User:Juhhmi/Irbel
Irbel /iɹ.vʲeʎ/ (or Westlang /ɚwəl/) is an a priori language isolate spoken in one of the Western Kingdoms of eastern Sword of Vortex.
Phonology
Consonants
There are twenty-one phonemically distinguished consonants since the palatalization process forms contrastive pairs.
| Bilabial | Labio-dental | Alveolar | Post-alveolar | Palatal | Velar | Glottal | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nasal | n | ɲ | |||||
| Plosive | p pʲ | t tʲ | c | k | |||
| Fricative | f fʲ v vʲ | s | ʒ | ɕ ç | x | h | |
| Approximant | ɹ | j | |||||
| Trill | r | ||||||
| Lateral approximant | l lʲ | ʎ |
Affricates: /t͡ɕ/ and /d͡ʑ/
Coarticulated consonants: /w/, /ɥ/ and /ɧ/
Vowels
Monophthongs
There are six phonemic vowels of which four come in palatal/non-palatal allophone pairs.
| Front | Central | Back | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Close | i | ʉ | u |
| Near-close | ɪ | ||
| Close-mid | e ø | ɘ | |
| Mid | ə | ||
| Near-open | æ | ||
| Open | ä | ɑ |
Diphthongs
Graphemes y and w in coda are used to form diphthongs ay /äɪ̯/, ey /ei̯/ and aw /ɑʊ̯/ which occur both word-finally and before consonants. Between vowels, they form long semi-vowels /j:/ and /w:/.
Orthography
Palatalization
The language is written with a modified Westlang (Latin) alphabet script. Notable is the phonemic palatalization which naturally occurs in consonants before front vowels /e/ and /i/. Attempts to express the palatalization have accumulated into a complex system which was greatly simplified by Beate Lucuc /vʲät͡ɕ lukux/ in year 521 of 7th era.
- "Mute" front vowels which trigger palatalization: close ı used with u, and open e with a. Can be used word-finally to change the last coda consonant into palatalized: caoc /kɑkʰ/ vs. caec /kɑcʰ/
- "Mute" back vowel o occurs between vowels and non-palatalized or not fully spirantized coda: cac /kax/ vs. caoc /kakʰ/
- Pronounced front vowels: í and é. Use of u and a respectively with consonants, indicates that no palatilization occurs around í and é.
- Vowels ı and e can be used in single-syllable words in place of pronounced í and é if there is no risk of confusion: céc = cec
- Only two vowels are written in a same syllable. If palatalization of both onset and coda is required, both triggers are placed after the consonants: ceace /cäc/
- If a syllable has a front vowel as nucleus but both onset and coda not palatalized, h can be used to alter the coda instead of o: caétaét /ketet͡ɕ/ vs. caétaéht /ketetʰ/
Consonants
Word-final version are included after / if different, and /* means that the grapheme isn't used word-finally.
| Grapheme | Plain | Palatalized |
|---|---|---|
| p | p/pʰ | pʲ |
| b | v/f | vʲ/fʲ |
| n | n | ɲ |
| t | t/tʰ | t͡ɕ |
| s | s | ɕ |
| r | r | ɹ |
| l | l | lʲ/ʎ |
| c | k/x | c/ç |
| x/* | x | ç |
| g | ks | ɧ |
| j | j/ʒ | d͡ʑ |
| v/* | w | ɥ |
| Grapheme | Phoneme | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| q | kɘ | |
| d | kɪ | |
| f | ç | After a |
| k | ç | After u |
| m | n: | Between vowels |
| w | w:/ɥ: | Between back/front vowels |
| y | j: | Between vowels |
- Word-initial w before a back vowel is realized as /əw-/ and before front vowels as /əɥ-/. Word-initial y is similarly /əj-/. In coda, w is used only after a and y only after a and e for diphthongs /ɑʊ̯/, /äɪ̯/ and /ei̯/ respectively.
Vowels
| Grapheme | With consonants | |
|---|---|---|
| not palatalized: | palatalized: | |
| a | ɑ | ä |
| u | u | ʉ |
| é | ɘ | e |
| í | ɪ | i |
Glottal fricative /h/ separates pronounced vowels in pronunciation: cíu /cihu/
Digraphs
Examples of the use of e and ı with consonants.
| Grapheme | Phoneme | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| cı | c | Before u |
| cʰ | After u, e and i | |
| ce | c | Before a |
| cʰ | After a | |
| oc | kʰ | Word-finally |
| ot | tʰ | After e and i |
| op | pʰ | After e and i |
| aw | ɑʊ̯ | |
| ay | äɪ̯ | |
| ey | ei̯ | |
| eu | ø | Stressed syllable, considered as front vowel |
| ia | æ | Similarly to eu |
Examples: cıuq /cʉkɘ/, cíu /cihu/, cead /cäkɪ/, céa /cehɑ/