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Lebanese: Difference between revisions
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*Historically /a/ could only be a short vowel, because it's long counterpart was lost. In the modern language [aː] appeared from the contraction of [aʕa] after the weakening of /ʕ/ (not indicated in writing), from compensatory lengthening after the loss of [ʔ] in some words (𐤕𐤔̄𐤀 ''tissā'' "you take"), new borrowings ( | *Historically /a/ could only be a short vowel, because it's long counterpart was lost. In the modern language [aː] appeared from the contraction of [aʕa] after the weakening of /ʕ/ (not indicated in writing), from compensatory lengthening after the loss of [ʔ] in some words (𐤕𐤔̄𐤀 ''tissā'' "you take"), new borrowings (𐤊𐤀𐤓𐤕 ''kārt'', plural ''karahūth'', "credit card") and in some words (''wāw'' - the name for the letter "𐤅", however the variant ''wô'' can often be found in the old texts). | ||
There are 12 vowel phonemes in total. They often alternate with each other when the stress shifts or while declining words. In the North Lebanese dialect "ô" merges into "ū" and (along with the Tyrian dialect) "ê" merges into "ī" (thus words, like 𐤌𐤌 mêm "water", are pronounced [miːm]). In Sidonian, however, "ē" typically merges "ê", and "ō" - into "ô". Thus, in general, only 10 distinct phonemes are present in most dialects. Arabic speakers typically also merge short "e", "o" and "a" into a single phoneme that varies from [æ] to [ɒ] depending on its environment. Many North Lebanese speakers also often merge short "e" and "o" into "i" and "u", but it only occures in a colloquial speech, especially when speaking fast. | There are 12 vowel phonemes in total. They often alternate with each other when the stress shifts or while declining words. In the North Lebanese dialect "ô" merges into "ū" and (along with the Tyrian dialect) "ê" merges into "ī" (thus words, like 𐤌𐤌 mêm "water", are pronounced [miːm]). In Sidonian, however, "ē" typically merges "ê", and "ō" - into "ô". Thus, in general, only 10 distinct phonemes are present in most dialects. Arabic speakers typically also merge short "e", "o" and "a" into a single phoneme that varies from [æ] to [ɒ] depending on its environment. Many North Lebanese speakers also often merge short "e" and "o" into "i" and "u", but it only occures in a colloquial speech, especially when speaking fast. | ||