Random phonology/phonemic inventory thread

[Visions1]

Might be of interest:
https://sail.usc.edu/span/beatboxingproject/

[LinguoFranco]

Consonant inventory for my current project:

/m n/
/b t d t͡s~t͡ʃ k kʷ/
/ɸ s ʃ x xʷ/
/l~r j w/

I might add a couple of retroflex consonants later. Idk.

[VaptuantaDoi]

I'saka clone

/p t k/
/b d dʒ/

/i u e o a/

Syllables can be nasal or not. Nasality spreads leftwards but is blocked by voiceless stops. In nasal syllables, vowels are nasalised and /b d dʒ/ become [m n ɲ]. /p t k/ become [mm nn ŋŋ] word-initially and [m n ŋ] otherwise. /p k b d/ are [ɸ x w l~ɾ] between two oral vowels, or C_V

/ketoN/ → [kenõ]
/kedoN/ → [ŋŋẽnõ]
/atuN/ → [anũ]
/aduN/ → [ãnũ]
/keNdo/ → [ŋŋẽdo]
/deko/ → [dexo]
/ddaN/ → [nɾã]
/kbikidʒiN/ → [kwiŋĩɲĩ]

There's probably also tone.

[thethief3]

*b *d *dʲ *g *gʲ *gʷ
*p *t *tʲ *k *kʲ *kʷ
*pʰ *tʰ *tʲʰ *kʰ *kʲʰ *kʷʰ
*s *sʲ *x *xʲ *xʷ
*l *l
*w *j
*m *n *nʲ
30 Consonants

*i *u
*e *o
*a *å

In closed syllables these become laxed and centralised and *å merges with *o except in contact with labials where it merges with *a. Vowels in stressed (odd) syllables especially the one which receives primary stress (the first one).

There is one true diphthong *au which is distinguished from vowel sequences in its behaviour in closed syllables becoming *o which is very much like *o in open syllables. It contrasts with phonemic *o in these positions by the latter being laxed and centralised. In addition two vowel sequences could occur quite frequently (with *au never contrasting with *a+u) except for the fact that the low vowels tend to merge in these positions. In addition vowel + *j sequences exist which often marks the accusative and these are distinguished from vowel + *i sequences in that the first vowel is lax.

Other details
*wu or *uw sequences occur but never *ji or *ij sequences despite the latter deriving historically from another consonant while the former doesn’t
Voicing works by progressive assimilation so *ds is valid and would be pronounced *dz but *sd would become *st. Aspirates however aspirate the fricatives they are in contact with. However in general coda obstruents were rare and most often occur via sporadic loss of vowels between morpheme boundaries.
*w cannot occur in coda

[thethief3]

*m *n *ɳ *ŋ
*b *d *ɖ *g
*p *t *ʈ *k
*ł *h
*w *l *ɻ *j

*i *u
*e *o
*a

Syllable structure was CCGVCCC maximally however the final C could only be added in inflection namely *-t in final plurals and *-ł in the subjunctive.

Permissible initial CC
*h + voiceless obstruent or sonorant
Nasal + Homorganic consonant
*ł + voiceless stop

Permissible final CC
Fricative + Stop
Nasal + Stop/Fricative
Approximant + Consonant

[Knox Adjacent]

Monophthongs
i ɨ ʉ u
e ɘ ɵ o
ɛ ɜ ɞ ɔ
a ɒ

Diphthongs
ɪi ʊu
ɪə ʊə
ɛe ɔo
ɛə ɔə

aɪ aʊ
əɛ əo


The consonantalism is irrelevant, but I picture a middling Romance/Germanic inventory

[Arayaz]

Impressive to distinguish that many monophthongs, especially the central ones. /e ɘ ɵ o ɛ ɜ ɞ ɔ/ seems rather unrealistic ─ do you know of a natlang precedent?

[Knox Adjacent]

Large inventories happen. And, offhand, there's nothing ripped off, but let's pretend there's a morphologized centralization process akin to umlaut. Sometimes you just go with the snapshot in time idea without ever expecting it to last a millennium.

[VaptuantaDoi]

Bear in mind that Karajá exists and distinguishes all of /ɨ̘ ɨ ɘ ə a/

[Arayaz]

Bear in mind that Karajá exists and distinguishes all of /ɨ̘ ɨ ɘ ə a/

Ah yeah, Karajá. I felt like there was something like that, just couldn't put my finger on it.

[Creyeditor]

Inspired by mainland south east asian langs:

/m n ɲ ŋ/ <m n nh ng>
/ɓ b ɗ d t tʰ c cʰ k kʰ/ <b p đ d t th c ch k kh>
/β f v s z ʃ x/<v ph w x gi s kh>
/w r l j/<qu r l y>

/i iː ɯ ɯː u uː/<ị i ự ư ụ u>
/e eː ɤ ɤː o oː/<ẹ e ợ ơ ọ o>
/a a:/<ạ a>

Tone and phonation are combined.
high level tone, creaky: <ả>, realized as a creaky voiced high pitch vowel /á̰/ or with an intervening glottal stop for long vowels /áʔá/
high rising tone, creaky: <á>, realized as a creaky voiced rising pitch vowel /a̰᷄/ with a following glottal stop [a̰᷄ʔ] at the end of a word
low level tone, creaky: <a>, realized as a creaky voiced low pitch vowel /à̰/
mid level tone: <a>, realized with a mid level pitch vowel /ā/ but varies a lot with context.
low level tone, breathy: <ã>, realized as a breathy voiced low pitch vowel /à̤/ or with an intervening [ɦ] for long vowels /à̤ɦà̤/
low falling tone, creaky: <à>, realized as a creaky voiced low falling pitch vowel /ā̰à̰/, slightly lengthened, often occurs in word-final position.

Major syllables can end in any nasal, plain voiceless stop or glide. Major syllables with a stop coda count as checked and cannot bear all of the tones. Minor syllables can only occur before a major syllable and are always open and always have /ɤ/ as their vowel. Minor syllables bear no tone at all. All consonants can appear in onset positions. All tones can appear on smooth (i.e. non-checked) major syllables. All dialects merge some of the non-nasal sonorants and/or voiced fricatives.

[Omzinesý]

p͡f t͡θ t͡s k͡x
p t k ʔ
f θ s x h
m n ŋ
mṼ nṼ ŋṼ
r
j w

i y ɨ u
ɛ ɔ
ä
Flat tone, rising tone, lowering tone (the contour tones having a longer vowel)

CV(C)
Stress on the last syllable if exists.

[Omzinesý]

A lang with nearly CV syllable structure

Onsets:
p t t͡ʃ k
pʰ tʰ t͡ʃʰ kʰ
p' t' t͡ʃ' k'
m n ɲ ŋ
l ʎ
s ʃ h

Glides:
j w

Nuclei:
i u
e o
æ ɒ

Codas:
ʔ h

Phonotactics:
(C)(G)V(C)

There can be just one glottalized/aspirated consonant per word.

[DV82LECM]

Something Australian-ish:

/p t (ʈ) (c) k (kʷ)/ <p t (rt) (ty) k (kw)>
/m n (ɳ) (ɲ) ŋ (ŋʷ)/ <m n (rn) (ny) ŋ (ŋw)>
/l ɾ (ɭ) (ʎ) j w/ <l r (rl) (ly) y w>
/(h)/ <(h)>

/i u/ <i u>
/a/ <a>

/mp mb nt nd ŋk ŋg/
/lm ln lŋ lp lt lk lw/
/ɾm ɾŋ ɾp ɾk ɾj ɾw/

•/l ɾ/ may not begin words.
•only /n l ɾ/ may be C1; /t/ may be word final; at morpheme boundaries, /l: ɾ: t:/ simplify to /l ɾ t/.
•/j/ as C2 with /n l t/ as C1 render [ɲ ʎ c].
•/ɾ/ as C1 with /n l t/ as C2 render [ɳ ɭ ʈ].
•/n/ as C1 with /m n ŋ/ as C2 render [mb nd ŋg].
•any consonant may exist intervocalically, and C2 (permitted liquid clusters include /ɾl [ɭ] ɾj ɾw lj [ʎ] lw/); /lɾ/ has metathesized to /ɾl [ɭ]/.
•at morpheme boundaries, /-t/ becomes /-l/ when C1, expect with /j/, becoming /c/, and /w/, becoming /kʷ/; /tl tɾ/ metathesize to /lt ɾt [ʈ]/.
•at morpheme boundaries, /-n/ assimilates to C2, expect with /j/, becoming /ɲ/, and /w/, becoming /ŋʷ/; /nl nɾ/ metathesize to /ln ɾn [ɳ]/.
•/h/ is epenthetic between vowels.

[Omzinesý]

Consonants (C)
p' t' k' q'
p t k q
m n
f s χ
l lˠ

glides (G)
j w

vowels (V)
i: u:
ɪ ʊ
ə
ä

Maximal syllable
CGVC

[Omzinesý]

t' k' k'ʷ q'ʷ
p t k kʷ qʷ ʔ
s ɬ h
m n
l j ɣ w ʁ ʁʷ

i u
ə
ä

ə -> o, ä -> ɒ next to a labialized consonant

Vowels are short or long and high-toned or low-toned.

Short schwa has atendency to reduce if it does not leave horrible consonant clusters.

[HolyHandGrenade!]

/pʰ~fʰ/ ⟨p⟩ /tʰ~θʰ/ ⟨t⟩ /kʰ~h/ ⟨k⟩ /b~v/ ⟨b⟩ /d~ð/ ⟨d⟩ /ɡ~ɣ~ʔ/ ⟨ɡ⟩ /s~ʃ/ ⟨s⟩ /l~ɹ/ ⟨r⟩ /m~n/ ⟨n⟩
/i/⟨i⟩ /a/ ⟨a⟩ /u/ ⟨o⟩

CV(V)
V includes [l̍~ɹ̍~ɚ]
Word-initial C can be omitted before VV

[Frislander]

/p t k ʔ̃/
/b b̃ d d̃/
/s h̃/

/i e a o u/

Nasalisation is contrasts on vowels. Vowels are automatically nasalised before nasal consonants.

Non-nasal /b d/ lenite to [v r] in intervocalic position. /b̃ d̃/ nasalise to [m n] before nasal vowels.

Syllable structure is CV.

[HolyHandGrenade!]

/p t k ʔ̃/
/b b̃ d d̃/
/s h̃/

/i e a o u/

Nasalisation is contrasts on vowels. Vowels are automatically nasalised before nasal consonants.

Non-nasal /b d/ lenite to [v r] in intervocalic position. /b̃ d̃/ nasalise to [m n] before nasal vowels.

Syllable structure is CV.

What’s the difference between [b̃] and [m]?

[Frislander]

/p t k ʔ̃/
/b b̃ d d̃/
/s h̃/

/i e a o u/

Nasalisation is contrasts on vowels. Vowels are automatically nasalised before nasal consonants.

Non-nasal /b d/ lenite to [v r] in intervocalic position. /b̃ d̃/ nasalise to [m n] before nasal vowels.

Syllable structure is CV.

What’s the difference between [b̃] and [m]?

Ah I forgot to mention, that /b b̃/ merge as word-initially, and ditto for alveolar series