Random phonology/phonemic inventory thread [2011–2018]

[Osia]

A mashup of Sintic and Indo-Aryan.

/p t t͡s t͡ʂ~ʈ t͡ɕ k/
/pʰ tʰ t͡sʰ t͡ʂʰ~ʈʰ t͡ɕʰ kʰ/
/b d d͡z d͡ʐ~ɖ d͡ʑ g/
/bʱ dʱ d͡zʱ d͡ʐʱ~ɖʱ d͡ʑʱ gʱ/
/f s ʂ ɕ x~h /
/m n ɳ ɲ ŋ/
/ʋ l ɻ j ɥ ɣ̞~ɦ̞~ɰ/

/ə ɚ~ɻ̩ ɻ̩ː aː ɪ iː ʊ uː ʏ yː ɤ ɯː aj aːj aw aːw aɥ aːɥ aɣ̞ aːɣ̞ l̩ l̩ː m̩ m̩ː n̩ n̩ː/

C(G)V(G)(N)

G=j, w, ɥ, ɰ
N=underspecified nasal. assimilates to the place of artic. of preceding consonant.

Final coda nasals may nasalize preceding vowel.


Sample words
/pjɚ/
/tʰaːɥ/
/dʱɪŋ/
/ɖm̩ː/
/d͡ʑuːŋ/
/ɦ̞ʊsə/
/bʱɤɲd͡ʑaː/

---

The phonology of an African inspired conlang I've been working on called Leí. I've been thinking of making a thread on it. Influences are mostly Nilo-Saharan and Berber.

/t̪ tˤ ʈ c k q ʔ/
/t̪ː tˤː ʈː cː kː qː/
/ⁿb ⁿd ⁿdˤ ⁿɖ ⁿɟ ⁿg/
/ⁿbː ⁿdː ⁿdˤː ⁿɖː ⁿɟː ⁿgː/
/ɸ s sˤ ʂ ħ h/
/pː sː sˤː ʂː ħː hː/
/w~β ð~z ðˤ~zˤ ɻ~ʐ j~ʝ ɣ ʕ/
/ɓ ɗ ɗˤ (ᶑ)/
/ɓː ɗː ɗˤː/

/e ẽ ɛ ɛ̃ a ã ə ə̃ ɔ ɔ̃ o õ/
/u ð̩ ð̩ˤ~ɑ ɻ̩~ɚ i ɣ̩ ʕ̩~ɑ/
/˥ ˧ ˩/

C(G)V(R)

G=j,w
R=w, ð, ðˤ, ɻ, j, ɣ, ʕ

There is also retroflex harmony between dental and retroflex consonants and plain and rhotacized vowels, where pharyngealized consonants are neutral.

[DesEsseintes]

Influences are mostly Nilo-Saharan and Berber.

Ooh, I want to see more of this.

[qwed117]

Influences are mostly Nilo-Saharan and Berber.

Ooh, I want to see more of this.

I agree. I really want to see the Berber part especially. WI'll there be any circumfixes?

[Parlox]

The phonology of a new conlang of mine called Crımunz,

/m n/ m n
/p t d k g c ɟ cʰ ɟʰ ʔ/ p t d c g k j ḱ j́ q
/t͡s d͡z t͡ʃ d͡ʒ/ ts dz ç cc
/s z ʃ ʒ/ s z ś ź
/f v j h/ ph bh yy h
/ɾ-ɽ/ r
/l/ l

/i y ɯ iː yː ɯː/ ı ı̀ u ıı ı̀ı̀ ù
/e eː ø øː o oː/ e è y ỳ o ò
/ɛ/ ë
/aː ɒ/ ä a

Syllable structure is (C1)V(V2)(C2), although there are some (C1)(C3)V(C2) syllable words
Any consonant can appear in the C1 position
Any vowel can appear in the V position
Only front vowels can appear in the V2 position
Only n s m ʃ f z ɾ-ɽ k q and v can appear in the C2 position, no exceptions

An example sentence,
ècäz’sä mä cuha ḱecoë’sä’śı ccın

[Porphyrogenitos]

Not sure where else to put this; here's an Irish-inspired orthography I made for the phonology Frislander posted for the 26-syllable challenge a while back:

/pˠ pʲ tˠ sʲ/
/mˠ mʲ nˠ ɲ/
/ɾˠ ʎ/
/w βʲ j/

/ɨ a/

Syllable structure is CV. /ɨ/ is realised as after velarised consonants and after palatalised ones, with word-initial /wɨ jɨ/ being realised as .

/pˠɨ pˠa pʲɨ pʲa/ pu poa pi pea
/tˠɨ tˠa sʲɨ sʲa/ tu toa si sea
/mˠɨ mˠa mʲɨ mʲa/ mu moa mi mea
/nˠɨ nˠa ɲɨ ɲa/ nu noa ni nea
/ɾˠɨ ɾˠa ʎɨ ʎa/ ru roa li lea
/wɨ wa βʲɨ βʲa/ uu uoa ui uea
/jɨ ja/ ii ia

There's some level of redundancy and maybe when transcribing it I'd use a more efficient orthography, though if I ever do develop this into something for a conlang (I asked Frislander for his blessing at some point) it would mainly be artistic and I'd use the Irish-ish orthography for aesthetic purposes.

Maybe a more parsimonious orthography (though one that still avoids special characters) would be:

/pˠ pʲ tˠ sʲ/ p pj t s
/mˠ mʲ nˠ ɲ/ m mj n nj
/ɾˠ ʎ/ r l
/w βʲ j/ w v j

/ɨ a/ y a

[Osia]

Influences are mostly Nilo-Saharan and Berber.

Ooh, I want to see more of this.

I agree. I really want to see the Berber part especially. WI'll there be any circumfixes?

Well I don't have much of the grammar finished since this is more of a side project, but I can tell you a bit. It's a VSO agglutinating strongly right brancing language with an expansive verbal system. Nouns have masculine and feminine gender, and conjugate for possesion, case, and number, with a large amount of final clitics as well. It's also has a fluid-S alignment.

[DesEsseintes]

A rather minimalist, wholly unnaturalistic, Pawneehíí from the darker recesses of my mind.

/p t (t͡ʃ) k ʔ/ p t c k ’
/θ s ɬ x/ þ z ł x
/r w/ r w

/e i u/ e ı u
/eɪ/ eı

Some notes:
- Very free consonant clustering and gemination (perennial darlings include kzk kłtz þtł, etc.)
- t͡ʃ is not phonemic but an allophone of /k/ before front vowels
- t͡ʃ also occurs in coda before a stop as the allophone of any of /t ts k ks/
- Option: get rid of one or both of /x w/; the first to go would be /x/*
- Option: add two more diphthongs: eu uı
For once, I actually want /p/!

[wintiver]

A rather minimalist, wholly unnaturalistic, Pawneehíí from the darker recesses of my mind.

/p t (t͡ʃ) k ʔ/ p t c k ’
/θ s ɬ x/ þ z ł x
/r w/ r w

/e i u/ e ı u
/eɪ/ eı

Some notes:
- Very free consonant clustering and gemination (perennial darlings include kzk kłtz þtł, etc.)
- t͡ʃ is not phonemic but an allophone of /k/ before front vowels
- t͡ʃ also occurs in coda before a stop as the allophone of any of /t ts k ks/
- Option: get rid of one or both of /x w/; the first to go would be /x/*
- Option: add two more diphthongs: eu uı
For once, I actually want /p/!

I like the lack of /a/ actually. I love the insane clusters, they evoke (only barely) touches of Nuxálk (or perhaps Georgian, sans ejectives).

Would there be tone or length on the vowels?

[Parlox]

This phonology is inspired by algonquian languages.

/n/ n
/p t k q ʔ/ p t-d k q q̌
/t͡s t͡ʃ/ c č
/s ʃ/ s š
/w θ ɹ j h/ w th r y h
/l/ l

/i ɯ iː ɯː/ ı u ı̌ ú
/ɯ̽ ɯ̽ː/ o ó
/a aː ɛː/ a á ǎ


Syllable structure is (C1)(C2)V(C3)
Any consonant can appear in the C1 position
Only ɹ j w and s can appear in the C2 position
Any vowel can appear in the V position, although vowels of different frontedness can’t pare.
Only ɹ h l and w can appear in the C3 position


And another one that i might use.

/m/ m
/p k/ p k
/s/ s
/θ h/ t h

/i ɯ ɑ iː ɯː ɑː/ i u a ii uu aa

Syllable structure (C)V
Any consonant can appear in the C position, although the first syllable in a word can't have m or s
Any vowel can appear in the V position, although the i and iː cant appear in the first syllable in a word, and ɑː can't appear in the last syllable of a word.

[wintiver]

I want to make a proto-language for this very long Northwesternly-Southeasternly stretching archipelago. My goal was to maximalize and more-or-less systematize a large set of series - voiceless unaspirated, voiceless aspirated, voiced, prenasalized voiced, glottalized sounds. But, there will be a small number of core vowels and a quite restricted syllable structure.

Anyway, enough with the aimless preamble. Here's the prelim idea.

Consonants
Voiceless Nasals: m̥ m̥ʷ n̥ ŋ̊ ŋ̊ʷ
Voiced Nasals: m mʷ n ŋ ŋʷ
Voiced Prenasal Stops: ᵐb ᵐbʷ ⁿd̪ ⁿd͡z ᶮd͡ʒ ᵑg ᵑgʷ
Voiced Stops: b bʷ d̪ d͡z d͡ʒ g gʷ
Unvoiced Unaspirated Stops: p pʷ t̪ t͡s t͡ʃ k kʷ ʔ
Unvoiced Aspirated Stops: pʰ pʷʰ t̪ʰ t͡sʰ t͡ʃʰ kʰ kʷʰ
Ejectives: pʼ pʷʼ t̪ʼ t͡sʼ t͡ʃʼ kʼ kʷʼ
Voiced Fricatives: v ɮ ɣ ɣʷ
Voiceless Fricatives: f fʷ s ɬ ʃ x xʷ h
Ejective Fricatives: fʼ fʷʼ sʼ ɬʼ ʃʼ xʼ xʷʼ
Voiced Laterals: l ʎ ʟ~ɡ͡ʟ ʟʷ~ɡ͡ʟʷ
Voiceless Laterals: ʟ̝̊~k͡ʟ̝̊ ʟ̝̊ʷ~k͡ʟ̝̊ʷ
Voiceless Rhotics: r̥
Voiced Rhotics: ɾ~r

Vowels
Short Vowels: ɪ ɛ a ɔ
Long Vowels: iː eː aː oː
Overlong Vowels: iːː eːː aːː oːː

Allowable diphthongs: ai̯ aːi̯

Syllable Structure
(C)V(S,ʔ), where C is representative of any consonant save for /ʔ/ (which is not phonemic at onset), and S is representative of any sonorants.

---

Orthographizing this will ultimately be messy. But I like the idea of a maximal inventory with a fairly limited syllable structure. Even though codas are allowed I am thinking of making their distribution limited.

Some of the sounds aren't completely regular, as you can see, this, will be due to sound change and sound merges over time. For instance, there isn't a voiceless alveolar lateral because well that sound, when it existed merged with the lateral fricative at the same POA.

Some ideas that may change:

• May delete the rhotics altogether
• Potentially remove all voiceless sonorants
• Add /z/ potentially and/or add prenasalized voiced fricatives

[DesEsseintes]

@wintiver:

Yay, velar laterals.

Ideas (feel free to ignore):
1. Make prenasalised stops phonemic and have both voiced stops and nasals stops allophones thereof.
2. Replace ejectives with implosives (this just screams implosives to me, not sure why)

Anyway, lush inventory! I want to see more of this.

Edit: and thanks for comments on Pawneehíí. May respond to those when less inebriated.

[wintiver]

@wintiver:

Yay, velar laterals.

Ideas (feel free to ignore):
1. Make prenasalised stops phonemic and have both voiced stops and nasals stops allophones thereof.
2. Replace ejectives with implosives (this just screams implosives to me, not sure why)

Anyway, lush inventory! I want to see more of this.

Edit: and thanks for comments on Pawneehíí. May respond to those when less inebriated.

I like your suggestions a lot. I am going to scrap my voiceless nasals as well.

[Parlox]

An inventory i have been messing around with, although i'm s=not sure if i like the vowel or laterals. I might add some more velar consonants.

/p t k q ʔ pʼ tʼ ʈʼ kʼ cʼ /p t k q ' ṕ ť ď ḱ ć
/k͡x t͡ʃ k̃͡x̃ʷ/ kx ç kxw
/s sʼ ʃ ʃʼ/ s ś ş ş
/w θ θʼ ʝ x/ w th ťh y x
/ʀ/ r
/ɬ/ ł
/l/ l

/i ɯ/ i u
/e/ e
/ʌ/ ú

[Creyeditor]

This is not even a phonology, it is just a segment inventory.

[m ɱ n ɲ ŋ]
[pʰ p b tʰ t d cʰ c ɟ kʰ k g q qʰ ʔ]
[ts dz tʃ dʒ]
[f v ʝ x h]
[s z ʃ ʒ]
[β̞ ʋ ɻ j w]
[ɾ]
[r]
[tɬ kʟ̝̊]
[ɬ ʟ̝̊]
[l]
[i y ɨ u]
[e̝ ə o̝]
[ɛ ɐ ɔ]

Syllable structure CV(C). Stress is vowel reduction of all but the final vowel.
I thought maybe aspirated and voiced plosives only occured in onset position. Uvulars also only in onset position. Some coda glottal stops might become uvulars if followed by a vocalic affix. Fricative voicing and some of the fricative vs. approximant distinctions shouldn't be conrastive. Also the lateral affricates can be analyzed as /t.l/ and /k.l/, they might be in free variation with the lateral fricatives, but another set of lateral frictiaves alterate with /s.l/ and /x.l/. Oh and palatals should alternate with all the affricates

[Auvon]

/m n ŋ
b ɓ tʼ t d ɗ kʼ k g qʼ q
ɬ s x χ
l z ɣ ʁ
ɾ
r
i u e ə o oˤ æ ɑ ɑˤ/

Moderately Dene-inspired continuants.

[Nachtuil]

Has anyone noticed the gleb phonology generator seems to have been down for the last few days?
http://000024.org/cgi-bin/gleb.cgi
Is it only me?

[stonyhonu]

Try this: https://gleb.000024.org/

edit: My first comment in months or years and I realize it's on the anniversary of the day I signed up. Awesome.

[Nachtuil]

Try this: https://gleb.000024.org/

edit: My first comment in months or years and I realize it's on the anniversary of the day I signed up. Awesome.

Ah thanks! Happy anniversary then :) Welcome back.

[eldin raigmore]

Concerning phonology;
A random question. (Or two!)

1. Is it naturalistic, and/or realistic, for a language to have a rule ("liquid dissimilation", maybe, or some such term), that:
*** A word cannot contain two rhotic liquids without a lateral liquid appearing somewhere between them; and
*** a word cannot contain two lateral liquids without a rhotic liquid appearing somewhere between them?


2. Can a language naturalistically and/or realistically have different syllable structures depending where in the word syllables come?
For instance, is the following a reasonable syllable structure?
*** One-syllable words have the maximal skeleton (C)(C)V(C)(C)
*** First syllables of words with two or more syllables have the maximal skeleton (C)(C)V(C)
*** Last syllables of words with two or more syllables have the maximal skeleton (C)V(C)(C)
*** Medial (i.e. not first and not last) syllables of words with three or more syllables have the maximal skeleton (C)V(C)

[cedh]

Concerning phonology;
A random question. (Or two!)

1. Is it naturalistic, and/or realistic, for a language to have a rule ("liquid dissimilation", maybe, or some such term), that:
*** A word cannot contain two rhotic liquids without a lateral liquid appearing somewhere between them; and
*** a word cannot contain two lateral liquids without a rhotic liquid appearing somewhere between them?

Yes. (It's definitely plausible for a rule like this to operate within a prosodic foot. For a language where words usually aren't longer than a foot, it's thus also plausible to operate at the word level. For a language which frequently has words longer than one foot though, the rule might be suspended sometimes, e.g. when there's a foot boundary and a liquid-less stressed syllable between the two liquids in question. For a language with a significant percentage of words longer than two feet, even such a restricted rule would probably be limited to liquids in two directly adjacent feet.)

2. Can a language naturalistically and/or realistically have different syllable structures depending where in the word syllables come?
For instance, is the following a reasonable syllable structure?
*** One-syllable words have the maximal skeleton (C)(C)V(C)(C)
*** First syllables of words with two or more syllables have the maximal skeleton (C)(C)V(C)
*** Last syllables of words with two or more syllables have the maximal skeleton (C)V(C)(C)
*** Medial (i.e. not first and not last) syllables of words with three or more syllables have the maximal skeleton (C)V(C)

Yes again. (Many languages allow syllable-internal clusters only word-initially, and many languages allow coda consonants only word-finally. I don't know of any specific language that allows coda clusters only word-finally, but I'm fairly sure there are a few such languages out there.)