The CBB

/mˠɨs̪ħɨmˠ d̪ˠək/

/a ə ɨ/

/m mˠ/
/b bˠ t̪ t̪ˠ d̪ d̪ˠ t tˠ d dˠ ʈ ʈˠ ɖ ɖˠ k kˠ/
/t̪͡s̪ t̪͡s̪ˠ d̪͡z̪ d̪͡z̪ˠ t͡s t͡sˠ d͡z d͡zˠ ʈ͡ʂ ʈ͡ʂˠ ɖ͡ʐ ɖ͡ʐˠ/
/f fˠ s̪ s̪ˠ z̪ z̪ˠ s sˠ z zˠ ʂ ʂˠ ʐ ʐˠ ħ ʕ/

/m mː n nː/
/p pː t tː k kː q qː ʔ ʔː/
/b bː d dː ɡ ɡː/
/s sː χ χː ħ ħː h hː/
/z zː ʁ ʁː ʕ ʕː/
/r rː l lː/
/j jː w wː/
/i u ə a/

/n/
/t t͜ɬ kʷ q ʔ/
/s ɬ xʷ χ/ (< that's supposed to be the voiceless uvular fricative)
/ɹ l w ʁ̞/

EDIT:

A mini version of the above:

/n/
/t kʷ q/
/ɬ xʷ χ/
/l w ʁ̞/

/p b t d ʈ ɖ k g/ p b t d ṭ ḍ k g
/f v s z ʂ ʐ ʃ ʒ ç ʝ x ɣ ħ ʕ h/ f v s z ṣ ẓ š ž ś ź x ĝ ḥ ʿ h
/m n ɳ ɲ ŋ/ m n ṇ ñ ŋ
/ɻ j w/ ṛ j~ĭ v̱~ŭ
/r/ r
/l ɭ/ l ḷ
/ɬ ɮ/ ş z̧

/i iː y yː e eː ø øː ɛ ɛː æ æː/ i ī y ȳ e ē ö ȫ ẹ ẹ̄ æ ǣ
/ɨ ɨː ʉ ʉː ɘ ɘː ɵ ɵː ɜ ɜː a aː/ î î̄ û û̄ ê ê̄ ô ô̄ ä ǟ a ā
/ɯ ɯː u uː ʊ ʊː ɤ ɤː o oː ʌ ʌː ɔ ɔː ɑ ɑː ɒ ɒː/ ï ï̄ u ū ů ů̄ ë ë̄ o ō ạ ạ̄ ọ ọ̄ â â̄ å å̄
/ã/ ą
This is a protolang.

nasals: /m n ɲ ŋ/
voiceless plosives: /p t c k/
voiced plosives: /b d ɟ g/
sonorants: /w r l j/

vowels: /a ɛ i ɔ u ɨ a: e: i: o: u:/

alternations between vowels:
group 1: /a ɛ ɔ/
group 2: /i i u/
group 3: /ɨ i u/
group 1, lengthened: /a: e: o:/
group 2, lengthened: /e: i: u:/
syllable structure: (C)(C)(C)V(C)(C) at least

constraints:
before vowels: plosives must precede nasals, plosives and nasals must precede sonorants
after vowels: plosives must follow nasals, plosives and nasals must follow sonorants. Sonorants don't follow /ɛ i ɔ u/, and /m/ don't follow /ɔ u/

do you think I should introduce /e/ and /o/ ?

Some languages written in 2 different scripts
/p b t d k g f v s z ʃ ʒ x ɣ h m n ŋ j w l~ɺ/ p b t d k g f v s z š ž x ğ h m n ñ y w l~r π β τ δ κ γ φ ψ σς ζ ϸ ξ χ ϙ χ́ μ ν ν́ ϳ ϝ λ
/i u e o ʌ æ ɐ/ i u e o ö ë a ι υ ε ο ω η α

/p b t d k g ʔ f s ɕ ʑ x tɕ dʑ ɽ m n ŋ i y ʉ u ʊ e ø o ɛ ɜ ɑ ja jæ jo ju wo wa/ p b t d k g -/Ø (not written) f s x z h c j r m n ng i ü û u ŭ e ö o ă ŏ a ya ye yo yu wo wa п б т д к г ъ ф с ш з х ч ж р м н ӈ и ү ы у ұ е ө о э ӫ а я є ё ю ўо ўа

/p t k ts f s x h m n w j l r ɬ i ɨ u ɪ ʊ e o ə æ a/ p t k c f s x h m n v j l r ł i è u ì ù e o ò à a п т к ц ф с х ҳ м н ў й л р ԓ и ӗ у ӥ ӱ е о ӧ ӑ а
Now one written in just Thai script.
/p pʰ b bʱ t tʰ d dʱ ʈ ʈʰ ɖ ɖʱ c cʰ ɟ ɟʱ k kʰ g gʱ/ บ ป พ ภ ด ถ ท ธ ฎ ฐ ฑ ฒ จ ฉ ช ฌ ก ข ค ฆ
/f v θ ð s z ʂ ʐ ʃ ʒ ç ʝ x ɣ h/ ฟ ฝ ต ด์ธ ส ซ ษ ฏ ศ ศ์ศ ห์ย ฌ์ย ฃ ฅ ห
/m n ɳ ɲ ŋ/ ม น ณ ญ ง
/j w ʕ̞/ ย ว ฮ
/l ɭ/ ล ฬ
/r/ ร

/i iː ɯ ɯː u uː e eː ɤ ɤː o oː æ æː ɑ ɑː/ กิ กี กึ กื กุ กู เกะ เก เกิ เกี โก กอ แกะ แก ก กา
/ã/ กํ

/m n nʲ ŋ/ <m n ny ng>
/p t tsʲ k/ <p t ch k>
/b d g/ <b d g>
/f s sʲ h/ <f s sh h>
/v z zʲ/ <v z zh>
/w l j ʁ/ <w l y r>

/i jɨ u wɨ/ <i ie u ue>
/e ej o ow/ <e ee o oo>
/æ ɑɔ̯/ <a ao>

/p t t͡ʂ c ʔ/ <p t tr ty ‘>
/s x xʷ/ <s x xw>
/m n ɲ ŋ ŋʷ/ <m n ny ŋ ŋw>
/r j w/ <r y w>

/i u/ <i u>
/ɛ ə ɑ/ <e ə a>

/ə/ assimilates to /i/ before palatals and /u/ before labio-velars (including when another consonant intercedes).

Syllable structure is CV(F), where final consonants are restricted to /ʔ x~s m~n~ŋ/, where /x/ becomes /s/ when preceding any coronal stop or nasal, and and also /j/ with deletion of /j/, and the nasal assimilates to the POA of a following consonant, but is realised simply as /n/ when absolutely utterance-final.

Much of the morphophonology is tied to the morphology, in particular diminutives and in some verbs progressives triggering palatalisation.

/p b t d c ɟ k g q ɢ/ p b t d ḱ ǵ k g q ƣ
/f v s z θ ð ʃ ʒ ç ʝ x ɣ χ ʁ ħ ʕ h ɦ/ f v s z θ δ š ž ś ź x γ ḫ ğ ḥ ḩ h ḧ
/pf bv ʦ ʣ tθ dð ʧ ʤ cç ɟʝ kx gɣ qχ ɢʁ ʔh/ ᵽ ƀ c ʒ ŧ đ č ǯ ć ʒ́ ꝁ ǥ ꝗ ᵹ ħ
/m n ɲ ŋ ɴ/ m n ỹ g̃ q̃
/ʋ ɻ j ɉ w o̯ e̯ a̯/ ʋ ɽ j ĭ ŭ ŏ ĕ ă
/l ʎ ʟ/ l
/r ʀ/ r ř
/ɬ ɮ ʎ̝̊ ʎ̝ ʟ̝ ʟ̝̊/ ɬ ⱡ ɫ ƚ ꝇ λ

/i y ɪ ʏ e ø e̞ ø̞ ɛ œ æ/ i ü ì ȕ e ö é ő è ȍ à
/ɨ ʉ ɪ̈ ʊ̈ ɘ ɵ ə ɵ̞ ɜ ɞ/ y w ỳ ẁ ê ô ế ố ề ồ
/ɯ u ɯ̽ ʊ ɤ o ʌ ɔ ɑ/ ï u ȉ ù ë o ȅ ò a

/p~f t tʲ k/
/b d~ɾ/
/θ s sʲ h/
/m n nʲ/

/p d/ are realised as /f ɾ/ intervocalically, and additionally /p/ is realised as /f/ before other consonants and word-finally.

Syllable structure is CV(C), where any consonant may occur in the coda. However, voiced plosives only occur in the coda as geminates or the cluster /bd/. Underlying voiced stops are devoiced before an unvoiced consonant and word-finally (note that /p/ is realised as /f/ in these positions, so /p b/ do not merge), and become nasals when a nasal consonant follows. Furthermore coronal consonants assimilate to the POA of a following consonant, and palatalised consonants only occur as a result of this assimilation to a following palatalised consonant.

/i(ə) u(ə)/
/e o/
/ɛ ɔ/
/a/

The close vowels are realised as centering diphthongs except word-finally. Furthermore the close- and open-mid vowels do not occur word-finally.

Stress is mostly fixed but weight-determined, being on the initial syllable by default, but on the post-initial if that is heavier, with weight being determined by the presence/absence of a coda consonant in each syllable (including geminates).

/p t̪ t͡s k ʔ/
/ɮ̪ s ç ɣ h/
/m n̪ ɲ ŋ/
/w ɺ ɹ j/

/i (ɨ) u/
/a/

The close-central vowel is functionally limited to breaking up clusters and preventing illegal coda consonants, and is otherwise incapable of functioning as a full vowel, being unable to appear word-initially or gain stress.

The language allows only a very restricted set of intervocalic consonant clusters and word-final single consonants, while all consonants are permitted word-initially and intervocalically. The set of intervocalic consonant clusters is restricted to /hp ht̪ ht͡s hk mp n̪t̪ nt͡s ŋk/ while the set of final consonants is limited to /p t̪ t͡s k s ç m n̪ ɲ ŋ/. Epenthesis works as follows: when occurring word-finally consonants that are not permitted word-finally and legitimate intervocalic clusters undergo vowel epenthesis after the consonant/cluster. Illegitimate intervocalic clusters universally undergo epenthesis to break up the cluster, and additionally if word-final and the second consonant is not a legit word-final consonant epenthesis occurs afterwards as well.

Stress is placed on the penultimate vowel in a word before epenthesis (so appearing to ignore high-central vowels in this calculation thereof).

Examples:

/saktu/ > [ˈsakɨtu]
/ɲipaɮ̪s/ > [ˈɲipaɮ̪ɨs]
/n̪umpikɹ/ > [ˈnumpikɨɹɨ]
/ʔt͡sikuhk/ > [ʔɨˈt͡sikuhkɨ]

Today I had the idea of having two sets of coronal fricatives - dental and retracted - in Limestone. That gives this:

/p t k ʔ/ p t k ’
/p’ t’ k’/ p’ t’ k’
/s̪ s̠ ɬ̪ ɬ̠ x/ s z l ł x
/ɾ j w/ r y w
/a i o u/ a i o u

Fricatives cluster very frequently with stops, both before and after. /ɬ̪/ might very possibly have a [θ] realisation when non-geminate in intervocalic position.

I do really like this, but it goes against many of my ideas for Limestone. It’s certainly not meant to have fifteen* consonant phonemes... I guess I’ll keep the fricative inventory at the back of my head until I think of another language to use it in.

Gasp, shock, and horror!

DesEsseintes wrote: ↑18 Sep 2018 18:23I do really like this, but it goes against many of my ideas for Limestone. It’s certainly not meant to have fifteen* consonant phonemes... I guess I’ll keep the fricative inventory at the back of my head until I think of another language to use it in.

It's certainly a different style but at the same time it's too interesting not to use. Maybe have it in some variety of Para-Limestone.

I'm always most interested in the naturalistic historical evolution aspects of language creation, so I'm compelled to ask. Did you think of any origin path for the front vs. retracted fricative pairs, or are they simply an aesthetic choice?

gach wrote: ↑19 Sep 2018 17:02Did you think of any origin path for the front vs. retracted fricative pairs, or are they simply an aesthetic choice?

I’m afraid not, as of yet. I tend to think of the features I want first, and then I think of excusesdiachronics for them if I grow fond enough of the project to warrant the effort.

Consonants:
b t d c ɟ k ɡ
m n ɲ
v f l ɾ j
f s z t͡s d͡z ɟ͡ʝ h

Vowels:
a e i o u ə aː eː oː e̯i

Syllables:
(C)V
e̯i > eː /C[+post alveolar]_
ə > ∅ /C[+nasal]_
ə > ∅ ! C_C[+plosive]
∅ > ə /C[+voiced fricatives and africatives]_#

Words:
dzitem: red
ompe: brother
tseeno: back (of body)

/p t t͡s k kʷ q ʔ/
/t͡ɬ’ t͡s’ k’ kʷ’ q’/
/b d d͡z g gʷ ɢ/
/ɬ x xʷ χ h/
/m n j w/

The distribution of consonants is to some extent quite limited - voiced plosives only occur inter-vocalically, while ejectives, the alveolar plosive /t/, labiovelars and glides could not occur in the coda, and /h/ does not occur adjacent to other consonants. Furthermore intervocalic voiceless plosives may exhibit pre-aspiration in free variation with plain stops. However, aside from these restrictions clustering is otherwise pretty free.

/i u/
/a/

Vowel length and stress are tied together in a complex way. Primary stress may occur on either the initial or post-initial syllable. However, while a stressed initial vowel may be either long or short, a stressed post-initial vowel may only be long. All unstressed and secondarily stressed vowels are invariably short.

I came up with another inventory for those dental and retracted fricatives I was playing with the other day. I think I prefer this, and I’m quite certain that I won’t be using those fricatives in Limestone:

/n/
/t k q ʔ/
/t’ k’ q’/
/t͡s̪ t͡s̠ t͡ɬ̪ t͡ɬ̠/
/t͡s̪’ t͡s̠’ t͡ɬ̪’ t͡ɬ̠’/
/s̪ s̠ ɬ̪ ɬ̠ h/
/j w/
/a i u/

I think I’ll do without /x X/.

/b p̪ b̪ t d c ɟ ḏʲ k g q ʔ/ b p ƃ t d ţ ḑ ƌ k g q ɂ
/β f v θ ð s z ʃ ʒ ç ʝ ʑ x ɣ χ ʕ h/ ƀ f v þ ð s z š ž ş ʃ ź x ǥ x̌ ḩ h
/ts dz tʃ dʒ cç ɟʝ dʑ/ c ʒ č ǯ ç ȥ ʒ́
/m ɱ n ɲ ṉʲ ŋ ɴ/ m ɱ n ɲ n̄ ŋ ṇ
/ʋ ɹ j j̱ʲ ɰ ɥ w/ ʋ ř j ɉ ŵ ŷ w
/r r̟ ṟʲ ʀ̟/ r ŕ ɍ ŗ
/l ʎ ḻʲ ʟ/ l ĺ ƚ ļ

/i y ɪː ʏː e ø ɛː œː æ/ i y ī ȳ é ȯ ḗ ȱ æ
/ə ɜː ɐː a/ e ē ā a
/u ʊː o ɔː ɒː/ u ū o ō â

/m n ɲ ŋ/ m n ñ ng
/p t c k ʔ/ p t qh k xh
/b d ɟ ɡ ɢ/ b d hj g ġ
/ɓ ɗ ʄ ɠ ʛ/ bb dd hjj gg ġġ
/ɸ~pʰ β~bʱ f v θ~tʰ ð~dʱ s z ʃ ʒ ç~cʰ ʝ~ɟʱ x~kʰ ɣ~ɡʱ ʁ~ɢʱ ʕ h/ <ph bh f v th dh s z sh zh jh q kh gh ġh ħ h
/ʦ~sʼ~tʼ ʧ~ʃʼ~cʼ/ c ch
/ʣ~z˂~ð˂ ʤ~ʒ˂~ʝ˂/ z̈ z̈h
/l ʎ j w ɰ/ l ľ j~ĭ w~ŭ ğ
/ɾ ɽ/ <r ŗ
/r/ ř

/i y e ø æ/ <i ü e ö ä>
/ə a/ <ə a>
/ɯ u ɤ o/ <ï u õ o>

/á à ā â ǎ/ <á à a â ǎ>

/p t s ɬ k/
/b ɾ z l g/
/n/

The voiced vs. voiced obstruent contrast is limited to intervocalic position. Initially only voiceless obstruents are found, while after nasals only voiced ones are found, and additionally /nb nɾ nl ng/ are realised as [mb nd nː ŋg].

/i ɨ u/
/a/

Syllable structure is limited to (C)V(n), where vowel-initial syllables are restricted to word-initial position, while the coda nasal may only cluster with voiced obstruents subject to the above assimilations.

Stress is contrastive, but it is restricted by a coda-n; in a word with only open syllables the stress may appear anywhere in the word, but a word with a closed syllable will have stress on the closed syllable (with words with multiple closed syllables the stress may go on any of the closed syllables).

I tried to start a voting-based collaborative conlang on Tumblr but I let it die when I realized everyone was just voting for the weirdest thing possible, resulting the following constraints on the phonology:

- No more than 14 consonants
- Glottal stop
- No voicing distinctions
- A uvular stop and a uvular continuant
- A lateral obstruent and a lateral approximant
- A trill
- At least three nasals
- At least seven vowels

Thus producing something like:

/m n ŋ/
/p t t͜ɬ k q ʔ/
/β ɾ l ɣ ʀ/

/a e i o u ə ɨ/

Which, yeah, isn't terrible, but I do find it rather ugly. It was more just that there was a pattern of people voting it into a corner by choosing the weirdest options by default even when they were mutually contradictory (tiny consonant inventory, tons of weird consonants), without putting any thought into it, so I wasn't going to bother going through that with the grammar.