4,735
edits
Chrysophylax (talk | contribs) m (→Consonants) |
Chrysophylax (talk | contribs) m (→Background) |
||
(12 intermediate revisions by the same user not shown) | |||
Line 1: | Line 1: | ||
{{Infobox language | {{Infobox language | ||
|name = Merrish | |name = Merrish | ||
Line 18: | Line 16: | ||
|agency = | |agency = | ||
}} | }} | ||
==Background== | |||
==Phonology== | ==Phonology== | ||
===Consonants=== | ===Segments=== | ||
====Consonants==== | |||
{{PAGENAME}} has 18 consonants. A significant portion are fricatives. | {{PAGENAME}} has 18 consonants. A significant portion are fricatives. | ||
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center;" | {| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center;" | ||
Line 52: | Line 53: | ||
--> | --> | ||
===Vowels=== | The approximant '''/w/''' is realised as [u] in positions where a consonant would be forbidden. Clusters are forbidden in the coda and thus in words such as 'mabhr' /mawɾ/ '''/w/''' surfaces as [mauɾ]. Compare with ''mbhath'' /mwaθ/ where '''/w/''' remains a consonant. | ||
====Vowels==== | |||
{{PAGENAME}} has, in the traditional analysis, a phonemically vertical three-vowel system. There is no length distinction. Phonetically, the low vowel '''a''' can be realised as a back, semi-rounded vowel [ɑʷ] before uvular consonants or as an (occasionally long) [æ] before a historical /j/ (written ⟨gh⟩ in the orthography). | {{PAGENAME}} has, in the traditional analysis, a phonemically vertical three-vowel system. There is no length distinction. Phonetically, the low vowel '''a''' can be realised as a back, semi-rounded vowel [ɑʷ] before uvular consonants or as an (occasionally long) [æ] before a historical /j/ (written ⟨gh⟩ in the orthography). | ||
Line 105: | Line 108: | ||
| style="height:30px; font-size:smaller; text-align:right;" | '''Open''' | | style="height:30px; font-size:smaller; text-align:right;" | '''Open''' | ||
|} | |} | ||
{{PAGENAME}} has three falling diphthongs ⟨egh⟩ /ei/, ⟨abh⟩ /au/, ⟨ae⟩ /ae/ which may be pronounced with the first element slightly lengthened, e.g. /maeɾ/ [maːeɾ]. | |||
===Syllables=== | |||
The Merrish syllable can assume the following forms: V, VC, CV, CVC. In addition to this, an approximant G can flank the nucleus on either or both sides. The syllable is maximally CGVGC e.g. fbhabhr /fwawr/ [fwaur] ('forest'). In the case of an underlying double glide syllable, the first approximant from the right is wholly vocalised. This process historically accounts for ⟨mbheghr⟩ becoming /mweir/. | |||
====Phonotactic restrictions==== | |||
=====Onset===== | |||
The phonemes /q/, /r/, /x/ do not occur in this position in the native lexicon. | |||
=====Coda===== | |||
/ʃ/ never appears in the coda. | |||
====Syllabic weight==== | |||
A single vowel has the weight of one mora '''μ''' in an open syllable while a diphthong has two. All vowels in closed syllables count as two morae. Extraordinarily, syllables with the pseudophoneme '''æ''' always counts as two morae. | |||
===Phonological word=== | |||
The phonological word must at its minimum consist of two morae. | |||
===Stress=== | |||
==Morphology== | |||
===Word classes=== | |||
===Inflection=== | |||
===Derivation=== | |||
==Syntax== | |||
===Phrases=== | |||
====Noun phrase==== | |||
====Verb phrase==== | |||
===Clauses=== | |||
====Transitive clauses==== | |||
====Intransitive clauses==== | |||
====Copula clauses==== | |||
===Sentence=== |