Kharulian Phonology¶
Sounds¶
All Kharulian consonants come in “tight” (palatalized) and “loose” (velarized and/or labialized) variants.
Bilabial |
Alveolar |
Velar |
||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Loose |
Tight |
Loose |
Tight |
Loose |
Tight |
|
Voiceless Stop |
/pˠ/ |
/pʲ/ |
/tˠ/ |
/tʃ/ |
/k(ʷ)/ |
/c/ |
Voiced Stop |
/bˠ/ |
/bʲ/ |
/dˠ/ |
/dʒ/ |
/ɡ(ʷ)/ |
/ɟ/ |
Voiceless Fricative |
/ɸˠ/ |
/ɸʲ/ |
/sˠ/ |
/ʃ/ |
/x(ʷ)/ |
/ç/ |
Voiced Fricative |
/βˠ/ |
/βʲ/ |
/zˠ/ |
/ʒ/ |
/ɣ(ʷ)/ |
/ʝ/ |
Nasal |
/mˠ/ |
/mʲ/ |
/nˠ/ |
/ɲ/ |
||
Lateral |
/lˠ/ |
/lʲ/ |
||||
Rhotic |
/rˠ/ |
/ɹ̠ʲ/ |
||||
Kharulian has the standard five vowels (/a/ /e/ /i/ /o/ /u/), each of which can be short or long. There’s also a marginal schwa phoneme, which can never be long or take stress.
Stress is lexical, falling on any of the last three syllables.
Phonological processes¶
Kharulian sounds undergo the following regular changes:
The stops /p/, /b/, /pʲ/, /bʲ/, /t/, /d/, /c/, /ɟ/, /k/, and /g/ are regularly pronounced as [ɸ], [β], [ɸʲ], [βʲ], [ts], [dz], [ç], [ʝ], [x], and [ɣ] when unclustered before /a/ or when in a cluster before another stop. However, /ɸ/, /β/, /ç/, /ʝ/, /x/, and /ɣ/ also appear as phonemes in their own right.
/z/ is regularly pronounced [r] between vowels.
Fricatives are regularly voiced next to other voiced consonants; e.g. if /s/ is forced next to an /n/ or an /l/, it becomes [z].
The mid vowels /e/ and /o/ are usually closer to [ɛ] and [ɔ] in closed syllables.
Romanization¶
I use two romanization systems for Kharulian.
Both systems share the following elements:
The five normal vowels are romanized <a>, <e>, <i>, <o>, <u>, with long vowels written twice. (I don’t mind if English speakers mispronounce <ee> as /iː/.)
Stress is assumed to be on the last vowel before the last consonant. If it’s somewhere else, that vowel is marked with an acute accent.
Distinctions between tight and loose consonants are indicated by the following vowel:
<e> and <i> are tight vowels;
<a>, <o>, and <u> are loose vowels;
If a loose consonant is followed by a tight vowel, a <u> is inserted between them.
If a tight consonant is followed by a loose vowel, an <i> is inserted between them.
Pseudo-Orthography¶
The pseudo-orthography ensures all phonemic distinctions are represented and keeps the system elegant with the following additional rules:
All distinctions between tight and loose consonants are indicated only by the following letter.
Consonants that aren’t followed by a vowel are assumed to be loose, and a <y> is added to indicate a tight consonant.
If /u/ appears after a consonant and in hiatus with a following vowel, it’s written <ü> to distinguish it from a loose consonant marker.
The schwa is written with an apostrophe <’>, befitting its role as a way to break up consonant clusters rather than as a true vowel.
The following spellings are used for the consonants:
Loose Consonant |
Tight Consonant |
Spelling |
|---|---|---|
/pˠ/ |
/pʲ/ |
<p> |
/bˠ/ |
/bʲ/ |
<b> |
/ɸˠ/ |
/ɸʲ/ |
<f> |
/βˠ/ |
/βʲ/ |
<v> |
/mˠ/ |
/mʲ/ |
<m> |
/tˠ/ |
/tʃ/ |
<t> |
/dˠ/ |
/dʒ/ |
<d> |
/sˠ/ |
/ʃ/ |
<s> |
/zˠ/ |
/ʒ/ |
<z> |
/nˠ/ |
/ɲ/ |
<n> |
/lˠ/ |
/lʲ/ |
<l> |
/rˠ/ |
/ɹ̠ʲ/ |
<r> |
/k(ʷ)/ |
/c/ |
<k> |
/ɡ(ʷ)/ |
/ɟ/ |
<g> |
/x(ʷ)/ |
/ç/ |
<c> |
/ɣ(ʷ)/ |
/ʝ/ |
<j> |
Friendly Romanization¶
The friendly romanization sacrifices some distinctions to make words easier to pronounce. It uses the following additional rules:
Some pairs of tight and loose consonants are represented by entirely different letters, rather than relying on the following vowel.
If a tight consonant isn’t followed by a vowel but needs one to indicate its tightness, a <y> is added if the difference is grammatically relevant (i.e. in inanimate plurals), otherwise the difference is left unrepresented.
The schwa is written <a> if the preceding consonant is loose, <i> if it’s tight.
The following spellings are used for the consonants:
Loose Consonant |
Loose Spelling |
Tight Consonant |
Tight Spelling |
|---|---|---|---|
/pˠ/ |
<p(u)> |
/pʲ/ |
<p(i)> |
/bˠ/ |
<b(u)> |
/bʲ/ |
<b(i)> |
/ɸˠ/ |
<f(u)> |
/ɸʲ/ |
<f(i)> |
/βˠ/ |
<v(u)> |
/βʲ/ |
<v(i)> |
/mˠ/ |
<m(u)> |
/mʲ/ |
<m(i)> |
/tˠ/ |
<t> |
/tʃ/ |
<ch> |
/dˠ/ |
<d> |
/dʒ/ |
<j> |
/sˠ/ |
<s> |
/ʃ/ |
<sh> |
/zˠ/ |
<z> |
/ʒ/ |
<zh> |
/nˠ/ |
<n(u)> |
/ɲ/ |
<n(i)> |
/lˠ/ |
<l(u)> |
/lʲ/ |
<l(i)> |
/rˠ/ |
<r(u)> |
/ɹ̠ʲ/ |
<r(i)> |
/k(ʷ)/ |
<k(u)> |
/c/ |
<k(i)> |
/ɡ(ʷ)/ |
<g(u)> |
/ɟ/ |
<g(i)> |
/x(ʷ)/ |
<kh(u)> |
/ç/ |
<kh(i)> |
/ɣ(ʷ)/ |
<gh(u)> |
/ʝ/ |
<gh(i)> |
Examples¶
The word for “star” is /ɸaç/. In the pseudo-orthography, this is spelled <facy>, with the sequence <cy> representing the final /ç/. In the friendly spelling, it’s <fakh> instead.
The word for “river valley is /ɸə.lʲoˈpˠi.kət/. In the pseudo-orthography, this is spelled <f’liopuik’t>, using apostrophes for the schwas. In the friendly spelling, it’s <faliopuíkat>. Note that the friendly spelling needs an accent on the stressed <i> because the last vowel before the last consonant is the <a>. The pseudo-orthography spelling doesn’t need the accent because the apostrophe isn’t a vowel and can’t take stress, so the <i> is the default location.
The word for “rope” is /kʷim/, and its plural is /kʷimʲ/. These are written <kuim> and <kuimy> in both romanization systems. The pronunciation /kʷimʲ/ would normally be written <kuim> in the friendly spelling, but the <y> is included to distinguish the singular and plural forms.