Carnian

Carnian
Carnisc
Pronunciation	[kɐɾˈnɪ̌s]
Created by	Larsqui
Date	2025
Setting	Alternative history
Native to	Carnia
Ethnicity	Carnians
Native speakers	2.5 million ()
Language family	Indo-European Balto-Slavic Slavic South Slavic Alpine Carnian
Early forms	Proto-Carnian Old Carnian
Writing system	Latin

Carnian (Carn. carnisc [kɐɾˈnɪ̌s(k)], carniscky jenzik) is a Slavic language spoken in the Central European state of Carnia, which encompasses the historical regions of Carinthia, Upper and Inner Carniola, the Slovene Littoral, the Province of Gorizia, Trieste, Istria, Rijeka, and the islands of Cres and Krk. The language represents a unique evolutionary branch within the Slavic family, having developed from Northwestern Alpine Slavic (NWAS) under distinct historical and sociolinguistic conditions that differentiate it significantly from its South Slavic neighbors.

Historical context

The linguistic development of Carnian is inseparably linked to the political history of the region. The territory derives its name from the medieval Duchy of Carantania, where local Slavic elites maintained autonomous governance within the Frankish Empire beyond the 9th century, subsequently establishing a hereditary dynasty that persisted throughout the following centuries during the Holy Roman Empire period. This political continuity proved crucial for the language's development, preventing its merger with Southeastern Alpine Slavic varieties that later evolved into Slovene.

The name "Carnia" emerged historically as Carinthia and Carniola became unified under a single political entity. During the Early Modern period, territorial expansion toward the Adriatic coast incorporated additional Romance-speaking populations, contributing to a gradual shift of the cultural and economic center from the Alpine interior to the coastal regions. This geographic reorientation had profound implications for the language's subsequent development.

Medieval Carnia experienced substantial German linguistic influence due to its integration within the Holy Roman Empire. However, the Early Modern period witnessed increasing Romance influence, particularly as economic activity shifted toward the coastal areas. This multilingual environment created the complex substrate conditions that shaped Carnian's distinctive phonological evolution.

Phonological history

From Proto-Slavic to Old Carnian

Northwestern Alpine Slavic Substrate

Carnian evolved from Northwestern Alpine Slavic, a peripheral West Slavic variety that retained several archaic Proto-Slavic features not found in neighboring languages. These conservative elements include:

• Preservation of the open realization of *ě as [æ]
• Retention of *tl and *dl clusters
• Maintenance of the phonemic distinction between *i and *y
• Conservation of the prefix *vy-
• Absence of palatalization before *v

The peripheral geographic position of NWAS within the Slavic dialectal continuum accounts for these retentions, as the variety remained relatively isolated from the innovations that characterized the South Slavic core area.

Liquid Metathesis

Carnian exhibits distinctive reflexes of Proto-Slavic liquid diphthongs that differ substantially from other regional Slavic languages. This divergence results from the prolonged preservation of liquid syllabicity, with its loss occurring chronologically after metathesis processes had been completed.

oRT Sequences

In the oRT sequences, the retention of liquid syllabicity did not trigger vowel lengthening in the preceding syllable. Lengthening occurred exclusively in syllables bearing acute accent, yielding RaT, while non-acute syllables developed RoT reflexes. This pattern parallels developments in North Slavic languages rather than the typical South Slavic treatment.

ToRT and TeRT Sequences

Proto-Slavic *ToRT and *TeRT sequences underwent metathesis without compensatory lengthening, producing TRoT and TReT respectively. The subsequent loss of liquid syllabicity triggered insertion of an epenthetic vowel preceding the liquid consonant: TRoT > TəRoT, TReT > TəReT. This development resembles East Slavic pleophony, though without consistent vowel assimilation. Epenthetic ə merged later with one of the existing phonemes, with its reflex depending on the adjacent consonants or the following vowel. Regional variation is particularly pronounced in such words: *bolto may appear as balto, bolto, belto, or blato depending on the dialect.

Parallel developments affected TьRT and TъRT sequences, which first became TR̥T before disintegrating into TəRT.

The distinctive character of Carnian liquid reflexes stems from the subsequent operation of posttonic syncope (see the section on syncope), which eliminated many of the unstressed vowels directly following the accented syllable, yielding forms that superficially resemble the original Proto-Slavic sequences while differing in vowel quality and liquid syllabicity. Traces of the pleophonic stage remain visible in lexical items where posttonic vowels escaped elision, as in *porxъ > Nom. paroch, Gen. parcha.

Yer Developments

Weak Yer Loss

Following Havlík's Law, weak yers underwent gradual elision while strong yers vocalized to full mid vowels. Carnian resembles neighboring South Slavic languages in frequent preservation of word-initial yers, similar to Slovene and Chakavian. The degree of initial yer retention varies between words, sometimes yielding doublets regionally (*pъtica > petisa / petza, tisa).

Crucially, Carnian maintained the original front/back distinction among vocalized yers. Front yer *ь vocalized to ẹ, subsequently breaking to ie (except following palatal consonants, where it remained e). Back yer *ъ developed to ə, with subsequent evolution varying by phonetic environment and geographic region. Common outcomes include merger with e or a, though occasional merger with o also occurs.

Tense Yers

Tense yer sequences *ьj and *ъj received special treatment with lexically conditioned outcomes. While some items follow regular vocalization patterns (*kъjь > kei 'what'), others exhibit merger to ïj [ɪj] (modern y), particularly in adjectival morphology. This development appears to result from j-induced assimilation combined with analogical leveling, with presumed intermediate stages *ьj > ẹj and *ъj > əj before phonemic merger.

This process preceded the general contraction of *VjV > V̄, which operated concurrently across the Carnian speech territory.

Nasal Vowel Developments

Proto-Slavic nasal vowels *ę and *ǫ were inherited in Carnian, with *ǫ undergoing early delabialization to ą. Denasalization proceeded through decomposition to vowel + nasal consonant sequences ([Vm] or [Vn] depending on the following consonant environment). Word-final nasal vowels demonstrated greater stability, eventually denasalizing to long vowels that attracted stress (cf. Nom. noga vs. Acc. nogà < nogą).

The chronology of denasalization can be established relative to other changes: it began before the loss of third-person plural *-tь (evidenced by modern -n in copan < *copąt 'they kick'), and was completed by the Late Middle Ages, when only word-final nasal vowels received orthographic marking. The word-final denasalization process clearly postdates the establishment of the penultimate accent (see the section on penultimate accent).

i-y Merger

Unlike neighboring South Slavic languages, Carnian generally preserves *y as a distinct phoneme. However, two waves of partial merger with *i can be identified:

1. Early merger (ca. 10th century): Limited to specific lexical items, commonly when *y followed coronal consonants (*ty > Old Carnian tī). This development is documented in the Freising Manuscripts.
2. Later merger: Accent-conditioned merger occurring during the vowel reduction period (see the section on vowel reduction).

Spirantization

Common Slavic *dz became z throughout the South Slavic area, followed in Carnian by deaffrication of *c to s. This development may be attributed to the loss of the voiced counterpart *dz, leaving *c without a phonemic partner, unlike *č, which retained its voiced correlate.

Alternatively, this change may reflect a broader spirantization tendency particularly prominent in Carinthia. The spirantization *g > ɣ reached Carnian relatively early, though it never encompassed the entire speech territory. Later developments included *b > β and *d > ð. Much of this spirantization was subsequently reversed due to sociolinguistic pressures, as spirantized forms acquired low-prestige associations.

Contemporary dialects maintaining lenited pronunciation (concentrated in Alpine regions) can be classified according to distributional patterns:

• Regular /b, d, g/ with lenited /β, ð, ɣ/ intervocalically only
• Lenited /β, ð, ɣ/ in all positions (with allophones [ɸ, θ, x] in dialects with word-final devoicing)

Regional Shared Innovations

Carnian participates in several innovations that developed across the broader Alpine Slavic area, shared with neighboring Slovene, Kajkavian, and Chakavian varieties:

• Absence of general palatalization before front vowels
• Preservation of long falling syllables
• Development of prothetic *v before word-initial *u
• *ď > j in lexically restricted contexts, creating doublets (*meďu > mei, medio)
• Rhotacization *ž > r before vowels (*može da > morda), extended beyond medial positions in Carnian, yielding doublets (*možete > mogiete, morete; *žena > giena, rena)

Old Carnian Period

The Old Carnian period witnessed fundamental phonological restructuring that established the foundation of the modern language. External influences together with internal innovations produced the characteristic features that distinguish contemporary Carnian.

Accent System Restructuring

Old Carnian experienced a major accent shift from the inherited free and mobile Proto-Slavic system to fixed stem-initial stress. Pitch distinctions were preserved: retracted rising accent became falling, and vice versa. Most prefixes remained unstressed, though their accentual behavior varied according to morphological function.

This development is attributed to High German influence, spreading from northern regions that experienced intensive Germanization.

Vowel Reduction and Syncope

Accentual system restructuring destabilized the vowel inventory. Unstressed long vowels underwent shortening, along with the loss of phonemic contrast between the pairs i-y, e-ě, and o-u, leaving four contrasting vowel phonemes in unstressed syllables: a, e, i, and o. Due to the merger patterns, it can be inferred that reduced vowels shifted toward more mid-central positions than full vowels, just as they are pronounced in modern Carnian. Vowel reduction did not always affect diphthongs and nasal vowels, which maintained their full quality regardless of accent.

Unstressed vowels became susceptible to elision in posttonic syllables, occurring most frequently after sonorants and fricatives, though other environments are also documented (*jeden > jen). High vowels showed greatest susceptibility to elision, followed by mid vowels, with low vowels demonstrating greatest resistance.

During the transition to vowel loss, a transitional vowel ə̆ often appeared as an intermediate stage. Its ambiguous phonetic quality never received systematic orthographic representation, leading to variant spellings (malina ~ malna), where words retained historical vowel letters or omitted the vowel entirely. This transitional vowel disappeared by the 18th century.

Consonant Cluster Simplification

Weak yer deletion and posttonic syncope generated numerous complex consonant clusters requiring simplification through two primary strategies:

1. Epenthetic vowel insertion: Typically ə or its derivatives (*ogňь > ogen)
2. Cluster reduction: Through consonant elision, assimilation, or lenition

The choice between strategies correlated with morphological factors: clusters in morphologically central forms (e.g., nominative singular) showed greater resistance to reduction when other paradigmatic forms permitted cluster maintenance (Nom. *ogňь > ogəň vs. Gen. *ogňa > ogəňa instead of expected oňňa). Sometimes the oblique forms prevailed, leading to epenthetic vowel elision, especially in suffixes where new clusters were permitted (Gen. *synъka > sœnca, Nom. *synъkъ > sœnəc > sœnc).

Cluster simplification operated according to sonority and articulatory constraints. Assimilation occurred most commonly when a stop was followed by a nasal or lateral consonant (tn, dn, kn, gn > nn; dl, gl > ll) and in sibilant + affricate sequences (šč > šš, ždž > žž). Labial and voiced stops often escaped simplification processes.

The velar fricative x demonstrated particular instability. In initial clusters, it was deleted entirely (e.g., xm, xn, xl > m, n, l), while in complex environments it triggered deletion of adjacent stops or coalescence into a separate phoneme (see the relevant section below).

While many Slavic languages underwent some sort of cluster simplification and insertion of epenthetic vowels after the loss of yers, Carnian experienced it in the most far-reaching way. Significantly restructured and shortened words, along with geminated consonants, became a defining characteristic distinguishing Carnian from other Slavic languages.

Geminate Consonant Development

Consonant cluster simplification frequently yielded geminated consonants through assimilation. Progressive assimilation (first consonant to second) predominated (*radlo > rallo), though regressive assimilation also occurred, including in *šč and *ždž clusters (*ščenę > sienè, *dъždžь > deġ).

Geminate stability varied positionally, with word-initial and word-final geminates showing a tendency toward degemination (with compensatory lengthening of the adjacent vowel when possible). Geminates preceded or followed by a consonant also experienced shortening (*kortъkaja > corotta > cortta > corta, which is another example of progressive assimilation, vowel assimilation in pleophony, and a case where the predicative adjective assimilated to the non-predicative form: *kortъkъ > cort).

Modern Carnian preserves the following native geminate set: /mm, nn, pp, tt, kk, t͡s:, t͡ʃ:, ss, ʃʃ, ll/. All geminates function as syllable boundaries, with the first element closing the preceding syllable.

Phonemic Innovation

Cluster simplification processes generated new phonemes absent from the inherited system:

• /f/ development: Coalescence of [xʋ] clusters (*xvaliti > falit) introduced /f/, absent in Proto-Slavic. Phonemicization became evident when /f/ appeared unaltered in loanwords.

• /t͡s/ restoration: ts and ds clusters coalesced to [t͡s:] (jagodisa > jagotza), restoring this affricate eliminated during earlier spirantization. Initially predominantly geminate, word-final occurrence as a singleton developed (*noťьcejǫ > notzoi [ˈnɔt͡s:ɔɪ̯], *noťьsь > notz [nɔt͡s]). This development, combined with dž loss, reestablished symmetry between alveolar and postalveolar sibilant series.

Depalatalization

Proto-Slavic palatalized consonants (ň, ť, ď, ĺ, ř) underwent systematic depalatalization with varying outcomes:

• Liquids ĺ, ř: Early depalatalization to plain /l/, /r/, with temporary contrast between l and ł before merger
• Nasals and stops ň, ť, ď: Variable outcomes including /n/, /nj/, /jn/; /t/, /tj/, /jt/; /d/, /dj/, /jd/
• Assibilation: ť occasionally developed to /t͡s/ (*pleťe > pletzi)

The distribution of /Cj/ versus /jC/ outcomes correlates with position: /Cj/ predominates initially and medially before vowels, while /jC/ appears word-finally or before final vowels. This suggests original /Cj/ development with subsequent metathesis in final environments, spreading through paradigmatic leveling (Nom. coin < *koňь, Gen. coina < *koňa 'horse').

Complete depalatalization /Cʲ/ > /C/ is less frequent and appears most commonly word-finally, in clusters, and in some words due to analogy with other inflected forms which lacked the palatalization.

Importantly, most /Cj/ sequences resulting from yer loss remained distinct from depalatalized consonants, except liquid sequences lj, rj, which merged with ĺ, ř reflexes (*veselьje > vesele).

L-vocalization

Following ĺ depalatalization, Carnian maintained two lateral phonemes: plain l [l] (continuing *l before front vowels and lost front yers, plus *ĺ) and velarized ł [ɫ] (continuing *l before non-front vowels). Syllable-coda ł vocalized to u̯, excluding word-final nominal positions (*palъka > pauca, *davalъ > davau, *stolъ > stoł). This parallels developments in Belarusian, Ukrainian, Slovak, and Slovene dialects.

Yat Evolution

The yat vowel ě maintained its open character [æ] well beyond Common Slavic disintegration. During Old Carnian, it developed to the centering diphthong [ɛɐ̯] preserved in modern Carnian, as indicated by digraph spelling ea already in Late Medieval writings. This evolution parallels Slovak ä development (< *ę).

Although modern ea distribution is limited to stem-initial syllables, Carnian remains among the few Slavic languages preserving *ě as a distinct phoneme. The consistent Old Carnian orthography and modern regional variation between [æ] and [ɛ] in closed syllables suggests original development to [ɛɐ̯] in all environments with subsequent monophthongization in closed syllables.

Open Syllable Lengthening

Following unstressed vowel shortening, length became associated with accent, and subsequently with syllable structure. All short vowels in stressed open syllables underwent lengthening, while all vowels in closed syllables were shortened. This correlation between vowel length and syllable structure, found throughout medieval Europe (including High German, Italian Romance varieties, and Slovene), eliminated the phonemic status of vowel length.

ī-Breaking

Old Carnian high vowels demonstrated considerable instability. Long ī broke to ïj, merging with existing tense yer reflexes. The distribution overlap with Proto-Slavic *ī in stem-initial syllables indicates that breaking preceded open syllable lengthening but followed unstressed vowel shortening (*pivo > pīvo but *glīsta > lijsta, modern lysta).

u-Fronting

During Late Old Carnian, u fronted to a position between [ɵ̝] and [ʊ], preserved in modern Carnian. Following labial and velar consonants, this process was disrupted through epenthetic u̯ insertion, with subsequent delabialization and fronting of the vowel, yielding u̯i. This development reflects the incompatibility between consonant articulation (labial rounding, velar backing) and vowel fronting.

High Vowel Diphthong Dissimilation

The unstable Old Carnian high vowel system underwent systematic restructuring through diphthong dissimilation. When diphthongs contained i̯ or u̯ as the less prominent element, the nuclear vowel lowered: ïi̯ > ei̯, iu̯ > eu̯, i̯u > i̯o, u̯i > u̯e, ui̯ > oi̯, i̯i > i̯e. This accounts for u̯e reflexes of u following labials and velars (*buřa > buera), eu̯ in i-stem verb participles (prosit, proseu), and ei̯ from tense yers and ī-breaking. The latter phoneme shows considerable regional variation, from standard [ɛɪ̯] to local realizations ranging [ɪi̯] ~ [äɪ̯].

œ Development

Proto-Slavic *y survived as a distinct phoneme except in documented merger contexts (see the sections on i-y Merger and vowel reduction). Over time it lowered to /ɜ/, as preserved in modern Carnian. This lowering postdated vowel reduction (where *y merged with *i into ï) but preceded high vowel diphthong dissimilation (where *yu̯ regularly yields œu̯).

The spelling ⟨œ⟩ was introduced during the Late Middle Ages. While modern /ɜ/ is not front rounded, it exhibits slight lip rounding [ɜ̜], unusual for *y, which lost labialization in Proto-Slavic. Two explanations have been proposed:

• *y in the Carnian speech territory retained some degree of rounding
• During lowering, *y achieved a more advanced pronunciation [ɘ̟], sharing place of articulation with High German ö, potentially influencing rounding development. This hypothesis can be supported by the Carinthian dialect, which experienced the highest degree of Germanization, realizing œ as a front rounded vowel [œ].

Modern Carnian Developments

Penultimate and Ultimate Accent

The transition from Old to Modern Carnian witnessed another major accent shift toward penultimate syllables, originating in coastal dialects around the 16th century and spreading northward. This development likely reflects Romance influence, particularly the penultimate stress preference prevalent in regional Romance varieties. While now considered standard, northernmost dialects, especially those in Alpine valleys, retain stem-initial accent.

The stress-length correlation remained operative during this shift: newly stressed open syllables underwent lengthening, while previously long syllables losing stress were shortened.

The unstressable ə̆ blocked penultimate shift when occurring in that position. Several later developments created ultimate accent exceptions:

• Final vowel loss (visible in infinitives: *-ti > -t)
• Analogical extension in predicative adjectives and participles
• Word-final nasal vowel denasalization with lengthening and stress attraction
• Loanword ultimate accent (from Italian, French)

Ł-L Merger

The original l / ł contrast was eliminated through merger to a single phoneme [l]. Velarized realization was preserved in syllable codas and extended to previously plain *l through merger (*solь > sol [sɔl] > [soɫ]).

Some dialects exhibit ṡuapanie, where velarized ł is realized as u̯. These dialects vary in whether the original contrast is preserved (sol vs. stou̯) or lost (sou̯, stou̯).

Postalveolar Consonant Developments

While Carnian generally preserves postalveolar ċ, ġ, ṡ, leveling occurred in specific environments:

• ċ lenited to ṡ in clusters and word-finally (*covaċ > covaṡ 'smith'), with analogical extension (Gen. covaṡa)
• Assimilation to alveolar counterparts in clusters containing alveolar consonants (*ṡtœri > stœri 'four'), primarily affecting ṡ and ġ as ċ had been eliminated from most clusters

Classification

The status of Carnian has been subject to academic debate, with various disagreements about whether it should be classified as a West or South Slavic language. While it shares multiple innovations with South Slavic, it initially evolved with western features and lacks several defining characteristics of the southern group. A common solution to this problem was to call Carnian a transitional language; however, considering geographical factors and considerable agreement in grammar and vocabulary, the modern consensus is to classify Carnian as a South Slavic language with its own Alpine branch (distinct from the Western South Slavic branch).

Features shared with West Slavic:

• Preserved Proto-Slavic kv-, gv- before old Slavic ě (cueat 'flower' vs. Slovene cvet)
• No epenthetic l (zemia 'earth' vs. Slovene zemlja)
• Preservation of tl and dl (leveled to a great extent in the modern language)
• North Slavic reflexes of oRT metathesis (locket 'elbow' vs. Serbo-Croatian lakat)
• -me ending in the first person plural indicative, a feature shared with Czech and Slovak (ċitame vs. Sl./SCr. čitamo)
• Preservation of nasal vowels (shared with Lechitic)
• General preservation of i-y distinction
• Animacy-induced behavior of velar-stem masculine nouns in nominative plural
• e-like reflex of yer vocalization
• Vocalization of syllabic liquids (not shared with Czech-Slovak, shared with Slovene)
• Extension of the accusative form *tъnъ to nominative in place of *tъ (modern ten vs. Sl./SCr. ta)
• Tendency towards fixed stress
• Diminutive and feminine counterparts of masculine nouns formed with the reflexes of *-ьca / *-ъka instead of *-ica. Such diminutive formation is also found in Slovene and Kajkavian
• Short infinitive in -t
• vi- prefix instead of iz- (also found in Kajkavian)
• Spirantization g > ɣ (dialectal feature, shared with Czech-Slovak and Sorbian)

Features shared with South Slavic:

• Partial i-y merger
• Merger of Proto-Slavic *ś (resulting from the second and third palatalization) with *s
• -ega suffix in genitive singular of the adjectival declension
• Pitch accent (shared with Slovene and Serbo-Croatian)
• u- > vu- (modern vue- and vo-), shared with Kajkavian
• Rhotacization *ž > r, shared with Slovene, Kajkavian, and Chakavian
• *ď > j in some cases (shared with Slovene, Kajkavian, and Chakavian)
• No general palatalization before front vowels (shared with Slovene and Serbo-Croatian)
• Preservation of the Late Common Slavic long falling syllables (shared with Slovene and Serbo-Croatian)
• Generalization of the -m suffix in the first person singular conjugation
• Mergers between soft and hard declensions
• kei 'what' pronoun, shared with Slovene and Kajkavian, locally also cie / cia (shared with Chakavian)
• Residual preservation of the indefinite adjectival declension (modern predicative adjectives)
• Approximant character of v with the tendency for vocalization
• Usual vocalization of yers in word-initial syllables
• Loss of vocative (shared with Slovene and Kajkavian); Carnian additionally lost instrumental and locative
• Presence of a mid-central vowel phoneme
• Ł-L merger (also shared with Czech-Slovak)
• Transformation *iь > i
• Common vocabulary

Phonology

Vowels

Carnian has six vowel phonemes. Length is not phonemic, but all stressed vowels in open syllables are long [Vː]. When unstressed, all vowels are somewhat reduced toward mid-central positions.

Vowel phonemes of Standard Carnian

	Front	Central	Back
Close	i	ʊ
Mid	ɛ	ɜ	ɔ
Open		a

Close vowels

• /i/ is a near-close front vowel [i̞]. In all unstressed syllables and closed stressed syllables it is near-front [ɪ]. When preceded by /r/, it is retracted to [ɨ̞]

• /ʊ/ is described as a near-close central-near back vowel with pronunciation ranging from [ɵ̝] to [ʊ]

Mid vowels

• /ɛ/ is an open-mid front vowel [ɛ]. When preceded by /j/ it may be raised to mid [e̞]. In unstressed syllables, it is somewhat centralized [ɛ̈]

• /ɜ/ is an open-mid central vowel with considerable lip rounding [ɜ̜] and slightly advanced pronunciation. Alternatively, it may be described as retracted [œ̠]. Lip rounding is lost in unstressed syllables where it is central unrounded [ɜ]

• /ɔ/ is an open-mid back vowel [ɔ]. When preceded by /j/ it may be raised to mid [o̞]. In stressed closed syllables it is near-open [ɒ̝]. In unstressed syllables it is centralized [ɞ]

Open vowel

• /a/ is an open central vowel [ä]. In unstressed syllables, it is near-open [ɐ]

Diphthongs

Carnian has a rich diphthong inventory. Falling diphthongs typically end in [ɪ̯] and [ʊ̯], while rising diphthongs begin with a glide /j/ or /w/. Many of them are not phonemic and can be reinterpreted as allophones of vowel + glide sequences.

One of the main characteristics of Carnian is a centering diphthong ea [ɛɐ̯], which typically becomes a monophthong in closed syllables or when adjacent to a semivowel, with pronunciation ranging from [æ] to [ɛ].

Consonants

Consonant phonemes of Standard Carnian

		Labial	Dental/ Alveolar	Postalveolar	Dorsal
Nasal		m	n
Plosive	voiceless	p	t		k
	voiced	b	d		ɡ
Affricate			ts	tʃ
Fricative	voiceless	f	s	ʃ	x
	voiced	ʋ	z	ʒ
Approximant			l		j
Flap			ɾ

• In the standard language, all obstruents are devoiced word-finally and before voiceless obstruents

• /n/ has an allophone [ŋ] before velar consonants. Many dialects also tend to realize /nj/ clusters as palatal [ɲ]

• Word-final stops are unreleased or elided entirely when part of a cluster (carnisc [kɐɾˈnɪ̌s])

• /b, d, g/ are spirantized to [β, ð, ɣ] or [β̞, ð̞, ɣ̞] in northern dialects. In a subgroup of those dialects which exhibit word-final devoicing, these are realized as [ɸ, θ, x]. Some Carinthian dialects with the spirantization /g/ > /ɣ/ also tend to realize /k/ as uvular [q]

• /x/ is usually glottal [h] word-initially

• /ʋ/ is a labiodental approximant with the fricative allophone [v] in certain contexts, such as when preceded by /ɾ/ or /l/. In coda and after most consonants, it is realized as [ʊ̯] or [w] and forms a diphthong

• /l/ is alveolar in most positions with a velarized allophone [ɫ] when in coda

• /ɾ/ is a flap, although some speakers may realize it slightly like an approximant. In coda, especially in urban dialects, it is often vocalized to [ə̯], forming a diphthong, or elided with compensatory lengthening of the preceding vowel

Prosody

Carnian has, with some exceptions, fixed stress on the penultimate syllable. Stressed vowels in open syllables are long [Vː], while in closed syllables they are short, and in some cases somewhat lax. Vowels in word-final stressed open syllables are shorter than in penultimate syllables and are most often described as half-long [Vˑ].

Unstressed vowels tend to be pronounced with a more mid-central quality.

Ultimate accent is an exception to the fixed pattern, although its occurrence is predictable:

• In words which lost their final vowel, such as all infinitives (prosit [pɾɞˈsɪt] 'to ask')
• In predicative forms, by analogy with non-predicative (prosien [pɾɞˈʃɛn] vs. prosiena [pɾɞˈʃɛːnɐ] 'asked')
• In words which used to have word-final nasal vowel, in this case always marked in spelling (jannè [jɐnˈnɛˑ] 'lamb')
• In loanwords which retained original accent (tiramisù [tɪɾɐmɪˈsʊˑ])

In addition, Carnian has pitch accent, with two pitch contours: rising and falling. In non-final syllables, pitch contour is carried over to the following syllable in the opposite manner. For example, falling pitch on the penultimate stressed syllable is followed by a slight rise of intonation on the ultimate, unstressed syllable.

Pitch contours are distinctive only in polysyllabic words and only on long vowels as well as in those closed syllables which have a sonorant in coda. Otherwise syllables carry a neutral tone.

Not all dialects exhibit the same accentual patterns as Standard Carnian. Particularly northern dialects of Carinthia and Upper Carniola retain Old Carnian stem-initial stress. Small transitional dialects on the borderlands with Slovenia and Croatia tend to have a free and mobile accent.