qiihoskeh | MNCL3 Orthography (Reply)

This has been adapted from the corresponding file for MNCL2B and covers the current proposed orthography and phonology. Some morphology is given as well.

ORTHOGRAPHY

There are 21 consonant letters used and 5 vowel letters. There are also some unwritten epenthetic consonants, inserted in pronunciation between vowels or before an initial vowel.

Consonants

The consonant letters and their phonetic values are:

    <p> [p]   <t> [t]    <c> [tS)]  <k> [k]           <q> [?]
    <b> [b]   <d> [d]    <j> [dZ)]  <g> [g]
    <m> [m]   <n> [n]    <w> [J] or [N] (1)
    <f> [f]   <s> [s]    <x> [S]    <h> [x] or [C] (2)
    <v> [v]   <z> [z]    <y> [Z]
              <l> [l]
              <r> [r] (3)

    (1) [J] as onset, [N] as coda.
    (2) [C] next to [i] or [E], else [x].
    (3) The precise value of <r> isn't determined yet, but is almost certainly a trill.

The single letter <q> represents a geminate (i.e. a long consonant acting as coda and following onset) when between 2 vowels.

Clusters

The only clusters that are used as onsets are: <pl>, <bl>, <kl>, <gl>, <pr>, <br>, <kr>, and <gr>; these must be interpreted as onsets when they appear. Other clusters represent coda + onset combinations; these will be listed under PHONOLOGY.

Vowels

	<i> [i]          <u> [u]
	    <e> [E]    <o> [O]
	        <a> [a]

The diphthongs are: <ei>, <eu>, <ae>, <ao>, <oi>, <ou> (the pronunciation of these may vary somewhat); other vowel combinations, including doubled letters are disyllabic, with epenthetic consonants pronounced between them.

PHONOLOGY

The same letters used in the orthography will be used as phonemes.

Syllables

The possible types of syllables are: CV, CVV, and CVC. The onset may be a cluster (see under Clusters, above) or, if not preceded by a CVC syllable, "omitted" (although there will still be a phonetic consonant here).

Prosody

Stress consists of higher intensity accompanied by raised pitch and occurs only on the next-to-last syllable of a word.

Geminates

There are no phonemic geminates. Some consonants may be pronounced as geminates after a simple vowel. The following consonants will never be geminated or appear as codas:

all voiced stops and affricates: /b/, /d/, /j/, /g/.

Another Breakdown

Words can also be broken down into initial (C-), medial (-V.C-, -VV.C-, or -VC.C-) and final (-V or -VV) components. This is useful for morphology, since each morpheme consists of 1 or more components.