Hantza/Phonology

See also: Hantza alphabet

This article deals with the phonology and phonetics of Hantza and the statements made herein refer to the Karakum dialect as this includes around 53% of native Hantza speakers. For specific traits of other dialects see Hantza dialects. Likewise, prosody is dealt with in a separate article.

Consonant phonemes

There are eighteen consonant phonemes in Hantza.

Labial Alveolar Palatal Velar Glottal
Nasal m n ŋ
Plosive p b t d k ʔ
Fricative f s h
Affricate t͡s d͡z
Approx. j w
Liquid r l

Note that the phoneme /g/ is missing in the plosive series.

Those consonants that exhibit allophony are discussed below.

Consonantal allophony

Fricatives

In Hantza, /s/ is typically realised as the retracted [s̠]. This phonetic value is similar to that found in some northern dialects of Dutch. To English speakers it may sound like it is actually the post-alveolar fricative [ʃ]. Indeed, for many speakers /s/ is realised as [ɕ] before /i/. Similarly, for these /ts/ also becomes [tɕ] before in the same environment.

The glottal fricative /h/ is realised differently depending on the vowel that follows it. These allophones are given in the table below:

Before /a/ Before /e, i/ Before /o, u/
Intervocalic [ħ̝] [ç] [ɦ̝ʷ]
Elsewhere [x̟] [ħ̝ʷ]

Note that despite /h/ being referred to as "glottal" it most often not glottal phonetically.

Liquids

The single rhotic in Hantza /r/ also has a great many realisations cross-dialectically; this could be one of [ɹ ~ ɾ ~ r ~ ʀ ~ ʁ ~ χ ~ x]. The pronunciation of /r/ can also differ idiosyncratically from the dialectal norm.

As with the glottal /h/, the rhotic phoneme /r/ is also often labialised before the vowels /o, u/.

The lateral /l/ is realised as a dark [ɫ] when followed by /k, h/ and is a clear [l] elsewhere.

Vowel phonemes

Hantza's vowel inventory is a simple five-vowel system, similar to that of many modern languages, such as Greek and Swahili.

Front Back
Close i u
Mid e o
Open a

Vowel length is not phonemic in Hantza and there are no diphthongs.

Vocalic allophony

In most dialects, including the Karakum, vowels are realised qualitatively different when unstressed.

/a/ /e/ /i/ /o/ /u/
Stressed [ä] [e] [i] [o] [ʉ]
Unstressed [ɐ] [ɛ] [ɪ] [ɔ] [ʊ̈]

Note that this is not the case for all dialects.

The Hantza Language (VTE)
Orthography Hantza alphabet (Latin script)
Phonology IPA for HantzaPhonologyProsody
Grammar NounsNumeralsVerbsParticlesSyntaxDerivational morphology
Vocabulary Basic phrasesKinshipSwadesh list
Texts Test Case SentencesThe North Wind and the SunThe Lord's PrayerThe Tower of Babel
Other DialectsEthnologyDemography