Middle Semitic/Phonology
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Middle Semitic sounds consist of 22 consonants and 5 vowels.
Consonants
The basic shape of MS is the shared liquids (m, n, l, r, w, y), the begadkefat spirants (b/v, g/ɣ, d/ð, k/x, p/f, t/θ), other fricatives (h, ʕ, ħ, z, s, š), and the "emphatics" (ṣ, ṭ, q, ʔ). Notice that Semitic studies has a long history of romanization which does not precisely map onto IPA.
| Labial | Dental | Alveolar | (Alv)Pal. | Velar | Pharyngeal | Glottal | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nasal | /m/ | /n/ | |||||
| Voiced | /b~v/ | /d~ð/ | /z/ | /g~ɣ/ | /ʕ~ʁ/ | ||
| Unvoiced | /p~f/ | /t~θ/ | /s/ | š=/ʃ/ | /k~x/ | ḥ=/χ~ħ/ | /h/ |
| Emphatic | ṭ=/t’~tˤ/ | ṣ=/ts~s’/ | /q~k’/ | /ʔ/ | |||
| Approx. | /l/ | /r~ɾ/ | /y/ | /w/ |
The vowels are the basic five common throughout most of the world, without diphthongs.
| Front | Center | Back | |
|---|---|---|---|
| High | i | u | |
| Middle | e | o | |
| Low | a | ||
