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Phonology and Orthography
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General phonology and morphophonology
This public article was written by [Deactivated User], and last updated on 23 Mar 2017, 16:18.

[comments] Menu 1. Consonants 2. Vowels 3. Special pronounciation rules 4. Semivowels 5. Lenition 6. Vowel alterations In this article, I'll list all the phonemes in Cathilean, and describe how the orthography works. In the end, I will also explain some rules of affixation, and how you treat a word before you put an affix to it.
[top]Consonants

Plosives:
Phoneme:
Grapheme:
/k
<c, q
g
g
t
t
d
d
p
p
b/
b>


Nasals:
Phoneme:
Grapheme:

<ng
n
n
m/
m>


Fricatives:
Phoneme:
Grapheme
/x
<ch
s
s, c
θ
þ, th
ð
ð, dh
f
f, ph
v/
f, bh>


Liquids/Glides:
Phoneme:
Grapheme:
/l
<l
ɾ
r
j
*
w/
*>

* I'll come back to it.

[top]Vowels

Short vowels:
Phoneme:
Grapheme:

<a
e
e, æ
i
i
o
o, ao
y
u
ɜ/
y>


Long vowels:
Phoneme:
Grapheme:
/ä:
e:
è, æ̀
i:
ì, io, ìo, eì
o:
ò, ào, òi
y:
ù, eù, iu, où, ùe, ùo
ɜ:/
ỳ>


Diphthongs:
Phoneme:
Grapheme:
/äi̯
<ai, au
äʊ̯
auo
æi̯
ae
ei̯
ei, eu, aei, aeu
eʊ̯
aio
oi̯/
oe, ou, oei>


[top]Special pronounciation rules

There are quite a few things that might seem confusing about the Cathilean orthography. Following are some rules to determine how to pronounce a word by looking at the orthography:

  • Strange vowel combinations: See own paragraph.
  • Lenited consonants: See own paragraph.
  • The letter <c> (at its own) has two different pronounciations. When it precedes /e/, /i/ or /j/, it is pronounced /s/. Additionally, /j/ is dropped after the <c>. In any other instance, it is pronounced /k/. To achieve a /k/-sound before a front vowel, you have to use <cqu> instead. Examples: càdh /kä:/, centr /sentʊɾ/, ceaigh /säi̯/, cquìmh /ki:u/
  • <f> is pronounced /f/ at the start of a word, and /v/ elsewhere. Example: faich /fäi̯/, hàf /ä:v/
  • If a word ends in a consonant followed by an <r>, place an [ʊ] before it. Example: arcr /äɾkʊɾ/
  • <h> is not pronounced. Example: handh /än/
  • <ng> is pronounced /ŋ/ at the start of a word, and /ŋg/ word-medially. Example: peanga /pjäŋgä/, ngàth /ŋä:/
  • If a semivowel follows a consonant at the end of the word, or appears between two consonants, it changes place with the first consonant. Example: àmearch /ä:mjäjɾ/
  • If a /w/ (the phoneme) occurs at the end of a word, or before another consonant, it is pronounced [u]. This new vowel does not form difthongs, and is pronounced as a separate syllable. Example: pèrimh /pe:ɾiu/


[top]Semivowels


Here is a table that shows how to write /w/ and /j/ before the different vowels and diphthongs:

/j//w/
/jä(:)/ea, ua, eà, uà/wä(:)/oi, oì
/je(:)/ie, ue, iæ, uæ, iè, uè, iæ̀, uæ̀/we(:)/aoe, uae, aoè, uaè
/wi(:)/aoi, uai, aoì, uaì
/jo(:)/eo, uo, eao, uao, eò, uò, eào, uào
/jy(:)/iu, iù/wy(:)/aou, uau, aoù, uaù
/jɜ(:)/ey, uy, eỳ, uỳ/wɜ(:)/aoy, uay, aoỳ, uaỳ
/jäi̯/eai, eau/wäi̯/oie, oiu
/jäʊ̯/eauo
/jæi̯/iae/wæi̯/oae
/jei̯/iei, ieu, uei/wei̯/aoei, aoeu, uaei, uaeu
/jeʊ̯/eaio, eaìo
/joi̯/ioe, eou


[top]Lenition

Lenition is a change made to some consonants in a certain position in a word.

OriginalLenitedRealization word-
finally
Realization before
consonants
Realization between
vowels
gghgh /j/g /g~ɣ/, c /k/
ddhdh /Ø/dh, d /ð/, t /t/
bbhbh /w/bh, b /v/, p /p/
cchch /j/ch /x/
tthth /Ø/þ /θ/
pphph /w/ph /f/
ngnghngh /j/ngh /jN/*ng /ŋg/, c /k/
ndndhndh /n:/ndh /N/*nd /nd/, t /t/
mbmbhmbh /w/mbh /wN/*mb /mb/, p /p/
ncnchnch /j/nch /jN/*nc /ŋk/
ntnthnth /n:/nth /N/*nt /nt/
mpmphmph /w/mph /wN/*mp /mp/
mmhmh /w/m /m/, mm /m:/

*A capital <N> represents a nasal that assimilates in place of articulation with the following consonant, unless it is a fricative.

[top]Vowel alterations


Umlaut
If you add an affix of which the first vowel is either <a> or <o> (also if it is a diphthong or a vowel with a semivowel, you have to change the last vowel of the stem. These mutations also apply to prefixes when the word they are attached to begins with one of these vowels. This is called a-umlaut and o-umlaut respectively, and works as shown in the following table. If there is more than one possible outcome, there are no rules for which to use, and this is individual for every word.

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