Post your conlang's phonology

[clawgrip]

I've decided to revamp an old language of mine and have come up with the following phonology:

Consonants:
stops:
aspirated: /pʰ tʰ cʰ kʰ qʰ/ <p t c k q>
ejective: /pʼ tʼ cʼ kʼ qʼ/ <p' t' c' k' q'>
plain: /p t c/ <b d j>
continuants:
nasal: /m n ŋ/ <m n ng>
oral: /l ɕ χ h/ <l s x h>

I am thinking [w] and [j] may exist as allophones of /u, o/ and /i, e/ respectively.

Older */k/ and */q/ I'm thinking have merged with /ŋ/ and /x/.

Debating whether I should go with <c s>, <č š> or <ch sh>. I don't really like the carons, since there are no other diacritics. The h seems superfluous, but I am so used to using digraphs for these sounds. I might eventually choose <c, sh>, <s> is a little misleading, but <c> is pretty easy to figure out.

Vowels:
plain: /a i u e o/ <a i u e o>
glottalized: /aʔ iʔ uʔ/ <a' i' u'>

Older *e' and *o' have merged with i' and u'.

Syllable structure is just CVC, but I think I might restrict all syllable stops. Maybe before another consonant they will become unaspirated (meaning anything that would otherwise be */k/ and */q/ will probably end up as [ŋ] and [x]), and before a vowel they will be aspirated.

[WeepingElf]

Proto-Alpianic is a protolang I am currently working on for a collaborative family project in the League of Lost Languages; it is related to Old Albic, about as close as Greek is to Latin.

Consonants

/p t k/ <p t k>
/pʰ tʰ kʰ/ <ph th kh>
/pf ts kx/ <pf ts kx>
/f s x h/ <f s x h>
/m n ŋ/ <m n ń>
/l ɫ/ <l ĺ>
/r ʀ/ <r ŕ>
/j/ <j>

Vowels

/i e a o u/ <i e a o u>
/i: e: a: o: u:/ <î ê â ô û>
/ẽ ã õ/ <ẽ ã õ>

Phonotactics

Maximum syllable structure is (s)C(R)V(L), with C being any consonant, R any nasal, liquid or /j/ (if this is present, C must be an obstruent), L as R or gemination of the following consonant (i.e., alta and atta are OK, but not **akta). Word-final syllables and syllables with nasal vowels are always open, i.e. L must be zero. Long vowels occur only in stressed syllables.

Accent

Stress accent on the first syllable of the word.

--
EDIT: Forgot the long vowels; added info about stress.

[Kvan]

Proto-Alpianic is a protolang I am currently working on for a collaborative family project in the League of Lost Languages; it is related to Old Albic, about as close as Greek is to Latin.

Consonants

/p t k/ <p t k>
/pʰ tʰ kʰ/ <ph th kh>
/pf ts kx/ <pf ts kx>
/f s x h/ <f s x h>
/m n ŋ/ <m n ń>
/l ɫ/ <l ĺ>
/r ʀ/ <r ŕ>
/j/ <j>

Vowels

/i e a o u/ <i e a o u>
/ẽ ã õ/ <ẽ ã õ>

Phonotactics

Maximum syllable structure is (s)C(R)V(L), with C being any consonant, R any nasal, liquid or /j/ (if this is present, C must be an obstruent), L as R or gemination of the following consonant (i.e., alta and atta are OK, but not **akta). Word-final syllables and syllables with nasal vowels are always open, i.e. L must be zero.

That's awesome. Can /ŋ/ occur at onset? Please say yes.

[WeepingElf]

That's awesome. Can /ŋ/ occur at onset? Please say yes.

I cannot promise it to you. The sound changes are as for now only sketchy. Initial /ŋ/ originated from Proto-Hesperic */kn-/, */khn-/, */gn-/ and */xn-/ in Old Albic (the main source of medial and final /ŋ/ is */nx/, which went that way in all of West Hesperic and thus in both Old Albic and Proto-Alpianic). I don't feel like implementing the whole change in Proto-Alpianic again, but */xn-/ may have yielded /ŋ-/ in Proto-Alpianic, too.

Thank you for liking it!

--
EDIT: There is no such thing as "final /ŋ/" in Proto-Alpianic.

[roninbodhisattva]

Do you have any info on Proto-Hesperic online?

[WeepingElf]

Do you have any info on Proto-Hesperic online?

Not yet. I am planning to issue a reconstruction challenge when all eight branches of Hesperic have been rolled out.

[roninbodhisattva]

Do you have any info on Proto-Hesperic online?

Not yet. I am planning to issue a reconstruction challenge when all eight branches of Hesperic have been rolled out.

Looking forward to it!

On another note, a Uralic-y consonant inventory:

Code: Select all

p     t           k
      s     ś     x
m     n           ŋ
w     r     j
      l 

[Kvan]

I was thinking of making a sound system for a language (spoken by humanoids who have the same oral cavity as Humans) which would maximize the difficulty for transcription. In less awkward wording: I want to have a phonology which is the most difficult to transcribe in the Latin alphabet.

(Pre)Aspirated Plosives: pʰ t̼ʰ ʈʰ kʰ
Unaspirated Plosives: p t̼ ʈ k ʡ
Nasal-Release Plosives: pᵐ t̼ⁿ ʈⁿ kᵑ
Implosives: ɓ ɗ̼ ɠ
Fricatives: ð̼ ʂ ʐ ʜ ʢ
Nasals: m̥ m n̼̊ n̼ ɳ̊ ɳ ŋ̊ ŋ
Clicks: ʘʰ ʘ ʘ̃ ǁʰ ǁ ǁ̃ ‼ʰ ‼ ‼̃

Modal vowels: i ɨ ɯ ə a ɛ ʌ
Modal nasal vowels: ə̃ ã ɛ̃ ʌ̃
Strident vowels: ə^ʢ a^ʢ ɛ^ʢ ʌ^ʢ

I'd like for the language to display pitch accent too.

I think that if not difficult to transcribe it will bare minimum be an ugly transcription

[Nortaneous]

pʰ t̼ʰ ʈʰ kʰ <ph th rh kh>
p t̼ ʈ k ʡ <p t r k 1>
pᵐ t̼ⁿ ʈⁿ kᵑ <ḅ ḍ ṛ ġ>
Implosives: ɓ ɗ̼ ɠ <b d g>
Fricatives: ð̼ ʂ ʐ ʜ ʢ <l s z h c>
Nasals: m̥ m n̼̊ n̼ ɳ̊ ɳ ŋ̊ ŋ <mh m nh n ṇh ṇ ŋh ŋ>
Clicks: ʘʰ ʘ ʘ̃ ǁʰ ǁ ǁ̃ ‼ʰ ‼ ‼̃ <fh f mf xh x nx qh q nq>

Modal vowels: i ɨ ɯ ə a ɛ ʌ <i ɨ u y a e o>
Modal nasal vowels: ə̃ ã ɛ̃ ʌ̃ <ỹ ã ẽ õ>
Strident vowels: əʢ aʢ ɛʢ ʌʢ <ŷ â ê ô>

nope

The Latin alphabet isn't bad at handling consonants at all; where it chokes is vowels, especially tone. All you need to do is give it the vowel inventory of English and a complicated tone system but with final consonants and it's fucked.

[Kvan]

pʰ t̼ʰ ʈʰ kʰ <ph th rh kh>
p t̼ ʈ k ʡ <p t r k 1>
pᵐ t̼ⁿ ʈⁿ kᵑ <ḅ ḍ ṛ ġ>
Implosives: ɓ ɗ̼ ɠ <b d g>
Fricatives: ð̼ ʂ ʐ ʜ ʢ <l s z h c>
Nasals: m̥ m n̼̊ n̼ ɳ̊ ɳ ŋ̊ ŋ <mh m nh n ṇh ṇ ŋh ŋ>
Clicks: ʘʰ ʘ ʘ̃ ǁʰ ǁ ǁ̃ ‼ʰ ‼ ‼̃ <fh f mf xh x nx qh q nq>

Modal vowels: i ɨ ɯ ə a ɛ ʌ <i ɨ u y a e o>
Modal nasal vowels: ə̃ ã ɛ̃ ʌ̃ <ỹ ã ẽ õ>
Strident vowels: əʢ aʢ ɛʢ ʌʢ <ŷ â ê ô>

nope

The Latin alphabet isn't bad at handling consonants at all; where it chokes is vowels, especially tone. All you need to do is give it the vowel inventory of English and a complicated tone system but with final consonants and it's fucked.

Shit. Haha, I stand corrected. I knew the Latin alphabet was versatile but it does make sense yeah about the complicated vowel system. Perhaps that'll be the next phonology. Alsatian German's vowel system with alternate phonations, tones, nasalization and length with codas allowed in the syllable.

[Nortaneous]

I was going to try one, but I've got nothing that isn't horribly unrealistic... what natlangs are there that don't romanize well? Yi, maybe? Let's see...

/p t ts tʂ tɕ k/
/pʰ tʰ tsʰ tʂʰ tɕʰ kʰ/
/b d dz dʐ dʑ g/
/mb nd ndz ndʐ ndʑ ŋg/
/f s ʂ ɕ x h/
/v z ʐ ʑ ɣ/
/m n ɳ ɲ ŋ/
/l r j ɥ w/
/æ æː ɑ ɑː ɛ ə ɔ e eː ɤː oː i ɨ ɨː u/
/æi̯ ɑi̯ ɑːi̯ ɔi̯ oːi̯ ei̯ eːi̯ ɨi̯/
/æu̯ ɑu̯ ɑːu̯ ɛu̯ eu̯ eːu̯ iu̯/
/æə̯ eə̯ eːə̯ iə̯ ɨə̯ uə̯/
/ɨə̯i̯ uə̯i̯ iə̯u̯ ɨə̯u̯/
Tones: breathy, low rising, mid, high falling, high rising, glottalized (˩ ˩˦ ˧ ˥˧ ˧˥ ˥)

bʐɑi̯ɲ˩dɨə̯p˥˧ ŋgɑːʂ˥˧tʂʰɥuə̯˥ xleːu̯ndʑ˩˦ ɣɑu̯lts˧, ɕɑːi̯ŋg˧˥tɕʰiə̯u̯˧˥ʂhæə̯v˥ ɳuə̯i̯˩ xrɛ˥ ɣɔi̯ɲm˧. ɨə̯i̯dʑ˧˥ ʐrənd˩˦gʑiə̯t˥ tsʰe˥˧ kʰreːv˥˧ ndɨ˩zɑːu̯˩kʰɥoːt˥ xʂæi̯˧wuə̯˥ eːə̯r˧˥. xrɛ˥ ɣɑu̯l˧ ɳeːə̯m˧˥dʑæu̯ʐv˩˦ rɥɔg˩ ndʐæːlɣ˥˧.

Could make it better by adding clicks.

Best I can come up with for this is:

/p t ts tʂ tɕ k/ <p t c č ć k>
/pʰ tʰ tsʰ tʂʰ tɕʰ kʰ/ <ph th ch čh ćh kh>
/b d dz dʐ dʑ g/ <b d dz dž dź >
/mb nd ndz ndʐ ndʑ ŋg/ <mb nd ndz ndž ndź ng>
/f s ʂ ɕ x h/ <f s š ś x h>
/v z ʐ ʑ ɣ/ <v z ž ź ǧ>
/m n ɳ ɲ ŋ/ <m n ň ń ŋ>
/l r j ɥ w/ <l r j ẅ w>
/æ æː ɑ ɑː ɛ ə ɔ e eː ɤː oː i ɨ ɨː u/ <æ ææ a aa e œ o ẹ ee œœ oo i y yy u>
/æi̯ ɑi̯ ɑːi̯ ɔi̯ oːi̯ ei̯ eːi̯ ɨi̯/ <æi ai aai oi ooi ei eei yi>
/æu̯ ɑu̯ ɑːu̯ ɛu̯ eu̯ eːu̯ iu̯/ <æu au aau eu ẹu eeu iu>
/æə̯ eə̯ eːə̯ iə̯ ɨə̯ uə̯/ <æa ẹa eea ia ya ua>
/ɨə̯i̯ uə̯i̯ iə̯u̯ ɨə̯u̯/ <yai uai iau yau>
Tones: breathy, low rising, mid, high falling, high rising, glottalized (˩ ˩˦ ˧ ˥˧ ˧˥ ˥) <ä ǎ a à â ã>

Diacritic placement: Avoid æ œ when possible. Always goes on first of two vowels. In three, goes on first in diphthongs, and second in triphthongs.

bʐɑi̯ɲ˩dɨə̯p˥˧ ŋgɑːʂ˥˧tʂʰɥuə̯˥ xleːu̯ndʑ˩˦ ɣɑu̯lts˧, ɕɑːi̯ŋg˧˥tɕʰiə̯u̯˧˥ʂhæə̯v˥ ɳuə̯i̯˩ xrɛ˥ ɣɔi̯ɲm. ɨə̯i̯dʑ˧˥ ʐrənd˩˦gʑiə̯t˥ tsʰe˥˧ kʰreːv˥˧ ndɨ˩zɑːu̯˩kʰɥoːt˥ xʂæi̯˧wuə̯˥ eːə̯r˧˥. xrɛ˥ ɣɑu̯l˧ ɳeːə̯m˧˥dʑæu̯ʐv˩˦ rɥɔg˩ ndʐæːlɣ˥˧.
Bžäińdŷap ngâaščhẅũa xleeundź ǧaults, śaâingćiâušhæãv ňuäi xrẽ ǧoińm. Yâidź žrœ̌ndgźĩat chẹ̀ khrèev ndÿzäaukhẅõot xšæiwũa êear. Xrẽ ǧaul ňêeamdźæǔžv rẅög ndžæ̀ælǧ.

edit: Might also help to look at what the Latin alphabet chokes on:
* glottal stops and ejectives (apostrophes are ugly and the only other common options are <7> or the question mark-looking thing. however, chechen has <1>, which is probably the most elegant solution even though it's a straight borrowing from cyrillic)
* uvulars
* syllabic consonants
* more tones?
* labial-velars
* ʎ

[2+3 clusivity]

(Pre)Aspirated Plosives: pʰ t̼ʰ ʈʰ kʰ <ph th rh kh>
Unaspirated Plosives: p t̼ ʈ k ʡ <p t r k q>
Nasal-Release Plosives: pᵐ t̼ⁿ ʈⁿ kᵑ <pm tn rn kn>
Implosives: ɓ ɗ̼ ɠ <b d g>
Fricatives: ð̼ ʂ ʐ ʜ ʢ <l s z x ?>
Nasals: m̥ m n̼̊ n̼ ɳ̊ ɳ ŋ̊ ŋ <mh m nh n nrh nr nkh nk>
Clicks: ʘʰ ʘ ʘ̃ ǁʰ ǁ ǁ̃ ‼ʰ ‼ ‼̃ <0h 0m 1h 1 1n 2h 2 2n>

Modal vowels: i ɨ ɯ ə a ɛ ʌ <i y o u a e v>
Modal nasal vowels: ə̃ ã ɛ̃ ʌ̃ <um am em vm>
Strident vowels: əʢ aʢ ɛʢ ʌʢ <u? a? e? v?>

Accented syl marked by a !

I know this is going to create ambiguity, but its hard to know how to transcribe this inventory tightly without the phonotactics

[Nortaneous]

the Kirshenbaum method for writing clicks is kind of underappreciated around here, probably since it's not used for any natlangs besides Damin. none of this numbers shit, just do ʘʰ ʘ ʘ̃ ǁʰ ǁ ǁ̃ ‼ʰ ‼ ‼̃ <p! b! m! t! d! n! c! j! ñ!> or so

[Monk]

Mhoárunh:

Nasals: /m n ɲ ŋ/
Plosives: /p b t d (c ɟ) k g/
Fricatives: /f v s ʃ ç ʝ x ɣ/
Approximants: /l j ɰ w h/
Flap or tap: /ɾ/

/i u ɪ ʊ e o ə ɛ ɔ ɑ/

I know that /w/ isn't exactly an approximant, but eh.

[Haplogy]

So this is the new romanization challenge thread?

[Kvan]

So this is the new romanization challenge thread?

It was a brief aside, yeah.

[Pinetree]

I was going to try one, but I've got nothing that isn't horribly unrealistic... what natlangs are there that don't romanize well? Yi, maybe? Let's see...

/p t ts tʂ tɕ k/
/pʰ tʰ tsʰ tʂʰ tɕʰ kʰ/
/b d dz dʐ dʑ g/
/mb nd ndz ndʐ ndʑ ŋg/
/f s ʂ ɕ x h/
/v z ʐ ʑ ɣ/
/m n ɳ ɲ ŋ/
/l r j ɥ w/
/æ æː ɑ ɑː ɛ ə ɔ e eː ɤː oː i ɨ ɨː u/
/æi̯ ɑi̯ ɑːi̯ ɔi̯ oːi̯ ei̯ eːi̯ ɨi̯/
/æu̯ ɑu̯ ɑːu̯ ɛu̯ eu̯ eːu̯ iu̯/
/æə̯ eə̯ eːə̯ iə̯ ɨə̯ uə̯/
/ɨə̯i̯ uə̯i̯ iə̯u̯ ɨə̯u̯/
Tones: breathy, low rising, mid, high falling, high rising, glottalized (˩ ˩˦ ˧ ˥˧ ˧˥ ˥)

bʐɑi̯ɲ˩dɨə̯p˥˧ ŋgɑːʂ˥˧tʂʰɥuə̯˥ xleːu̯ndʑ˩˦ ɣɑu̯lts˧, ɕɑːi̯ŋg˧˥tɕʰiə̯u̯˧˥ʂhæə̯v˥ ɳuə̯i̯˩ xrɛ˥ ɣɔi̯ɲm˧. ɨə̯i̯dʑ˧˥ ʐrənd˩˦gʑiə̯t˥ tsʰe˥˧ kʰreːv˥˧ ndɨ˩zɑːu̯˩kʰɥoːt˥ xʂæi̯˧wuə̯˥ eːə̯r˧˥. xrɛ˥ ɣɑu̯l˧ ɳeːə̯m˧˥dʑæu̯ʐv˩˦ rɥɔg˩ ndʐæːlɣ˥˧.

Could make it better by adding clicks.

Best I can come up with for this is:

/p t ts tʂ tɕ k/ <p t c č ć k>
/pʰ tʰ tsʰ tʂʰ tɕʰ kʰ/ <ph th ch čh ćh kh>
/b d dz dʐ dʑ g/ <b d dz dž dź >
/mb nd ndz ndʐ ndʑ ŋg/ <mb nd ndz ndž ndź ng>
/f s ʂ ɕ x h/ <f s š ś x h>
/v z ʐ ʑ ɣ/ <v z ž ź ǧ>
/m n ɳ ɲ ŋ/ <m n ň ń ŋ>
/l r j ɥ w/ <l r j ẅ w>
/æ æː ɑ ɑː ɛ ə ɔ e eː ɤː oː i ɨ ɨː u/ <æ ææ a aa e œ o ẹ ee œœ oo i y yy u>
/æi̯ ɑi̯ ɑːi̯ ɔi̯ oːi̯ ei̯ eːi̯ ɨi̯/ <æi ai aai oi ooi ei eei yi>
/æu̯ ɑu̯ ɑːu̯ ɛu̯ eu̯ eːu̯ iu̯/ <æu au aau eu ẹu eeu iu>
/æə̯ eə̯ eːə̯ iə̯ ɨə̯ uə̯/ <æa ẹa eea ia ya ua>
/ɨə̯i̯ uə̯i̯ iə̯u̯ ɨə̯u̯/ <yai uai iau yau>
Tones: breathy, low rising, mid, high falling, high rising, glottalized (˩ ˩˦ ˧ ˥˧ ˧˥ ˥) <ä ǎ a à â ã>

Diacritic placement: Avoid æ œ when possible. Always goes on first of two vowels. In three, goes on first in diphthongs, and second in triphthongs.

bʐɑi̯ɲ˩dɨə̯p˥˧ ŋgɑːʂ˥˧tʂʰɥuə̯˥ xleːu̯ndʑ˩˦ ɣɑu̯lts˧, ɕɑːi̯ŋg˧˥tɕʰiə̯u̯˧˥ʂhæə̯v˥ ɳuə̯i̯˩ xrɛ˥ ɣɔi̯ɲm. ɨə̯i̯dʑ˧˥ ʐrənd˩˦gʑiə̯t˥ tsʰe˥˧ kʰreːv˥˧ ndɨ˩zɑːu̯˩kʰɥoːt˥ xʂæi̯˧wuə̯˥ eːə̯r˧˥. xrɛ˥ ɣɑu̯l˧ ɳeːə̯m˧˥dʑæu̯ʐv˩˦ rɥɔg˩ ndʐæːlɣ˥˧.
Bžäińdŷap ngâaščhẅũa xleeundź ǧaults, śaâingćiâušhæãv ňuäi xrẽ ǧoińm. Yâidź žrœ̌ndgźĩat chẹ̀ khrèev ndÿzäaukhẅõot xšæiwũa êear. Xrẽ ǧaul ňêeamdźæǔžv rẅög ndžæ̀ælǧ.

edit: Might also help to look at what the Latin alphabet chokes on:
* glottal stops and ejectives (apostrophes are ugly and the only other common options are <7> or the question mark-looking thing. however, chechen has <1>, which is probably the most elegant solution even though it's a straight borrowing from cyrillic)
* uvulars
* syllabic consonants
* more tones?
* labial-velars
* ʎ

You need to add velarized, palatalized, labialized (and all combinations of the three) stops to make it truly unromanizable.

[Nortaneous]

but realism!

[Drydic]

Use bold, italic, and underlined graphemes for important phonemic distinctions.

And post the examples in .txt files, of course.

[Nortaneous]

ákšəli ai θink đə wrst langgwidž fr đə rōmən alfəbet măit bī inggliš. ə kənfyúzing stres sistəm plăs ə lāt əv vauəls kud bi ol yu nīd.

[Yagia]

So here’s to unsurprising phonologies.
Lightyears ago, I modelled my principal conlang Vayardyio after Spanish and Italian mostly.

Later on I wanted it to display some specialties. During the last years it hasn’t changed much.

Consonants are:

Plosives: p b t d k g
Nasals: m, n
Trill: r
Fricatives: f v s z θ ç
Glides: w, j
Lateral: l

Vocals are:
i u
e ə o
a ɑ

some rules and constraints:

ANY word can only end in a e i o u (ə in some flectional endings)

word-initial consonant clusters are limited:

ç + [ j ]
f, g, k, p + [ l, r ]
s + [ f, k, kr, m, t, tr ]
t + [ r ]

no diphtongs; no mid-open vowels such as ɛ and ɔ : when /e/ is followed by a consonant, it tends to change into /i/ (except in some dialects); /o/ changes into /u/

Like it? I think it sounds fine.

[Kvan]

I was going to try one, but I've got nothing that isn't horribly unrealistic... what natlangs are there that don't romanize well? Yi, maybe? Let's see...

(removed to save space)

Could make it better by adding clicks.

Awesome idea! I'll trim the palato-alveolars, add both labial-velars and linguo-labials as well as those clicks.


/pʰ t̼ʰ tʰ tsʰ ʈʰ ʈʂʰ kʰ qʰ/
/p t̼ t ts ʈ ʈʂ k q ʡ/
/b d̼ d dz ɖ ɖʐ g ɢ/
/mb n̼d̼ nd ndz ɳɖ ɳɖʐ ŋg/
/m̥ m n̼̊ n̼ n̥ n ɳ̊ ɳ ŋ̊ ŋ/
/ð̼ s z ʂ ʐ x ɣ ʜ ʢ/
/l ɭ ʟ~ɡ͡ʟ/
/ʘʰ ʘ ɡʘ ǃʰ ǃ gǃ ǁʰ ǁ gǁ/
/æ æː ɑ ɑː ɛ ə ɔ e eː ɤː oː i ɨ ɨː u/
/æi̯ ɑi̯ ɑːi̯ ɔi̯ oːi̯ ei̯ eːi̯ ɨi̯/
/æu̯ ɑu̯ ɑːu̯ ɛu̯ eu̯ eːu̯ iu̯/
/æə̯ eə̯ eːə̯ iə̯ ɨə̯ uə̯/
/ɨə̯i̯ uə̯i̯ iə̯u̯ ɨə̯u̯/
Tones: strident, breathy, low rising, mid, high falling, high rising, rising-falling.

Syllable allows for something akin to CVVVC or CVVVCC. I'm not sure exactly yet.

[8Deer]

Azorese (Axôlmae):

Consonants:
Nasals: /m n *ɲ/ <m n *nh>
Stops: /p ɓ t ɗ k ɠ ʡ ʔ/ <p b t d k g q '>
Affricates: /ts tɬ/ <ts tl>
Fricatives: /*f s ɬ ʃ h/ <*f s lh x h>
Approximants: /ɹ l j w/ <r l y w>
*Occur only in loanwords, mostly from Portuguese.

- The language is in the process of losing its affricates. Earlier /*tʃ/ already became /ʃ/.
- The voiceless laterals aren't found in most modern dialects, they have either merged /tɬ ɬ/ with /t s/, or with /l/.
- /ʡ/ can be realised as pretty much any "guttural" ([ʡ~ʜ~ʕ~ħ]), although [ʡ] is considered standard.

Vowels:
Vowels: /i e ɛ a ʌ ɤ ɯ/ <i e ê a ô o u>
Closing Diphthongs: /ɛɪ ɛʊ aɪ aʊ ɔɪ ɔʊ/ <êi êu ai au ôi ôu>
Centering Diphthongs: /iə eə ɛə aə ɔə oə uə/ <ie ee êe ae ôe oe ue>

- The most important feature of the Azorese vowel system is that roundedness isn't distinctive. Instead, back vowels are rounded in diphthongs and before a labial or velar consonant. Some onomatopoeic words also contain round vowels. /a/ is a central vowel, and never rounds.
- The centering diphthongs are mostly remnants of Old Azorese word-final overlong vowels.

[WeepingElf]

Azorese (Axôlmae):

Darn! I also have a project named Azorese (native name not yet determined) - an Albic language spoken on the Azores in the League of Lost Languages. It hasn't advanced far, though.

Consonants:
Nasals: /m n *ɲ/ <m n *nh>
Stops: /p ɓ t ɗ k ɠ ʡ ʔ/ <p b t d k g q '>
Affricates: /ts tɬ/ <ts tl>
Fricatives: /*f s ɬ ʃ h/ <*f s lh x h>
Approximants: /ɹ l j w/ <r l y w>
*Occur only in loanwords, mostly from Portuguese.

- The language is in the process of losing its affricates. Earlier /*tʃ/ already became /ʃ/.
- The voiceless laterals aren't found in most modern dialects, they have either merged /tɬ ɬ/ with /t s/, or with /l/.
- /ʡ/ can be realised as pretty much any "guttural" ([ʡ~ʜ~ʕ~ħ]), although [ʡ] is considered standard.

A handsome consonant inventory, and a sensible romanization.

Vowels:
Vowels: /i e ɛ a ʌ ɤ ɯ/ <i e ê a ô o u>
Closing Diphthongs: /ɛɪ ɛʊ aɪ aʊ ɔɪ ɔʊ/ <êi êu ai au ôi ôu>
Centering Diphthongs: /iə eə ɛə aə ɔə oə uə/ <ie ee êe ae ôe oe ue>

- The most important feature of the Azorese vowel system is that roundedness isn't distinctive. Instead, back vowels are rounded in diphthongs and before a labial or velar consonant. Some onomatopoeic words also contain round vowels. /a/ is a central vowel, and never rounds.
- The centering diphthongs are mostly remnants of Old Azorese word-final overlong vowels.

Your idea of having roundness allophones in back vowels is interesting. Conditioning by a labial consonant makes perfect sense; conditioning by a velar consonant is less straightforward, but why not?

[8Deer]

Azorese (Axôlmae):

Darn! I also have a project named Azorese (native name not yet determined) - an Albic language spoken on the Azores in the League of Lost Languages. It hasn't advanced far, though.

Heh, yeah I've seen that before. And here I thought I was being so unique!

Consonants:
Nasals: /m n *ɲ/ <m n *nh>
Stops: /p ɓ t ɗ k ɠ ʡ ʔ/ <p b t d k g q '>
Affricates: /ts tɬ/ <ts tl>
Fricatives: /*f s ɬ ʃ h/ <*f s lh x h>
Approximants: /ɹ l j w/ <r l y w>
*Occur only in loanwords, mostly from Portuguese.

- The language is in the process of losing its affricates. Earlier /*tʃ/ already became /ʃ/.
- The voiceless laterals aren't found in most modern dialects, they have either merged /tɬ ɬ/ with /t s/, or with /l/.
- /ʡ/ can be realised as pretty much any "guttural" ([ʡ~ʜ~ʕ~ħ]), although [ʡ] is considered standard.

A handsome consonant inventory, and a sensible romanization.

Thank you!

Vowels:
Vowels: /i e ɛ a ʌ ɤ ɯ/ <i e ê a ô o u>
Closing Diphthongs: /ɛɪ ɛʊ aɪ aʊ ɔɪ ɔʊ/ <êi êu ai au ôi ôu>
Centering Diphthongs: /iə eə ɛə aə ɔə oə uə/ <ie ee êe ae ôe oe ue>

- The most important feature of the Azorese vowel system is that roundedness isn't distinctive. Instead, back vowels are rounded in diphthongs and before a labial or velar consonant. Some onomatopoeic words also contain round vowels. /a/ is a central vowel, and never rounds.
- The centering diphthongs are mostly remnants of Old Azorese word-final overlong vowels.

Your idea of having roundness allophones in back vowels is interesting. Conditioning by a labial consonant makes perfect sense; conditioning by a velar consonant is less straightforward, but why not?

Yeah, originally I had labiovelar phonemes which conditioned roundness. When I got rid of those, I kept the rule that back vowels round before velars. I'm not really sure how to justify it, but weird things happen sometimes and as you said, why not?

Phonotactics are basically up in the air at this point, but I'm thinking of a basic syllable structure of (C)V(V)(C)(C).