User:Celinceithir/Sairstíreg: Difference between revisions

'''mh:''' <mh> in Middle Southern Elithoan became <f> [f~v] in Elithoan Celinese, but became [ʍ] in initial position and [m] elsewhere in most Sairstír Celinese varieties. Compare SEC ''sofen'' with SSG. ''somman'', ''hwair'' with ''fair'', ''hwyðí'' to ''fyðí'' ''syfoth'' with ''scymoth'', and ''lefrë'' with ''lemra''.  

'''ɣ:''' Early Elithoan Celinese's /ɣ/ became unvoiced <ch> ([x] and later [χ]) in SEC - but became silent in Sairstír, often having a lengthening effect on vowels before it. Compare EEC's ''oɣt'' (from) to SEC ''och'' and SSG ''ô'' (Soft Sairstírian: ''ôth'') or SEC ''sinocht'' (snow) to SSG ''synôth'' [ɕyˈno̝ː].

'''No Pre-alveolar [a] raising:''' Most early middle Elithoan Celinese varieties saw [a] raised to [æ] (Modern <e> [e]) before word-final d, l, n and r. This sound change did not occur in Sairstír, and thus is not reflected in the orthography - hence ''hyrân'' [çyˈɹɑ̃ːn] (red) instead of SEC's ''hyrèn'' or ''mayar'' instead of SEC maier.  Before l and sometimes r, [ɑ] is raised and rounded to [ɔ], in itself reduced to [ʊ] when unstressed. Compare SSG ''lârol'' [lɑːɹʊɫ] and SEC ''lairel'' or SSG ''somor'' with SEC ''sofer''.

'''Word-final voicing:''' Unlike SEC, Sairstír Celinese does not allow for word-final unvoiced plosives - so the likes of SEC ''sop'', ''pyp'' and ''lofot'' become ''sob'', ''pyb'' and ''lowod.'' This means that feminine plurals, -ot in SEC, end in -d in SSG: compare ''séilot'' with ''sêlod'' (days) or ''mildot'' with ''mirdod'' (friends).

'''Absence of affricate-fricative mergers:''' Compared to most Celinese varieties, Sairstír Celinese is rich in affricates. The /pf/-/f/ merger that affected nearly every other dialect did not impact SSG: thus, ''trefí'' (meet) [tʐ̊ʏˈfɨː] and trephí (fall) [tʐ̊ʏˈpfɨː] are distinguished.  Many common words such as phancast (latter) and phechoth (fish) conserve initial /pf/.