Post your conlang's phonology

[Chagen]

and fail on the Lovecraft reference - you got it wrong anyway.

I have no idea what you are talking about. I have never read a lovecraft story in my life.

"The most merciful thing about the universe is that we cannot understand it." -Lovecraft.

on the other hand, just because you Chagen do not understand the universe, does not mean it does not make sense.

The Ngith are a race in my conworld, Techaria, notable for being the best assassians on the whole planet.

whupee.

If cuked

and whom are the best assassins on Techaria?

Instead of being as asshole, you could not reply at all.

[Drydic]

and fail on the Lovecraft reference - you got it wrong anyway.

I have no idea what you are talking about. I have never read a lovecraft story in my life.

"The most merciful thing about the universe is that we cannot understand it." -Lovecraft.

on the other hand, just because you Chagen do not understand the universe, does not mean it does not make sense.

The Ngith are a race in my conworld, Techaria, notable for being the best assassians on the whole planet.

whupee.

If cuked

and whom are the best assassins on Techaria?

Instead of being as asshole, you could not reply at all.

Another possibility is you could stop saying things that incite us to be assholes to you because of their dumbassery.

[WeepingElf]

Is this a phonology showcase thread, or a "How big a chip can I carry on my shoulder?" contest?

[Pole, the]

Code: Select all

/a ɛ  ɔ  e o i u/
<a ae ao e o i u>

/ai̯ au̯ ei̯ eu̯ oi̯ ou̯/
<ai au ei eu oi ou>

[Drydic]

My only qualm with that is that the m~ɱ distinction is only present in one language in the entire world, and even there there's an alternate interpretation of it. Rest of it's dandy though (though I must admit I'm not a fan of contrasting bilabial~labiodental stops, it's none too common either).

[Wattmann]

You shouldn't get too weird until you have a much better idea of what you're doing.

I'm just gonna keep fucking posting this until it sinks in.

I've worked on 6 conlangs, I know what the fuck I'm doing.

"I have touched a girl, I know how to seduce"
"I have touched a guy, I'm gay"
"I've tasted chicken, I can cook"
"I've worked on a wheel, I can make rockets"
"I've worked on 6 conlangs, I know what the fuck I'm doing"

The Ngith are a race in my conworld, Techaria, notable for being the best assassians on the whole planet.

We are happy that you have decided to insert a completely random and very stupid message in a phonology thread.
We hope to never see you again.


Are you Helios? That would explain much

[Chagen]

I'd explain my purpose for posting the message, but you'd be too fucking stupid to understand, so I won't.

And I'm not Helios.

[Wattmann]

I'd explain my purpose for posting the message, but you'd be too fucking stupid to understand, so I won't.

Try me

[Chagen]

Okay, fine, I'll bite.

The lovecraft comment (I still have no idea WTF that was for) made me think the guy thought I was....i have no fucking clue, doing a conlang for some lovecraft thing?

I then explained that no, this was for my own conpeople called the Ngith now, had YOU possesed the intelligence to go back to my original post, you would have seen thay I labeled it as a Ngith inventory.

[Wattmann]

I then explained that no, this was for my own conpeople called the Ngith now, had YOU possesed the intelligence to go back to my original post, you would have seen thay I labeled it as a Ngith inventory.

I saw that it was a Ngith inventory.
What do assassins have to do with an inventory?

Again, we are happy that you have decided to insert a completely random and very stupid message in a phonology thread.

[Whimemsz]

How about both of you assholes shut up and let people who are being serious post in the thread?




Feles: I'll echo Drydic's comments about labiodental stops and nasals. Also the transcription of <fd ft fz fs fn> for dentals is really weird and not at all intuitive. Unless this is meant as a transcription of the native writing system and looks that way for historical reasons, my feeling would be to change it, though it's not an emergency necessity.

Also, do the parentheses around the velar fricatives mean they're allophones of the stops? (I'm guessing so, in part also because they're written <g k>).

The rest of it, including the vowels, seems fine.

[----]

This is already passed in the thread but you guys know that when people say that !Xóõ has a phoneme inventory with ~80 clicks, that's the most maximal analyzation of the phoneme inventory there is? It's realistically closer to 25 or so, and the other consonants in the language are by no means *difficult to pronounce*. In fact they're pretty basic.
I agree with Whimemsz and Drydic here, I don't really like the idea of contrasting a labial and labiodental stop. I know that I could never contrast them, and most other people probably couldn't either.

[Wattmann]

I can
(barely, but it's like /ɸ/ and /f/)

[Pole, the]

Feles: I'll echo Drydic's comments about labiodental stops and nasals. Also the transcription of <fd ft fz fs fn> for dentals is really weird and not at all intuitive. Unless this is meant as a transcription of the native writing system and looks that way for historical reasons, my feeling would be to change it, though it's not an emergency necessity.

It was a fancy alienlang made ~1,5 years ago, now abandoned. Just suppose that the speakers have genetically their teeth bigger/ in different shape/ whatever.

And after all, <fd ft fz fs fn> are not much less logical than <th dh sh zh ch> etc. we use.

Also, do the parentheses around the velar fricatives mean they're allophones of the stops? (I'm guessing so, in part also because they're written <g k>).

Right.

[Nortaneous]

And after all, <fd ft fz fs fn> are not much less logical than <th dh sh zh ch> etc. we use.

Except there's a historical reason for all of those digraphs.

[8Deer]

Unnamed

/p t k kʷ ʔ/
/ts tɕ/
/s ð ɕ x ɣ xʷ h/
/l ɹ j w/
/m n ɲ ŋ ŋʷ/

/a e i o u ɨ/
/ai au/
All vowels have a length contrast except /ɨ/

Allophony:
Stops before a stressed syllable are aspirated.
/ɣ/ is /ŋ/ intervocalically.
/*ɣʷ/ merged with /w/.
/ð/ is [ɹ] intervocalically.
/x/ is pronounced /h/ by many speakers intervocallically.

Phonotactics:
(C)(C)V(C), where the second consonant is a fricative or a resonant (haven't fully worked out which clusters are allowed).

This language is an isolate spoken in Siberia, so I'm trying to get a Siberian flavour with it.

[Wattmann]

Unnamed

/p t k kʷ/
/ts tɕ/
/s ð ɕ x ɣ xʷ/
/l ɹ j w/
/m n ɲ ŋ ŋʷ/

/a e i o u ɨ/
/ai au/
All vowels have a length contrast except /ɨ/

Allophony:
Stops before a stressed syllable are aspirated.
/ɣ/ is /ŋ/ intervocalically.
/*ɣʷ/ merged with /w/.
/ð/ is [ɹ] intervocalically.
/x/ is pronounced /h/ by many speakers intervocallically.

Phonotactics:
(C)(C)V(C), where the second consonant is a fricative or a resonant (haven't fully worked out which clusters are allowed).

This language is an isolate spoken in Siberia, so I'm trying to get a Siberian flavour with it.

Something feels off - an cookeh for you if you guess (correctly) what.

[8Deer]

Unnamed

/p t k kʷ/
/ts tɕ/
/s ð ɕ x ɣ xʷ/
/l ɹ j w/
/m n ɲ ŋ ŋʷ/

/a e i o u ɨ/
/ai au/
All vowels have a length contrast except /ɨ/

Allophony:
Stops before a stressed syllable are aspirated.
/ɣ/ is /ŋ/ intervocalically.
/*ɣʷ/ merged with /w/.
/ð/ is [ɹ] intervocalically.
/x/ is pronounced /h/ by many speakers intervocallically.

Phonotactics:
(C)(C)V(C), where the second consonant is a fricative or a resonant (haven't fully worked out which clusters are allowed).

This language is an isolate spoken in Siberia, so I'm trying to get a Siberian flavour with it.

Something feels off - an cookeh for you if you guess (correctly) what.

Ratio of stops to other consonants? That's something I was a little worried about...I'm really bad at these guessing games

[Wattmann]

Unnamed

/p t k kʷ/
/ts tɕ/
/s ð ɕ x ɣ xʷ/
/l ɹ j w/
/m n ɲ ŋ ŋʷ/

/a e i o u ɨ/
/ai au/
All vowels have a length contrast except /ɨ/

Allophony:
Stops before a stressed syllable are aspirated.
/ɣ/ is /ŋ/ intervocalically.
/*ɣʷ/ merged with /w/.
/ð/ is [ɹ] intervocalically.
/x/ is pronounced /h/ by many speakers intervocallically.

Phonotactics:
(C)(C)V(C), where the second consonant is a fricative or a resonant (haven't fully worked out which clusters are allowed).

This language is an isolate spoken in Siberia, so I'm trying to get a Siberian flavour with it.

Something feels off - an cookeh for you if you guess (correctly) what.

Ratio of stops to other consonants? That's something I was a little worried about...I'm really bad at these guessing games

Nah, the ratio is allright; it's more normal than that of some Western European languages - the problem is your /ð/ - a /θ/ is far more likely there (it's not an actual problem, but somewhat bugging - do consult with other members)

[8Deer]

Unnamed

/p t k kʷ/
/ts tɕ/
/s ð ɕ x ɣ xʷ/
/l ɹ j w/
/m n ɲ ŋ ŋʷ/

/a e i o u ɨ/
/ai au/
All vowels have a length contrast except /ɨ/

Allophony:
Stops before a stressed syllable are aspirated.
/ɣ/ is /ŋ/ intervocalically.
/*ɣʷ/ merged with /w/.
/ð/ is [ɹ] intervocalically.
/x/ is pronounced /h/ by many speakers intervocallically.

Phonotactics:
(C)(C)V(C), where the second consonant is a fricative or a resonant (haven't fully worked out which clusters are allowed).

This language is an isolate spoken in Siberia, so I'm trying to get a Siberian flavour with it.

Something feels off - an cookeh for you if you guess (correctly) what.

Ratio of stops to other consonants? That's something I was a little worried about...I'm really bad at these guessing games

Nah, the ratio is allright; it's more normal than that of some Western European languages - the problem is your /ð/ - a /θ/ is far more likely there (it's not an actual problem, but somewhat bugging - do consult with other members)

Hmm very good point. I also realised I forgot to include the glottal phonemes /ʔ h/. I will edit my post.

[finlay]

Also, x~ɣ is the only voicing contrast in your language – I'd be a bit hesitant about that as well, although there's nothing wrong with it per se.

[8Deer]

Also, x~ɣ is the only voicing contrast in your language – I'd be a bit hesitant about that as well, although there's nothing wrong with it per se.

I think I will kill two birds with one stone and switch ð to z. Thanks for the feedback.

[finlay]

That works too. Your neutralisation of z/ɹ intervocalically is still a good change, for example.

[----]

Danish has /D/ without /T/, although it's not quite phonemic and doesn't occur initially. Fijian has it without /T/, and it's fully phonemic (although probably descended from a plain *d, which the language does not have).

[Whimemsz]

Danish has /D/ without /T/, although it's not quite phonemic and doesn't occur initially. Fijian has it without /T/, and it's fully phonemic (although probably descended from a plain *d, which the language does not have).

Woods Cree has /ð/ with no /θ/, and it's fully phonemic and doesn't take the place in the system of *d or anything else. So it's definitely attested, it's just not common. I think the whole 'voicing contrast only on velar fricatives' thing finlay pointed out would be of more concern, although I guess this is kind of irrelevant now. Oh well.

(FWIW, the Woods Cree /ð/ corresponds to /n/, /l/, /j/, and /r/ in other dialects of Cree; historically it's from Proto-Algonquian *r, but it's not clear what that actually was, beyond that it was some kind of liquid or rhotic)