äreolang scratchpad
Posted: Thu Jun 26, 2014 9:12 am
This'll be a general repository to keep me working. We'll start with Msěrsca's phonology (which hasn't changed much since I first posted it in September), orthography (which has), and whatever else this post ends up including.
/p b t d k/
/f s x/
/m n/
/r l j w/
/a ɛ ɪ o ʏ s̩ m̩ n̩/
/aː ɛː iː oː øː ʉː/
-syllables are (c(c))(v)(c(c))
-nasal + stop, nasal + fricative, /f s/ + stop, fricative + nasal, /tf df kf ps bs ts ds ks px tx/, /k/ + other stop, stop + /r l/, and fricative + /r l/ are allowed onsets, as are any of those clusters + /j/
-/mp mps nt nk nks sp st sk ps ts ks ms ns rs rt ls lt tx kt pj bj tj dj kj fj sj hj mj nj rj lj/ are possible codas
-/pj bj tj dj kj fj sj hj mj nj rj lj/ are [pç bʝ tʃ~c dʒ c fç ʃ ç mɲ ɲ ʒ ʎ]; in some dialects, /p b t d k f s x m n r l/ are [pʲ bʲ tʃ dʒ c fʲ ʃ ç mʲ ɲ rʲ ʎ] before /i/
-/ktj kdj/ are [ks gz]
-/r/ is [ɾ] intervocalically and finally
-/b d/ lenite intervocalically to [v ð]; palatalization before /i/ still applies
-/ji jiː wy wʉː/ do not occur beyond loanwords
-/px tx/ are [ʍ θ]
-/mx nx/ are [w ð]
-unvoiced consonants in /mf nf ms ns fb fd sb sd df bs ds kb kd/ assimilate to voiced
-/i o ʏ/ do not occur in stressed open syllables; in some dialects, neither does /ɛ/
-/s̩ m̩ n̩/ only occur in monosyllables or after a consonant, i.e. they do not begin multisyllabic words
-/a/ is [a] in closed syllables, [ɔ] everywhere else
-/i o y/ are [ɪ ɔ ʏ] in closed syllables, [ɪ~i u ʏ~y] in unstressed open syllables
-stress is usually on the first syllable; in words with long vowels, the first long vowel is usually stressed, e.g. sama -[ˈsamɔ] water but samá [sɔˈmoː] expanse; something like [sɔˈmɔ] is possible, but unlikely
-the first consonant in a cluster after a stressed vowel in a multisyllabic word will typically be parsed as a coda, e.g. mosca [ˈmɔs.kɔ] scholar but moscí [muˈsciː] fish
The consonants are represented rather straightforwardly; the written vowels contain a bit more etymological information. We'll explain them, then, diachronically. Msěrsca ~1000 BP had a tame set of short and long vowels—five each, in the typical configuration: /a ɛ i ɔ u aː eː iː oː uː/, whence <a e i o u á é í ó ú>. It also had the diphthongs /aɛ ɛa eːa ia iːa ɔa oːa ua uːa/ <ae ea éa ia ía oa óa ua úa>.
aː → ɔː → Central oː, Southeastern ɔu, Northern ɔɑ
uː → ʉː → Southeastern yː
eː → jɛ, jɛː
oː → wɛ → Central øː, Southeastern œʏ, Northern aɪ
iː → Northern ɛɪ
aɛ → aː
ɛa → ja
eːa → Central/Southeastern jɛː, Central/Northern ɛː
ia → ja
iːa → iː(j)a → Northern iː
ɔa → wa
oːa → Central øːa, Southeastern œɥa, Northern ɔɑ
ua → wa
uːa → Northern uː; Central ʉː(ɥ)a → Southeastern yː(ɥ)a
Some examples:
ául fuel C [oːʏl], S [ɔwʏɫ], N [ɔɑɫ]*
fóa fan, frond C [ˈføːɔ], S [ˈfœɥɔ], N [fɔɑ]
núal rope C [ˈnʉːal], S [ˈnyːaɫ], N [nuːɫ]
tós loaf C [tøːs], S [tœʏs], N [taɪʃ]
ílas all-out C [ˈiːlas], S [ˈiːɫas], N [ˈɛɪlas]
měit honey C [mɲɛc], S [mɲɛc], N [mɲɛtʃ]
dáně originate(s) (v., singular present) C [ˈdoːɲɛ], S [ˈdɔuɲɛ], N [ˈdɔɑɲɪ]
cól wheel C [køːl], S [kœʏɫ], N [kaɪɫ]
*This means that, in Northern dialects, ául fuel and ál beer are homophones—which might be reflective of the Northern way of life if only those icefuckers drank beer or mead (měteál) like the good people of the Center and Southeast instead of dobo [ˈdɔvu] which is more or less vodka and probably originated (dáněte) with barbarian tribes further to the north and east.
/p b t d k/
/f s x/
/m n/
/r l j w/
/a ɛ ɪ o ʏ s̩ m̩ n̩/
/aː ɛː iː oː øː ʉː/
-syllables are (c(c))(v)(c(c))
-nasal + stop, nasal + fricative, /f s/ + stop, fricative + nasal, /tf df kf ps bs ts ds ks px tx/, /k/ + other stop, stop + /r l/, and fricative + /r l/ are allowed onsets, as are any of those clusters + /j/
-/mp mps nt nk nks sp st sk ps ts ks ms ns rs rt ls lt tx kt pj bj tj dj kj fj sj hj mj nj rj lj/ are possible codas
-/pj bj tj dj kj fj sj hj mj nj rj lj/ are [pç bʝ tʃ~c dʒ c fç ʃ ç mɲ ɲ ʒ ʎ]; in some dialects, /p b t d k f s x m n r l/ are [pʲ bʲ tʃ dʒ c fʲ ʃ ç mʲ ɲ rʲ ʎ] before /i/
-/ktj kdj/ are [ks gz]
-/r/ is [ɾ] intervocalically and finally
-/b d/ lenite intervocalically to [v ð]; palatalization before /i/ still applies
-/ji jiː wy wʉː/ do not occur beyond loanwords
-/px tx/ are [ʍ θ]
-/mx nx/ are [w ð]
-unvoiced consonants in /mf nf ms ns fb fd sb sd df bs ds kb kd/ assimilate to voiced
-/i o ʏ/ do not occur in stressed open syllables; in some dialects, neither does /ɛ/
-/s̩ m̩ n̩/ only occur in monosyllables or after a consonant, i.e. they do not begin multisyllabic words
-/a/ is [a] in closed syllables, [ɔ] everywhere else
-/i o y/ are [ɪ ɔ ʏ] in closed syllables, [ɪ~i u ʏ~y] in unstressed open syllables
-stress is usually on the first syllable; in words with long vowels, the first long vowel is usually stressed, e.g. sama -[ˈsamɔ] water but samá [sɔˈmoː] expanse; something like [sɔˈmɔ] is possible, but unlikely
-the first consonant in a cluster after a stressed vowel in a multisyllabic word will typically be parsed as a coda, e.g. mosca [ˈmɔs.kɔ] scholar but moscí [muˈsciː] fish
The consonants are represented rather straightforwardly; the written vowels contain a bit more etymological information. We'll explain them, then, diachronically. Msěrsca ~1000 BP had a tame set of short and long vowels—five each, in the typical configuration: /a ɛ i ɔ u aː eː iː oː uː/, whence <a e i o u á é í ó ú>. It also had the diphthongs /aɛ ɛa eːa ia iːa ɔa oːa ua uːa/ <ae ea éa ia ía oa óa ua úa>.
aː → ɔː → Central oː, Southeastern ɔu, Northern ɔɑ
uː → ʉː → Southeastern yː
eː → jɛ, jɛː
oː → wɛ → Central øː, Southeastern œʏ, Northern aɪ
iː → Northern ɛɪ
aɛ → aː
ɛa → ja
eːa → Central/Southeastern jɛː, Central/Northern ɛː
ia → ja
iːa → iː(j)a → Northern iː
ɔa → wa
oːa → Central øːa, Southeastern œɥa, Northern ɔɑ
ua → wa
uːa → Northern uː; Central ʉː(ɥ)a → Southeastern yː(ɥ)a
Some examples:
ául fuel C [oːʏl], S [ɔwʏɫ], N [ɔɑɫ]*
fóa fan, frond C [ˈføːɔ], S [ˈfœɥɔ], N [fɔɑ]
núal rope C [ˈnʉːal], S [ˈnyːaɫ], N [nuːɫ]
tós loaf C [tøːs], S [tœʏs], N [taɪʃ]
ílas all-out C [ˈiːlas], S [ˈiːɫas], N [ˈɛɪlas]
měit honey C [mɲɛc], S [mɲɛc], N [mɲɛtʃ]
dáně originate(s) (v., singular present) C [ˈdoːɲɛ], S [ˈdɔuɲɛ], N [ˈdɔɑɲɪ]
cól wheel C [køːl], S [kœʏɫ], N [kaɪɫ]
*This means that, in Northern dialects, ául fuel and ál beer are homophones—which might be reflective of the Northern way of life if only those icefuckers drank beer or mead (měteál) like the good people of the Center and Southeast instead of dobo [ˈdɔvu] which is more or less vodka and probably originated (dáněte) with barbarian tribes further to the north and east.