Galician phonology

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This article is about the phonology and phonetics of the Galician language.

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Vowels

The vowel phonemes of Galician, from Regueira (1996:120) Galician vowel chart.svg
The vowel phonemes of Galician, from Regueira (1996 :120)

Galician has seven vowel phonemes, which are represented by five letters in writing. Similar vowels are found under stress in standard Catalan and Italian. It is likely that this 7-vowel system was even more widespread in the early stages of Romance languages.

Vowels
Phoneme (IPA)GraphemeExamples
/a/anada
/e/etres (três)
/ɛ/ferro
/i/imin
/o/obonito
/ɔ/home
/u/urúa

Some characteristics of the vocalic system:

Diphthongs

Galician language possesses a large set of falling diphthongs:

Galician diphthongs
falling
[aj]caixa'box'[aw]autor'author'
[ɛj]papeis (papéis)'papers'[ɛw]deu (déu)'he/she gave'
[ej]queixo'cheese'[ew]bateu'he/she hit'
[ɔj]bocoi (bocói)'barrel'
[oj]loita'fight'[ow]pouco'little'

There are also a certain number of rising diphthongs, but they are not characteristic of the language and tend to be pronounced as hiatus. [10]

Consonants

Consonant phonemes of Galician
Labial Dental Alveolar Post-
alveolar
Palatal Velar
Nasal m n ɲ ŋ
Plosive/Affricate p b t d ɟ k ɡ
Fricative f θ s ʃ
Approximant w l j
Trill r
Flap ɾ
Consonants
Phoneme (IPA)Main allophones [11] [12] Graphemes Example
/b/[b], [β̞]b, vbebo[ˈbeβ̞ʊ] '(I) drink', alba[ˈalβ̞ɐ] 'sunrise', vaca[ˈbakɐ] 'cow', cova[ˈkɔβ̞ɐ] 'cave'
/θ/[θ] (dialectal [s])z, cmacio[ˈmaθjʊ] 'soft', cruz[ˈkɾuθ] 'cross'
/k/[k]c, qucasa[ˈkasɐ] 'house', querer[keˈɾeɾ] 'to want'
/tʃ/[tʃ]chchamar[tʃaˈmaɾ] 'to call', achar[aˈtʃaɾ] 'to find'
/d/[d], [ð̞]dvida[ˈbið̞ɐ] 'life', cadro[ˈkað̞ɾʊ] 'frame'
/f/[f]ffeltro[ˈfɛltɾʊ] 'filter', freixo[ˈfɾejʃʊ] 'ash-tree'
/ɡ/[ɡ], [ɣ] (dialectal [ħ])g, gufungo[ˈfuŋɡʊ] 'fungus', guerra[ˈɡɛrɐ] 'war', o gatoˈɣatʊ] 'the cat'
/ʃ/[ʃ]x, [13] (g)xente[ˈʃentɪ] 'people', muxica[muˈʃikɐ] 'ash-fly'
/l/[l]llúa[ˈluɐ] 'moon', algo[ˈalɣʊ] 'something', mel[ˈmɛl] 'honey'
/ɟ/[ɟ], [ʝ˕], [ɟʝ]ll, imollado[moˈɟað̞ʊ] 'wet'
/m/[m],[ŋ] [14] mmemoria[meˈmɔɾjɐ] 'memory', campo[ˈkampʊ] 'field', álbum[ˈalβuŋ]
/n/[n],[m],[ŋ] [14] nniño[ˈniɲʊ] 'nest', onte[ˈɔntɪ] 'yesterday', conversar[kombeɾˈsaɾ] 'to talk', irmán[iɾˈmaŋ] 'brother'
/ɲ/[ɲ] [14] ñmañá[maˈɲa] 'morning'
/ŋ/[ŋ] [14] nhalgunha[alˈɣuŋɐ] 'some'
/p/[p]pcarpa[ˈkaɾpɐ] 'carp'
/ɾ/[ɾ]rhora[ˈɔɾɐ] 'hour', coller[koˈʎeɾ] 'to grab'
/r/[r]r, rrrato[ˈratʊ] 'mouse', carro[ˈkarʊ] 'cart'
/s/[s̺,z̺] (dialectal [s̻,z̻]) [15] sselo[ˈs̺elʊ] 'seal, stamp', cousa[ˈkows̺ɐ] 'thing', mesmo[ˈmɛz̺mʊ] 'same'
/t/[t]ttrato[ˈtɾatʊ] 'deal'

Voiced plosives (/ɡ/, /d/ and /b/) are lenited (weakened) to approximants or fricatives in all instances, except after a pause or a nasal consonant; e.g. un gato 'a cat' is pronounced [uŋˈɡatʊ], whilst o gato 'the cat' is pronounced ˈɣatʊ].

During the modern period, Galician consonants have undergone significant sound changes that closely parallel the evolution of Spanish consonants, including the following changes that neutralized the opposition of voiced fricatives / voiceless fricatives:

For a comparison, see Differences between Spanish and Portuguese: Sibilants. Additionally, during the 17th and 18th centuries the western and central dialects of Galician developed a voiceless fricative pronunciation of /ɡ/ (a phenomenon called gheada ). This may be glottal [h], pharyngeal [ħ], uvular [χ], or velar [x]. [16]

The distribution of the two rhotics /r/ and /ɾ/ closely parallels that of Spanish. Between vowels, the two contrast (e.g. mirra[ˈmirɐ] 'myrrh' vs. mira[ˈmiɾɐ] 'look'), but they are otherwise in complementary distribution. [ ɾ ] appears in the onset, except in word-initial position (rato), after /l/, /n/, and /s/ (honra, Israel), where [ r ] is used.

As in Spanish, /ɟ/ derives from historical /ʎ/ ( yeísmo ) and from syllable-initial /j/. In some dialects, it lenites to approximant [ ʝ˕ ] in the same environments where /b,d,ɡ/ lenite. It may also be realized as [ ɟʝ ] where it derives from /j/. The realization [ʎ] remains in select older speakers in isolated regions. [12]

References

  1. E.g. by Regueira (2010)
  2. Regueira (2010 :13–14, 21)
  3. Freixeiro Mato (2006 :112)
  4. 1 2 Freixeiro Mato (2006 :94–98)
  5. "Pautas para diferenciar as vogais abertas das pechadas". Manuel Antón Mosteiro. Retrieved 2019-02-19.
  6. Freixeiro Mato (2006 :72–73)
  7. "Dicionario de pronuncia da lingua galega: á". Ilg.usc.es. Retrieved 2012-06-30.
  8. Sampson (1999 :207–214)
  9. Freixeiro Mato (2006 :87)
  10. Freixeiro Mato (2006 :123)
  11. Freixeiro Mato (2006 :136–188)
  12. 1 2 Martínez-Gil (2022), pp. 900–902.
  13. x can stand also for [ks]
  14. 1 2 3 4 The phonemes /m/, /n/, /ɲ/ and /ŋ/ coalesce in implosive position as the archiphoneme /N/, which, phonetically, is usually [ ŋ ]. Cf. Freixeiro Mato (2006 :175–176)
  15. Regueira (1996 :82)
  16. Regueira (1996 :120)

Bibliography