Cjaéan phonology
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Phonology of the Cjaéan language
This public article was written by [Deactivated User], and last updated on 25 May 2014, 21:14.
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1. Cjaéan phonology
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Cjaéan grammars traditionally arranges the language's sixteen consonants as shown in the following table. This arrangement plays an important role in the language's morphology, as it features word-initial consonant mutation (lenition). Consonants are always mutated at the same place of articulation (i.e. the same row in the table), moving to the right a certain number of steps depending on the grammatical environment.
| Hard | Soft | Hissed | Hummed | Vocalised | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Labial | /kʷ/ | /p/ | /m/ | /w/ | |
| Coronal | /t̪/ | /t͡s/ | /s/ | /n/ | /r/ |
| Dorsal | /k/ | /c͡ç//t͡ɕ/ | /ç//ɕ/ | /ɲ/ | /j/ |
| Glottal | /ʔ/ | /h/ |
Note that the pairs /c͡ç/ ~ /t͡ɕ/ and /ç/ ~ /ɕ/ were once allophonic in the onset position, but have since diverged and have become phonemic. In the coda position, however, they remain allophonic (with /ç/ being the phonemic quality) .
There are four vowel qualities in Cjaéan, which are simply arranged in the following pattern.
| Front | Back | |
|---|---|---|
| High | /i/ | /o/ |
| Low | /e/ | /a/ |
Vowel length is phonemic, and two lengths are distinguished: short and long.
There are no diphthongs; all vowel sequences are pronounced in hiatus.
There is a significant amount of allophony in Cjaéan, particularly amongst consonants, with most phonemes having one or more variants that appear in certain situations.
- Voiceless onsets in unstressed syllables are voiced intervocalically.
- /r/ is realised as a lateral /l/ when appearing before a consonant other than another /r/.
- /r/ is realised as a flap when appearing word-finally after a long vowel.
- /j/ is realised as /ʎʎ/ when geminated.
- /j/ is realised as /ç/ word-finally.
- /ç/ is realised as /ɕ/ before of /i/.
- /c͡ç/ is realised as /t͡ɕ/ before /i/.
- /ɲ/ is realised as /ŋ/ before /k/ and /kʷ/.
Cjaéan syllable structure is CVC. The onset may be any consonant and is mandatory word-initially and optional elsewhere. Though it may not be explicitly marked in writing, any word that appears to begin with vowel in fact carries an implicit /ʔ/. Unlike the onset, the coda is optional and heavily restricted. Only /r/, /n/, /ɲ/, /s/, /ç/ and /j/ may appear in the coda. Voiced codas count as a mora and may therefore only follow short vowels. The voiceless /s/ and /ç/ do not count as morae and therefore may follow either short or long vowels.
Geminated consonants are distinguished from single consonants. For example, /tana/ and /tanna/ are distinct. Furthermore, Cjaéan distinguishes between codas and onsets. Therefore, /ta.na/ and /tan.a/ are also distinct.
Cjaéan is mora-timed, with all syllables being either monomoraic ("light") or bimoraic ("heavy"). No more than two morae may appear in the same syllable, and this does prevent certain VC combinations.
Morae are determined as follows:
- Onsets do not count as a mora.
- Short vowels count as one mora.
- Long vowels count as two morae.
- Voiced codas (/r/, /n/, /ɲ/, /j/) count as one mora.
- Voiceless codas (/s/, /ç/) do not count as a mora.
Because no more than two morae can appear in a single syllable, a voiced coda cannot follow a long vowel.
Stress in Cjaéan is weight-sensitive, with bimoraic ("heavy") syllables attracting stress. To determine where the primary stress occurs, the following rules are used:
- If there are only light syllables, the word is stressed on the first syllable.
- If there is only one heavy syllable, that syllable is stressed.
- If there are multiple heavy syllables, then the first receives the primary stress, unless it is in the first syllable, in which case the second heavy syllable is stressed.
Secondary stress will always be attracted by other heavy syllables. In general, the stress pattern tends towards a trochaic stressed-unstressed-stressed-unstressed rhythm. ✎ Edit Article ✖ Delete Article
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