Re: DECAL: Examples #1: Phonetic inventory examples & motivations

Sai Emrys wrote:

> I may use these during class (which will be recorded), or to print in
> lecture notes, online examples, quizzes, problem sets, or the reader.
> I will, of course, give credit for anything I use - please include the
> name and URL / email you'd like to be credited by (I'll use whatever
> your sig lists, as a default).
I suppose I should answer these questions for Tirelat (2004 version),
since this is probably the most developed and stable of my languages
that I still occasionally spend time with.

Herman Miller / Tirelat / http://www.io.com/~hmiller/lang/Tirelat/

> First off: phonetic / phonemic inventory.
>
> Q1: What is your *phonemic* inventory? I.e., what are all of the
> discriminated phonemes in your conlang(s). (IPA / CXS / X-SAMPA)
Stops: p b t d k g (as in IPA)
Affricates: ċ (c with dot above), pronounced [ʦ], CXS [ts)],
             ż (z with dot above), pronounced [ʣ], CXS [dz)].
Nasals: m n ñ (ñ is pronounced as IPA [ŋ] / CXS [N])
Voiced alveolar tap r: IPA [ɾ], CXS [4]
Voiceless alveolar trill ŕ (r with acute accent): IPA [r̥], CXS [r_0]
Fricatives: f s z š ž (s and z with wedge) x ġ (g with dot above)
             š as IPA [ʂ], CXS [s`]
             ž as IPA [ʐ], CXS [z`]
             ġ as IPA [ɣ], CXS [G]
Voiced lateral approximant l (as in IPA)
Voiceless lateral fricative ł: IPA [ɬ], CXS [K].
Approximants: v ŭ ĭ (u and i with breve)
               v as IPA [ʋ], CXS [v\]
               ŭ as IPA/CXS [w]
               ĭ as IPA/CXS [j]
Vowels: i e a y ə u o (ə = schwa), both short and long versions of each.
         y is pronounced as IPA [ɨ], CXS [i\]

See http://www.io.com/~hmiller/lang/Tirelat/script.html for more
specific information (including an illustration of how these sounds are
written in Vlika script).

> Q2: What are the allophones? I.e., for each phoneme, what are the
> "normal" variants that don't change meaning?
Here are some examples from the web page:

Voiceless fricatives are pronounced as voiced when adjacent to voiced stops.

kĭełbu [ˈcjɛɮbu], CXS: ['cjEK\bu]

Before /i/ and /j/ (and finally after /i/), affricates and velar
consonants are somewhat palatalized.

ċima [ˈʨima], CXS: ['ts\)ima]
pxaażi [ˈpxaːdʑi], CXS: ['pxa:dz\)i]

Before /u/, labiodental sounds are pronounced as bilabial.

kaĭfu [ˈkaːjɸu], CXS: ['ka:jp\u]
suuvu [ˈsuːwu], CXS: ['su:wu]


> Q2b: If you have any, what are the connotations / implications of the
> different allophones? E.g., do you use them for different dialects,
> registers, "accents", etc.?
Not particularly; these are just predictable phonetic variations.

> Q3: How do your choices for the above reflect the goals of your
> language? E.g., if it's an auxlang [here!?], it's probably motivated
> by having common, strongly "universal" common-use phonetics to
> maximize learnability. So, for whatever your goals are for the
> conlang, how do they apply to the choices you made for phonetics /
> phonology?
Tirelat has had a complex history, and the goals have changed since the
original concept. The phonology has also undergone a huge series of
changes. Some of the sounds, such as the voiceless trill (and even more
unusual sounds in older versions of the language) are included simply
for their rarity; others (like the lateral fricative) because I like the
sound.