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North-East Antarctican (view source)

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The language has evolved for roughly 2000 years since migration, but still shares a number of features with English. These include prepositions, absence of case marking on nouns, adjectives and numerals preceding nouns, but relative clauses following it, and a two-way voicing contrast on stops.  
The language has evolved for roughly 2000 years since migration, but still shares a number of features with English. These include prepositions, absence of case marking on nouns, adjectives and numerals preceding nouns, but relative clauses following it, and a two-way voicing contrast on stops.  


However, it differs from English in many other ways. Syntactically, it prefers SVO, but is less strict than English, often allowing words to be fronted as topics, or elided if they are obvious from context. This does not create ambiguities, since verbs have have prefixes to mark polypersonal agreement as well as hierarchical person marking. The language also marks alienable and inalienable possession. Phonologically, the language uses secondary articulation to contrast a very large number of consonant phonemes (43) however the phonotactics are very restrictive, and most dialects have a vertical vowel system (the ones that do not still preserve an older system with vowel harmony).
However, it differs from English in many other ways. Syntactically, it prefers SVO, but is less strict than English, often allowing words to be fronted as topics, or elided if they are obvious from context. This does not create ambiguities, since verbs have have prefixes to mark polypersonal agreement as well as hierarchical person marking. The language also marks [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inalienable_possession alienable and inalienable possession]. Phonologically, the language uses secondary articulation to contrast a very large number of consonant phonemes, however the phonotactics are extremely restrictive, and most dialects have a [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vertical_vowel_system Vertical Vowel System] (the ones that do not still preserve an older system with vowel harmony).




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===Vowels===
===Vowels===


Vowel frontness / backness is not phonemic. There are 3 phonemic oral monophthongs /a ə ɨ/, each with nasal counterparts /aⁿ əⁿ ɨⁿ/. These are 4 oral diphthongs /aɨ əɨ ɨa ɨə/, and 2 nasal diphthongs /aɨⁿ əɨⁿ/.
Vowel frontness / backness is not phonemic. There are 3 phonemic oral monophthongs /a ə ɨ/.




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{| class="wikitable"
{| class="wikitable"
|-
|-
! !! Labial !! Pal. Labial !! Alveolar !! Lab. Alveolar !! Pal. Alveolar !! Retro-flex !! Palatal !! Velar !! Uvular !! Lab. Palatal !! Lab. Velar !! Lab. Uvular
! !! Labial !! Pal. Labial !! Alveolar !! Lab. Alveolar !! Pal. Alveolar !! Retro-flex !! Palatal !! Velar !! Uvular !! Lab. Palatal !! Lab. Velar !! Lab. Uvular !! Glottal
|-
|-
| Nasal || m || mʲ || n || || || || ɲ || ŋ || || ɲʷ || ŋʷ ||  
| Nasal || m || mʲ || n || || || || ɲ || ŋ || || ɲʷ || ŋʷ || || ɴ
|-
|-
| Stop || p b || pʲ bʲ || t d || tʷ dʷ || tʲ dʲ || ʈ ɖ || c ɟ || k g || q || cʷ ɟʷ || kʷ gʷ || qʷ
| Stop || p b || pʲ bʲ || t d || tʷ dʷ || tʲ dʲ || ʈ ɖ || c ɟ || k g || q || cʷ ɟʷ || kʷ gʷ || qʷ || ʔ
|-
|-
| Fricative || || || s || || sʲ ~ ʃ ~ ɕ || ʂ || ç || || χ || çʷ ~ ɸʲ || || χʷ ~ ɸ
| Fric. || || || s || || ʃ ~ ɕ || ʂ || ç || x || || çʷ ~ ɸʲ || xʷ ~ ɸ || || h
|-
|-
| Approximant || || || ɹ || || || ɻ || j || || ʁ || ɥ || w || ʁʷ ~ β
| Approx. || || || || || || ɻ || j || || || ɥ || w || ||
|-
|-
| Lateral Approximant || || || ɫ || || ||  || ʎ || ||  ||  ||  ||  
| Flap / Trill || || || || || ɾʲ || || || || ʀ || || || ʀʷ ~ ⱱ ||
|-
| Lat. || || || || || ||  || ʎ || || ɫ ||  ||  ||  ||
|}
|}


Palatal, labialised palatal, palatalised alveolar, labialised alveolar and retroflex stops are in free variation with the corresponding affricates.
 
*The "glottal nasal" phoneme is similar to the Japanese moraic nasal, or the Burmese placeless nasal. It only occurs in syllable codas. When it is followed by a consonant, it assimilates to the place of articulation of that consonant (e.g. it becomes [m] before a labial consonant, [mʲ] before a palatalised labial consonant). At the end of words, it manifests itself as nasalisation of the preceding vowel.
 
*Palatal, labialised palatal, palatalised alveolar, labialised alveolar and retroflex stops are in free variation with the corresponding affricates.
 
*/h/ is pronounced [ɦ] before a vowel with breathy voice.
 
*/ɫ/ is not actually uvular, but a uvularised alveolar lateral (like English "dark l"). However, in terms of the phonology, it patterns as a uvular consonant.
 
* /ɾʲ/ is normally pronounced as a flap, except when geminated when it becomes a trill. /ʀ/ and /ʀʷ/ are usually pronounced as approximants, except when geminated when they become trills.
 


===Suprasegmentals===
===Suprasegmentals===
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====Stress====
====Stress====


In each word, one syllable has stress. Stress can occur on any syllable, indeed the location is phonemic. There are many minimal pairs that contrast only in the location of the stress e.g. /ˈqɨ̰ɫɨ/ - "big" vs. /qɨˈɫɨ̰/ - "evidence", /ˈkə̰tə/ - "short" vs. /kəˈtə̰/ - "concept".
In each word, one syllable has stress. Stress can occur on any syllable, indeed the location is phonemic. There are many minimal pairs that contrast only in the location of the stress e.g. /ˈqɨ̰ɫɨ/ - "giant" vs. /qɨˈɫɨ̰/ - "evidence", /ˈkə̰tə/ - "short" vs. /kəˈtə̰/ - "concept".




====Gemination====
====Gemination====


If a stressed vowel is followed by a consonant, then sometimes the consonant is doubled. This is phonemic, and there are minimal pairs distinguished by the presence of gemination e.g. /ˈbɨə̰kɨ/ - "bake" vs. /ˈbɨə̰kːɨ/ - "duty". Geminate consonants cannot occur after nasal vowels.
If a stressed vowel is followed by a consonant, then sometimes the consonant is doubled. This is phonemic, and there are minimal pairs distinguished by the presence of gemination e.g. /bɨˈhə̤kɨ/ - "bake" vs. /bɨˈhə̤kːɨ/ - "duty". Geminate consonants cannot occur after the nasal coda /ɴ/




====Timing====
====Timing====


NE Antarctican is mora-timed. Each syllable counts as one mora, except diphthongs, nasal vowels and stressed syllables count for two, and therefore take twice as long to pronounce. If a stressed syllable has an oral vowel, but is not followed by a geminate consonant, then the vowel is pronounced long.
NE Antarctican is mora-timed. Each syllable counts as one mora, except stressed syllables and syllables containing the nasal coda /ɴ/ count for two, and therefore take twice as long to pronounce. If a stressed syllable has an oral vowel, but is not followed by /ɴ/ or a geminate consonant, then the vowel is pronounced long.




====Phonation====
====Phonation====


There is a phonemic phonation contrast on stressed syllables, between breathy voice and tense voice. There are many minimal pairs that contrast this e.g. /ˈbaɨ̤ⁿdɨ/ - "liver" vs. /ˈbaɨ̰ⁿdɨ/ - "to tie together".
There is a phonemic phonation contrast on stressed syllables, between breathy voice and tense voice. There are many minimal pairs that contrast this e.g. /baˈhɨ̤ɴdɨ/ - "liver" vs. /baˈhɨ̰ɴdɨ/ - "to tie together".
 
Vowels with tense voice are pronounced with high or rising pitch. Vowels with breathy voice are pronounced with low or falling pitch.




===Phonotactics===
===Phonotactics===


The only possible syllable structures are CV and V, and the latter only occurs word initially.
====Syllable Structures====


The only possible syllable structures are CV(ɴ).


==Phonetic Processes==


===Phonation Spreading===
====Glottal Consonants====


Both breathy and tense phonation tend to spread rightwards from the stressed syllable. Breathy voice spreads until it is blocked by a voiceless consonant. So in /ˈbaɨ̤ⁿdɨ/ - "liver", the breathy phonation spreads from the first (stressed) syllable, through the /d/ onto the final syllable. However, in words such as /ˈbɨə̰kɨ/ - "bake" and /ˈbɨə̰kːɨ/ - "duty", the voiceless /k/ blocks the spread of the breathy voice, no matter whether or not it is geminated.
There are a few restrictions on the glottal consonants /ʔ/ and /h/. They cannot occur between two identical vowel phonemes (so sequences such as */aha/ are forbidden). Nor can they occur after /ɴ/. Also they cannot immediately follow a stressed vowel. As such, they cannot occur geminated.


The rules for tense phonation are slightly more complex. Tense phonation spreads through nasals, approximants and lateral approximants, and also through voiceless stops. However, it is blocked by fricatives and voiced stops e.g. it spreads in both /ˈqɨ̰ɫɨ/ - "big" and /ˈkə̰tə/ - "short", but not in /gʷɨˈkɨ̰da/ - "to swim" or /ˈkʷə̰sa/ - "to throw".


====Strong and Weak Consonants====


===Vowel Allophony===
A number of consonants are classed as "strong". These are all the fricatives except /s/ (i.e. all the non-sibilant fricatives), the labialised alveolar stops /tʷ/ and /dʷ/, the uvular consonants /q/ and /ʀ/, and their labialised equivalents /qʷ/ and /ʀʷ/. The labialised velar stops /kʷ/ and /gʷ/, and the labialised palatal stops /cʷ/ and /ɟʷ/ also usually pattern as strong consonants, but there are some irregularities here (each of these four phonemes are the result of mergers between a historically strong consonant, and a historically weak consonant).


Even though there is no phonemic contrast between front and back vowels, this does not mean that sounds such as [i], [u] and [e] are absent from the language. Front and back vowels occur as allophones of their corresponding central vowels. This allophony is depends on both the surrounding consonants. If a consonant begins a bimoraic syllable, then it only affects the first part of that syllable e.g. /ˈwɨ̤ⁿdɨ/ - "wind" is pronounced [ˈwʉɨ̤ⁿdɨ̤], with the /w/ only causing rounding of the first part of the following vowel (since it is nasal and hence bimoraic). /akʷɨəˈta̰/ - "to squeeze" is pronounced [akʷʉəˈta̰ː], with only the first element of the diphthong being rounded.
Historically, these were aspirated / velarised stops, which were subject to a rule similar to [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grassmann%27s_law Grassman's Law]. The result of this law is that, in the modern language, words cannot contain more than one "strong" consonant. If a process such as affixation would create a violation of this rule, all strong consonants except the last are mutated, by a regular process:


Likewise, if a consonant follows a bimoraic syllable, then it only affects the last part of the vowel e.g. /ˈsɨqɨ/ - "to suck" is pronounced [ˈsɨɯ̰qɯ].
* /tʷ/ and /dʷ/ -> /t/ and /d/ respectively
* /ʃ/ -> /tʲ/
* /ʂ/ -> /ʈ/
* /ç/ and /x/ -> /c/
* /q/ and /ʀ/ -> /k/ and /g/ respectively
* /çʷ/ and /xʷ/ -> /cʷ/ (in this case, the resulting /cʷ/ does not pattern as a strong consonant)
* /qʷ/ and /ʀʷ/ -> /kʷ/ and /gʷ/ respectively (likewise, in this case the resulting phonemes do not pattern as strong).
* /h/ -> /ʔ/


For example, the noun class prefix for plants is normally /ʂɨ-/ (descended from English "tree" via an aspirated retroflex stop). However, when it attaches to the root /ʀɨˈʔə̰ɻɨ/ - "rose" (containing the strong consonant /ʀ/, the /ʂ/ changes to /ʈ/, giving /ʈɨ-ʀɨˈʔə̰ɻɨ/


====Fronting====


This occurs when a vowel is adjacent to a palatal or palatalised consonant e.g. /ˈɨ̰mːʲɨ/ [ˈḭmːʲḭ] - "ocean", /ˈca̰kːɨsama/ [ˈcæ̰kːɨ̰sama] - "customer".
==Phonetic Processes==


===Phonation Spreading===


====Retraction====
Both breathy and tense phonation tend to spread rightwards from the stressed syllable. Breathy voice spreads until it is blocked by a voiceless consonant (other than /h/). So /baˈhɨ̤ɴdɨ/ - "liver" is pronounced [baˈhɨ̤ɴdɨ̤], the breathy phonation spreading from the stressed syllable, through the /d/ onto the final syllable. However, in words such as /bɨˈhə̤kɨ/ - "bake" and /bɨˈhə̤kːɨ/ - "duty", the voiceless /k/ blocks the spread of the breathy voice, no matter whether or not it is geminated.


This occurs adjacent to a (non-labialised) uvular consonant, or "dark" /ɫ/ e.g. /ˈqɨ̰dːɨ/ [ˈqɯ̰dːɨ] - "good".
The rules for tense phonation are slightly more complex. Tense phonation spreads through nasals, approximants, flaps / trills, and laterals, and also through voiceless stops. However, it is blocked by fricatives and voiced stops e.g. it spreads in both /ˈqɨ̰ɫɨ/ - "giant" and /ˈkə̰tə/ - "short", but not in /gʷɨˈkɨ̰da/ - "to swim" or /ˈkʷə̰sa/ - "dart".




====Rounding without Retraction====
===Vowel Allophony===


This occurs adjacent to labialised velar consonants, but does not apply to /a/ e.g. /akʷɨəˈta̰/ [akʷʉəˈta̰ː] - "to squeeze", /gʷɨˈkɨ̰da/ - [gʷʉˈkɨːda] - "to swim".
Even though there is no phonemic contrast between front and back vowels, this does not mean that sounds such as [i], [u] and [e] are absent from the language. Front and back vowels occur as allophones of their corresponding central vowels e.g. /ˈɨ̰mːʲɨ/ - "ocean" is pronounced [ˈḭmːʲḭ], and /ˈtʷɨ̤pːasɨ/ - "intestines" is pronounced [ˈtʷṳpːasɨ].


The allophones of each vowel are given in the table below. Note that a "lowering" consonant is defined as a retroflex or uvular consonant (labialised or non-labialised, including /ɫ/):


====Rounding with Retraction====
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Environment !! /ɨ/ !! /ə/ !! /a/
|-
| Default || [ɨ] || [ə] || [a]
|-
| Adjacent to a Palatal or Palatalised Consonant || [i] || [e] || [æ]
|-
| Adjacent to a Non-Labialised Lowering Consonant || [ɤ] || [ʌ] || [ɑ]
|-
| Adjacent to a Labialised Non-Lowering Consonant || [u] || [o]|| [a]
|-
| Adjacent to a Labialised Uvular Consonant || [ʊ] || [ɔ] || [ɒ]
|-
| Adjacent to a Labialised Palatal Consonant || [y] || [ø] || [œ]
|-
| Between a Lowering Consonant and a Labialised Non-Lowering Consonant || [ʊ] || [ɔ] || [ɒ]
|-
| Between a Palatal / Palatalised Consonant, and a Labialised Non-Lowering Consonant || [y] || [ø] || [œ]
|-
| Between a Palatal / Palatalised Consonant, and a Labialised Uvular Consonant|| [ʏ] || [ɵ] || [ɐ]
|-
| Between a Palatal / Palatalised Consonant, and a Non-Labialised Lowering Consonant || [ɪ] || [ɛ] || [ɐ]
|}


This applies to all short monophthongs in two cases. The first is adjacent to a labialised uvular consonant, or a labialised alveolar consonant e.g. /ˈtʷɨpːasɨ/ [ˈtʷupːasɨ] - "intestines", /ˈmɨ̤qːʷɨə/ [ˈmṳqːʷuə] - (a female given name).


The second case occurs between a uvular consonant and a rounded velar consonant (which is quite rare) e.g. /sɨaˈgʷa̤qːə/ [sɨaˈgʷɒqːɤ] - "that meeting". Note that in addition to this sound change (in the second, stressed syllable), we can also see retraction without rounding in the final syllable.
Examples:


 
{| class="wikitable"
====Rounding with Fronting====
|-
 
! Phonemic Transcription !! Phonetic Transcription !! Meaning
This occurs to all short monophthongs except /a/, in two cases. The first is adjacent to a labialised palatal consonant e.g. /ɨˈɥaɨ̰/ [yˈɥaɨ̰] - "festival". The second is between a palatal / palatalised consonant, and a labialised non-uvular consonant e.g. /ʎɨˈkʷɨ̰ɹɨ/ [ʎyˈkʷʉɨ̰ɹɨ̰] - "yellow".
|-
| /ˈɨ̰mːʲɨ/ || [ˈḭmːʲḭ] || "ocean"
|-
| /ˈca̰kːɨsama/ || [ˈcæ̰kːɨ̰sama] - "customer"
|-
| /akʷɨʔəˈta̰/ || [akʷuʔəˈta̰ː] || "to squeeze"
|-
| /ˈqɨ̰dːɨ/ || [ˈqɤ̰dːɨ] || "good"
|-
| /gʷɨˈkɨ̰da/ || [gʷuˈkɨ̰ːda] || "to swim"
|-
| /ˈtʷɨpːasɨ/ || [ˈtʷupːasɨ] || "intestines"
|-
| /ˈmɨ̤qːʷɨʔə/ || [ˈmʊ̰qːʷʊ̰ʔə̰] || (a female given name)
|-
| /ʎɨˈkʷɨ̰ɾʲɨ/ || [ʎyˈkʷy̰ːɾʲḭ] || "yellow"
|-
| /ˈkʷə̰sa/ || [ˈkʷo̰ːsa] || "dart"
|-
| /ˈqɨ̰ɫɨ/ || [ˈqɤ̰ːɫɤ̰] || "giant"
|-
| /ʀɨˈʔə̰ɻɨ/ || [ʁɤˈʔʌ̰ːɻɤ̰] ||  "rose"
|-
| /qɨˈɫɨ̰/ || [qɤˈɫɤ̰ː] || "evidence"
|}
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