ʒ̇ k̂ ĝ ɋ ȝ ƽ
/l j w/ l j v
/r/ r
/ɬ ʎ̝̊/ ƚ ⱡ

/i ɨ ɯ u e ɤ o ə ɑ/ i y w u e ö o ĕ a

Standard Pheasanti
/m n ɲ ŋ/ m n ny ng
/p b t d k g kʷ gʷ/ p b t d k g kw gw
/f v s z ʃ ʒ ɕ ʑ h/ f v s z x j sy zy h
/ʧ ʤ ʨ ʥ/ ky gy ty dy
/j ʍ w/ y/ẏ hw w/ẇ
/l/ l
/r/ r

/i y u e o ə ʌ a/ i û u e o ə ʌ a
/aj aw ej ow oj ew ɥi ɥe/ aĭ aŭ eĭ oŭ oĭ eŭ ůi ůe
DV82LECM
sinic
sinic
Posts: 280
Joined: 16 Dec 2016 03:31

Re: Random phonology/phonemic inventory thread

Post by DV82LECM »

Frislander wrote: 31 Jan 2019 12:22 /p ⁿd̪ tˤ tʃ k/
/s x/
/m n~ɾ/

The flap is restricted to single intervocalic position, where single /n/ is not found. The pharyngealised alveolar stop lowers adjacent vowels/backs /a/ to [ɑ]

/i~j ɨ~ɰ u~w/
/e a o/

The high vowels are found as glides before low vowels, but are deleted before other high vowels. This can lead to the creation of contour tones on high vowels (see below). When low vowels are adjacent they form a true diphthong.

There is a two-way tonal contrast between high and low, both of which can be free-floating and neither being unmarked. These tones are to some extent free-floating, with tones being assigned to fully vocalic elements only, with deleted/de-syllabified high vowels permitting their tones to float to the nearest vowel e.g. /màtʃì-ún/ > [màtʃǔn], /pósé-èⁿd̪/ > [pósêⁿt̪], /tˤàɾɨ́-èⁿd̪/ > [tˤɑ̀ɾɰêⁿt̪].

Syllable structure is (C)(V)V(C), where VV stands for either a dipthong or a sequence of vowel and glide in either order, and a coda C may consist of any consonant. There are some assimilations which take place when consonants are adjoined. Firstly /n/ assimilates to the POA of a following consonant, e.g. /séèn-kù/ > [sêŋkù], /ⁿd̪òtˤìn-mà/ > [ⁿd̪ɔ̀tˤèmːà]. Secondly coda /ⁿd̪/ devoices word-finally and assimilates to a following obstruent, e.g. /pàùàⁿd̪/ > [pàwàⁿt̪], /kìóⁿd̪-t͡ʃí/ > [kjǒⁿt͡ʃːí]. Finally /tˤ/ adjacent to another consonant spreads it pharyngealisation through said consonant, e.g. /nɨ́p-tˤò/ > [nɘ́pˤtˤɔ̀].
I don't know WHY, but this is phenomenal to me. I would adore more.
𖥑𖧨𖣫𖦺𖣦𖢋𖤼𖥃𖣔𖣋𖢅𖡹𖡨𖡶𖡦𖡧𖡚𖠨
Jampot911
hieroglyphic
hieroglyphic
Posts: 32
Joined: 25 Dec 2016 18:13
Location: Elgin, Scotland

Re: Random phonology/phonemic inventory thread

Post by Jampot911 »

Hey! A wee experimentation, sorta based on Swedish and Osage.

/p pʰ pː t tʰ tː k kʰ kː ʔ/ <b p hp/pp d t ht/tt g k hk/kk ’>
/f s ʃ x h/ <f s sj gj h>
/ʋ~w l j ʁ̞/ <v l j r>
/m n/ <m n>

/i ĩ y~ʉ/ <i į u>
/e ø o õ/ <e ö o ǫ>
/æ ɑ ɑ̃/ <ä a ą>

Allophony
Aspirated stops can realised as stop + [x] ([ʃ] before a high vowel).
Fricatives and plain voiceless stops voiced intervocalically.
/ʋ/ realised as [w] adjacent to a rounded vowel.
[n] assimilates in POA to match a following stop.
[ʃ] may be realised as [ɕ] before a front vowel, or even [ʃx] before a back vowel.
Like Swedish, a sequence of <r> + an alveolar consonant produces a retroflex consonant.
A coda geminated stop realised as /stop(ː)ə/.

pǫsjulö [pxõʒʉlø]
hkǫsökk [kːõzøk(ː)ə]
What can I say? I like making stuff up.

Lofdǣdum sceal in mǣgþa gehƿǣre man geþeon.
Porphyrogenitos
sinic
sinic
Posts: 401
Joined: 21 Jul 2012 08:01
Location: Buffalo, NY

Re: Random phonology/phonemic inventory thread

Post by Porphyrogenitos »

A small system with suprasegmental nasality

/p t c k/
/b d ɟ g/
/h/

/a i u/ + length

Syllable structure is (C)V(V). Stress is root-initial.

Both onsets and rhymes may bear nasality, but the voiceless obstruents and /h/ cannot bear nasality.

Underlying /b̃ d̃ ɟ̃ g̃ ã ĩ ũ/ are [m n ɲ ŋ ã ẽ õ]

Intervocalically, non-nasal /b d ɟ g/ are [β ɾ j ɣ]

Nasal harmony rule: Nasality always spreads leftwards within a phonological word (i.e. including clitics) until all available slots have been filled. Voiceless non-glottal segments are opaque; nasality cannot pass through or settle upon them. The voiceless glottal cannot bear nasality, but it is transparent to nasality.

Morphemes may carry inherent tone or not:

maci /b̃aci/ 'mother'
paci 'father'

Segments may become nasal through normal harmony rules:

-mu /b̃u/ adjectivizer + macimacĩmu /b̃acĩb̃u/ 'motherly'
a DEF + maciã-maci 'the mother'

But morphemes may also carry floating tone:

paha / ̃paha/ 'uncle'
-uku / ̃uku/ DU

a + pahaã-papa 'the uncle'
paha + -ukupãhãuku 'two uncles'
User avatar
Frislander
mayan
mayan
Posts: 2088
Joined: 14 May 2016 18:47
Location: The North

Re: Random phonology/phonemic inventory thread

Post by Frislander »

Another bash at Sanskrito-Dravido-Australian

/p t̪ ʈ c k/
/m n̪ ɳ ɲ ŋ/
/ʋ~u l̪ ɭ j~i/
/r/

The glides alternate between syllabic and non-syllabic forms on the basis of ablaut, on which see more below. Similarly, the liquids may appear as syllabic consonants in the same context. Retroflex consonants

/(i iː u uː)/
/a aː/

Due to the effects of ablaut the only "true" vowels are the long and short variants of /a/. Short /i u/ occur as the syllabic variants of /j ʋ/ respectively as discussed above and the long versions of these vowels are alternants of /aj aʋ/ respectively when they do not occur before another vowel. After long vowels these glides break into /ji ʋu/ respectively before consonants and word-finally.

Now for disussion of ablaut. All roots are, at their most basic, of the shape CaC-, with a few exceptions of the form Caː-, which can be explained by recourse to a mophophone H. There are three grades of ablaut - full, reduced and lengthened. For roots which end in a stop or nasal, their full and reduced grades are identical. For those ending in anything else (i.e. a glide, liquid or H) the reduced grade instead shorts the syllabic form of the consonant (which in H's case is /a/). Lengthened grades show a long vowel in all forms, though in the case of Caː- roots this is the exact same as their full form, since overlong vowels are not found. The alternations can be summarised thusly:

Code: Select all

Full      Red.     Leng
CaT, CaN CaT, CaN CaːT, CaːN
CR̩       CaR      CaːR
Ca       Caː       Caː
Finally, when two coronals, or two dorsals except for pre-consonantal /j/ meet across a syllable boundary, a dental consonant assimilates to a retroflex and a velar assimilates to a palatal.

So some examples. The roots are /cak-/, /maɳ-/, /kaɲ-/, /ŋaʋ-/, /t̪aj-/, /ɲar-/, /l̪aː-/, and the inflections are /-t̪a/ "perfective (participle), /-aːn̪/ "1st person singular (imperfective)", /-kaɭa/ "1st person plural (imperfective), /-i/ "3rd person (imperfective).

Code: Select all

     -t̪a   -aːn̪   -kaɭa   -i
cak- cakt̪a cakaːn̪ cakkaɭa caːki
maɳ- maɳʈa maɳaːn̪ maɳkaɭa maːɳi
kaɲ- kaɲt̪a kaɲaːn̪ kaɲcaɭa kaːɲi
ŋaʋ- ŋut̪a  ŋawaːn̪ ŋuːkaɭa ŋaːwi
t̪aj- t̪it̪a  t̪ajaːn̪ t̪iːkaɭa t̪aːji
ɲar- ɲr̩t̪a  ɲaraːn̪ ɲarkaɭa ɲaːri
l̪aː- l̪at̪a  l̪aːn̪   l̪aːkaɭa l̪aːji
User avatar
Frislander
mayan
mayan
Posts: 2088
Joined: 14 May 2016 18:47
Location: The North

Re: Random phonology/phonemic inventory thread

Post by Frislander »

/p t t͡s k ʔ/
/ⁿb ⁿd ⁿd͡z ⁿg/
/m n ɲ ŋ/
/w ɾ/

The relationship between the the plain, prenasalised and nasal stop series is complicated and explained below.

/i o/
/e a/

Syllable structure is (C)V, and vowels show a true nasality contrast word-finally after /p t t͡s k ʔ w ɾ/. Otherwise vowel/consonant nasality is predictable. Pre-nasalised stops nasalise preceding vowels, while nasal consonants nasalise both preceding and following vowels. The glottal stop is transparent for nasality spread. Additionally, when a nasal vowel would appear before a plain stop, the stop becomes prenasalised (and /w ɾ/ become /m n/ in the same position, which cause further rightward nasal spread), while whenever a nasal vowel would follow a pre-nasalised stop, the pre-nasalised stop becomes a pure nasal. Additionally, pre-nasalised consonants do no occur root-initially, however certain inflections consist of a floating nasal element which causes a word-initial plain stop, /w/ or/ɾ/ to change in the same manner as word-internal pre-nasalisation.

So for example, "house", "married woman", "penis" and "tree" are /mãʔã/, /kãⁿbe/, /t͡soaɾa/ and /wito/ respectively, and the 1st, 2nd and 3rd person possessive forms are /-mẽ/, /-ko/ and /N-/, where /N/ stands for the initial nasal mutation. This gives the following inflected forms:

Code: Select all

1st mãʔãmẽ  kãmẽmẽ  t͡soaɾãmẽ witõmẽ
2nd mãʔãⁿgo kãⁿbeko t͡soaɾako witoko
3rd mãʔã    ŋãⁿbe   ⁿd͡zoaɾa  mĩⁿdo

/tʰ kʰ kʷʰ ʔ/
/p’~b t’~d k’~g kʷ’~gʷ q’~ɢ/
/f s ɬ ʃ ħ h/
/t͡s’~d͡z t͡ɬ’~d͡ɮ t͡ʃ’~d͡ʒ/
/m n/
/l j w/

The ejective stops are frequently pronounced as plain voiced stops when single in intervocalic position and after sonorants, but always ejective when geminated.

/i u/
/e o/
/ɛ ɑ/

Syllable structure is CV(C)(C), where licit consonant clusters are limited to /s ɬ ʃ/ + /f tʰ kʰ p’ t’ k’/ and /N l/ + /tʰ kʰ b d g f s ʃ d͡z d͡ʒ/, where N assimilates to the POA of a following consonant, plus intervocalically geminates are permitted as well. Additionally, the first C of a CC cluster may instead consist of a low vowel followed by a glide, which may occur before any single consonant - where morphology would cause a consonant cluster/geminate to immediately follow the diphthongs are monophthongised like so: /ɑj ɛj ɑw ɛw/ > /e e o o/.
Porphyrogenitos
sinic
sinic
Posts: 401
Joined: 21 Jul 2012 08:01
Location: Buffalo, NY

Re: Random phonology/phonemic inventory thread

Post by Porphyrogenitos »

A weird throwaway toy inventory and a weird rule that appeared in a small question on my phonology homework:

/n ŋ/
/p t t͡ʃ k/

/a e i o u/

t → t͡ʃ / _{a e i o u k ŋ}
Post Reply