Uínlitska: Difference between revisions

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All words consist of alternating consonants and vowels (in other words, all syllables are open, except the final syllable in a word, which may be closed). There are two exceptions:
All words consist of alternating consonants and vowels (in other words, all syllables are open, except the final syllable in a word, which may be closed). There are two exceptions:


* A homorganic nasal may occur before a stop intervocalically
* A voiced homorganic nasal may occur before a stop intervocalically. In the case of the velar nasal, when it does so, it is written simply <n>.


* Two (but no more than two) vowels may occur in sequence with no (apparent) consonant separating them
* Two (but no more than two) vowels may occur in sequence with no (apparent) consonant separating them


There are complex sandhi rules to prevent grammatically-caused, otherwise-illegal vowel and consonant clusters.
There are complex sandhi rules to prevent grammatically-caused, otherwise-illegal vowel and consonant clusters.
=== Examples ===
Valid word shapes include:
* a
* ack
* apa
* ti
* toeb
* dinka

Revision as of 12:33, 7 September 2017

Phonology & Orthography

Vowels

ɑ (a) ɛ i ʊ (ʏ) ə
Plain a æ e i o œ ø
Nasalized ã æ̃ ĩ õ œ̃ ø̃
Long á ǽ é í ó œ́ ǿ

The phonemes /a/ and /ʏ/ (and their variants) are only found in loanwords.

Consonants

Bilabial Labiodental Labiovelar Interdental Alveolar Postalveolar Palatal Velar Uvular Glottal
Stop p b ku gu t d k g ck cg c
Nas hm m hn n hnj nj hgn gn
Aff tj dj kj gj
Fric ff f xxu xu þþ þ ss s ssj sj xx x h ch
Tap hr r
Trill rr
Liquid hu u hl l hj j hŕ ŕ

Initial fricatives are voiceless, but are written with the otherwise-voiced (usually single-letter) form.

Older texts may be found using the punctum delens (a dot above or below a letter) to mark voiceless forms of consonants other than stops or fricatives.

Syllable Structure

All words consist of alternating consonants and vowels (in other words, all syllables are open, except the final syllable in a word, which may be closed). There are two exceptions:

  • A voiced homorganic nasal may occur before a stop intervocalically. In the case of the velar nasal, when it does so, it is written simply <n>.
  • Two (but no more than two) vowels may occur in sequence with no (apparent) consonant separating them

There are complex sandhi rules to prevent grammatically-caused, otherwise-illegal vowel and consonant clusters.

Examples

Valid word shapes include:

  • a
  • ack
  • apa
  • ti
  • toeb
  • dinka