Ábḫanni
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Ábḫanni | |
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Pronunciation | [[ˈáβ.xɐn̪.n̪i]] |
Created by | Thisimpliesthis |
Setting | Tantíyoz |
Abhannic languages
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Ábḫanni [ˈáβ.xɐn̪.n̪i] is a divergent Abhannic language, and is a isolate in this family, o
Phonology
Consonants
Ábḫanni has the following consonant phonemes:
Labial | Dental or alveolar |
Palatal or prepalatal |
Velar | Glottal | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Nasal | m /m/ |
n /n̪/ |
j /ɲ̟/ |
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Plosive | voiceless | t /t̪/ |
k /k/ |
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prenasalized | mb /ᵐb/ |
nd /ⁿd̪/ |
ng /ᵑɡ/ |
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Fricative | voiceless | z /θ̱/ |
s /ɕ/ |
ḫ /x/ |
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voiced | b /β/ |
d /ð/ |
jh /ʑ/ |
h /ɦ/ | ||
Liquid | r /ɺ/ |
y /j/ |
Notes:
- The consonants /n̪/, /t̪/, /ⁿd̪/, and /θ̱/ are denti-alveolar and laminal; /ð/ is interdental and apical; and /ɺ/ is alveolar and apical.
- /n̪/ never occurs word-initially, where it was replaced at some point by /m/. For example, míkkar 'to rock (back and forth)' has an frequentative mbaníkkar 'to stumble around' formed by prefix mba-. However, this word-initial /m/-/n̪/ alteration is no longer productive, and hence forms such has zoimíkkar 'I saw that it rocked' exist when using productive morphology such as the evidential zoi-.
- /n̪/ becomes [ŋ] when preceding /k/.
- When ungeminated and preceding a stressed vowel, /ɲ̟/ becomes the prenasalized voiced plosive [ᶮɟ̟]. It is written nj when geminated.
- /t̪/ and /k/ become [d̪] and [g], respectively, when not geminated and following /n̪/.
- The prenasalized consonants only occur word-initially and are relatively uncommon.
- /ᵑɡ/ becomes [ŋ] when not preceding a stressed or secondarily stressed vowel.
- The unvoiced dental fricative /θ̱/ is a denti-alveolar nonsibilant fricative, i.e., a non-sibilant version of [s̪].
- The phonemes /θ̱/ and /ɕ/ are subject to the assimilaton /ɕVθ̱/ → /ɕVɕ/.
- When geminated, /β/ becomes [pp] and is written pp.
- The voiced dental fricative /ð/ is a true interdental fricative. This phoneme is very uncommon and its distribution is highly restricted, occuring only in /aˈðV/ and /aˌðV/ sequences.
- The consonant /ɺ/ is generally pronounced as a lateral flap. It is subject to the anticipatory dissimilation /ɺVɺ/ → /nVɺ/. Word-finally, this consonant is sometimes weakened to [ɦ].
- The palatal approximant /j/ has restricted distribution, occuring only sequences of the form /VjV/ while adjacent to at least one /i/ or [ɪ̯].
Vowels
The vowel system of Ábḫanni is, described minimally, /i e ɔ a/, and features length and tone distinctions as well as diphthongs. The full set of vowel phonemes is as follows:
Front | Back | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
short | long | short | long | ||
Close | i í /i í/ |
ii íi ií /iː îː ǐː/ |
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Mid | pure | e é /e é/ |
o ó /ɔ ɔ́/ |
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closing | ei éi eí /eːɪ̯ êːɪ̯ ěːɪ̯/ |
oi ói /ɔɪ̯ ɔ́ɪ̯/ |
ou óu oú /ɔːʊ̯ ɔ̂ːʊ̯ ɔ̌ːʊ̯/ | ||
Open | pure | a á /a á/ |
aa áa aá /aː âː ǎː/ |
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closing | ai ái /aɪ̯ áɪ̯/ |
aai áai aái /aːɪ̯ âːɪ̯ ǎːɪ̯/ |
ao áo /ɑɔ̯ ɑ́ɔ̯/ |
aao áao aáo /ɑːɔ̯ ɑ̂ːɔ̯ ɑ̌ːɔ̯/ |