The part that I am really unsure of is gemmination. I should probably just do some more research but I would be interested to hear what other people had done with gemmination in their langs.
I am also concerned over the explanation of the palatalization. I feel it is too simplistic and explanation and needs to be expanded upon and clarified.
Thanks for your help in advance!
Chapter 1: Phonology
1. Consonant Inventory
Table
Stops:
Affricates
Fricatives
Nasals
Approximates
Trills
Alveolar
t,t',d
ʦ, ts',ʣ
s, z
n
l,ɹ
r
Palatal
(c)( ʄ)
ʧ,ʧ', ʤ
ʃ,ʒ,(ç)
j
Velar
k,k',g
x
Rules Pertaining to Consonants
1.1. Contrast:
The voiced and unvoiced variants of all obstruents are contrastive.
The voiced, unvoiced, and ejective allophones of each stop and affricate are contrastive.
1)
- [tust] ‘head’
- [dust] ‘egg’
- [gust] ‘rope’
Stops which are followed by other stops word internally have no audible release. However, all word final stops are released, as are stops followed by vowels.
2)
- tkřelnoji [t̚kɹəlnoʒi] ‘wing’
- gřakt'èx [gɹak̚t’ɛx] ‘to dig’
- gdèšéx [g̚dɛʃex] ‘to hear’
1.3. Gemination:
When two of the same fricatives, nasals, laterals, approximants, and trills are adjacent, whether at a syllable boundary or word boundary, they are simply prolonged.
3) dorts skanak’o [dortsːkʲanak'o] ‘He eats a fish.’
When two identical stops are adjacent the release of the consonant is delayed meaning that the obstruction of the airway is prolonged. The stop also undergoes anticipatory voicing assimilation. I interpret this as:
4) dort t'ék'odgat [dort:'ʲek'odʒat] ‘the near cake’ or ‘the cake which is near’
dortk k'ósk [dortk:’ ɔsk] ‘to a large cake’
2. Vowels
Table
High
Mid-High
Mid
Mid-Low
Low
Front Unrounded
i
e
ɛ
Central unrounded
ə
a
Back Rounded
u
o
ɔ
.
2.1. Nasalization
Nasalization is present within Rèn Kyèč but it is non-contrastive. Because all vowels preceding nasal consonants are nasalized, nasalization is not marked in the phonetic transcriptions of my words except for as demonstration within the following examples.
5)
- t'enéló [t'ə̃nɛlɔ] ‘to push’
- tén [tʲɛ̃n] ‘eight’
- anzo [ãnzo] ‘louse’
Content words must contain at least one non-syllabic consonant and one vowel or syllabic consonant. Words can begin or end with any of these elements.
6)
- [ok] ‘Soul (essence)’
- [ʧ’i] ‘Soup (more like hot liquid)’
- [drsk] ‘beauty’
4. Stress
4.1. In Rèn Kyèč, stressed syllables are slightly lengthened and pronounced with a slightly elevated pitch.
4.2. Stress is non-consistent in the verbs of Rèn Kyèč. This is because the last syllable of the root verb stem is stressed within the verb rather than any affixes which are attached to it. This is important due to the heavy morphology present in the language. Here, the stressed syllable is underlined.
7)
- /k’uʧorra/ Stem: /ʧor/ ‘I run away’
- /kaajara/ Stem: /aja/ ‘I have it’
- /stelrazg/ Stem: /stel/ ‘I was’ (imperfective)
8
- /tsia/ ‘forest’
- /tsiaɛl/ ‘forest dweller’
- /dortat/ ‘the cake’
4.5. There is no vowel reduction in Rèn Kyèč.
5. Syllabification
5.1. Syllabification in Rèn Kyèč consists of an onset, nucleus, and a coda. The onset of a syllable consists of at most three consonants, which are can be either obstruents or sibilants. The nucleus can be either one syllabic consonants or one vowel. The coda can be made of up to six consonants.
9)
- /strunkts/ ‘badge; nametag’
onset: /str/ nucleus: /u/ coda: /kts/
10)
- /zdrk.tank.tsk/ ‘to a nipple’
- /krst.ɛg/ ‘far’
- /strunk.tsk/ ‘to a badge’
6. Allophonic Rules
6.1. Palatalization
Alveolar and velar stops are palatalized before front vowels.
/t, t’,d, k, k’ x, g/→ [tʲ, tʲ', dʲ, kʲ, kʲ’ xʲ, gʲ]/ _/e,ɛ,a/
11)
- /dort/ + /at/ → [dortʲat] ‘the cake’
- /lɛʒɔd/ + /at/ → [lɛʒɔd ʲat] ‘the neck’
- /lik/ + /ɛl/ → [likʲɛl] ‘a city person’
/t, t’, d, k, k’, g, x/→ [tʃ, tʃ', ʒ, c, c’, dʒ, ç] _/i/
12)
- /dort/ + /ig/ → [dortʃig] ‘cake’ -GEN
- /lɛʒɔd/ + /ig/ → [lɛʒɔʒig] ‘neck’ -GEN
- /lik/ + /ig/ → [licig] ‘city’ -GEN
/s,z,ʦ,ʣ/→[sʲ,zʲ,ʦʲ,ʣʲ]/ _/e,ɛ,a/
/s,z,ʦ,ʣ/→[ʃ,ʒ,ʧ,ʤ]/ _/i/
13)
- /ʣʲɛs/ + /ɛlɔ/ → [ʣʲɛsʲɛlɔ] ‘to claw’ -INF
- /dorts/ + /at/ → [dortsʲat] ‘the cake’ –ACC
- /dorts/ + /ig/ → [dortʃig] ‘a cake’ –GEN