Differences

This shows you the differences between two versions of the page.

--- en:grammar:phonology_and_spelling [2023-01-19 12:44] – [Vowels and diphthongs] Correct description of diphthong selection christian
+++ en:grammar:phonology_and_spelling [2023-01-30 19:27] – [Syllable structure and hyphenation] Alphabetic order christian
@@ Line 129: / Line 129: @@
   * **bl, fl, gl, kl, pl, sl**
   * **br, dr, fr, gr, kr, pr, tr**
-  * **by, cy, fy, ky, my, ny, py, xy**
   * **cv, dv, gv, hv, kv, sv, tv, xv**
+  * **by, cy, fy, ky, my, ny, py, xy**
 Note that **v** and **y** can be considered as consonantal equivalents of the vowels **u** and **i**. If you don't know how to pronounce them or have difficulties pronouncing them in any of these clusters, just pronounce the vowel quickly and without stress, followed by the actual vowel which forms the core of the syllable.
@@ Line 140: / Line 140: @@
 //Notes://
-  * The rule for syllable-final consonants is inspired by APiCS, which notes that typical creole languages allow only a single consonant at the end of syllables (APiCS 119). The further restriction to the six allowed consonants was made by inspecting our source languages. Only consonants that commonly occur in a word-final position in at least half of them were accepted, with the further requirement that at least two of the source language that allow them must be non-Indo-European. The latter restriction was motivated by the fact that Indo-European languages tend to be much more generous in the set of final consonants they accept than other languages, at least among our sources. As Japanese, Mandarin, and Swahili are particularly restrictive regarding final consonants, the practical result is that the final consonants that commonly occur in both Arabic and Indonesian are allowed in our phonology as well.
+  * The specific set of consonants allowed to end a syllable was chosen on the basis of our source languages. Only consonants that commonly occur in a word-final position in at least half of them were accepted, with the further requirement that at least two of the source language that allow them must be non-Indo-European. The latter restriction was motivated by the fact that Indo-European languages tend to be much more generous in the set of final consonants they accept than other languages, at least among our sources. As Japanese, Mandarin, and Swahili are particularly restrictive regarding final consonants, the practical result is that the final consonants that commonly occur in both Arabic and Indonesian are allowed in our phonology as well.
   * There is only one consonant allowed in two or more non-Indo-European source languages that fails the "half of all our source languages" criterion: the velar nasal /ŋ/, which in a word-final position can only be found in English, Hindi, Indonesian, and Mandarin. Since it is also rare at the beginning of syllables (WALS 9), this means that no position remains where it could occur as an independent sound. Hence we only accept it as an optional consonant into our phonology.
   * The consonant pairs allowed to start syllables are those that occur in this position (more frequently than as rare exceptions) in at least five of our ten source languages. Moreover, consonant pairs that occur in this position in Mandarin Chinese are also allowed even if they only occur in two or three other source languages. This adds adds six clusters ending in one of the semivowels **-v** and **-y** that would otherwise not be allowed (**cv, cy, hv, tv, xv, xy**). The reason for these additional admissions is that such consonant–semivowel pairs are very widespread in the Chinese vocabulary, where each core concept tends to be represented by a single syllable. Changing the semivowel to a vowel in such cases (hence dividing the single syllable into two) would make words of Chinese origin much less recognizable.