Phonology
Consonants
| Labial | Dental | Alveolar | Palatal | Velar | Glottal | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nasal | m | n | ɲ | ŋ | ||||
| Plosive / affricate | voiceless | p | t | tʃ | k | |||
| voiced | b | d | dʒ | ɡ | ||||
| Fricative | voiceless | f | θ | s | ʃ | x | h | |
| voiced | v | ð | z | ʒ | ||||
| Approximant | central | voiced | r | j | w | |||
| voiceless | ʍ | |||||||
| lateral | l | ʎ | ||||||
- /n,t,d/ are realized as interdental [n̪, t̪, d̪] before /r/ and /ər/, as in try[t̪ɾɑe] 'try', cooter[ˈkʉt̪əɹ] 'coulter' and bederel[ˈbɛd̪əɾəl] 'bed-ridden invalid'. Before [t̪, d̪], /l/ also becomes interdental [ l̪ ], as in helter[ˈhɛl̪t̪əɹ] 'halter'. [2] As these allophones are fully predictable, the diacritic is omitted elsewhere in the article.
- /p,t,k/ in word-medial and word-final positions, may be pronounced with a simultaneous glottal stop [ ʔ ] among speakers. [2]
- /tʃ,dʒ,ʃ,ʒ/ are phonetically alveolo-palatal sibilants articulated with spread lips [tɕ, dʑ, ɕ, ʑ]. [2]
- /x/ has two allophones:
- Normally, it is a voiceless post-velar fricative with a simultaneous voiceless uvular trill [ x̠͡ʀ̥ ] (hereafter written with a plain ⟨x⟩), much like Northern Dutch ⟨g⟩ in the word geel ⓘ 'yellow'. [2] [3]
- After front vowels (such as /i/), it is realized as a voiceless post-palatal fricative [ ç˗ ] (hereafter represented without the diacritic), similar to the German Ich-Laut, but slightly more back. This consonant also occurs as an allophone of the initial sequence /hj/, so that huge/hjʉdʒ/ 'huge' may be pronounced [çʉdʒ]. [2]
- /r/ is normally an approximant [ ɹ ]. After /t,d,θ/, it is realized as a tap [ ɾ ]. This is also the case in the sequence /CərV/ (where /C/ stands for any of /n,t,d,θ,ð,l/), as in footery[ˈfʉtəɾe] 'clumsy'. In initial clusters after consonants other than /t,d,θ/, Gregg describes a realization intermediate between an approximant [ ɹ ] and a tap [ ɾ ], i.e. a brief non-sibilant fricative [ ɾ̞ ] (as in brush[bɾ̞ʌʃ] 'brush'). [2] Elsewhere in the article, this allophone is written with a plain ⟨ɾ⟩.
- /l/ is clear [ l ]. The velarized [ ɫ ] found in many English dialects does not exist in Glenoe. [2]
Vowels
| Front | Central | Back | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| unrounded | rounded | unrounded | rounded | |||
| Close | i | ɨ | ʉ | o | ||
| Close-mid | e | ə | ||||
| Open-mid | ɛ | ʌ | ɔ | |||
| Open | ɐ | ɑ | ||||
| Diphthongs | əi əʉ ɔe ɑe | |||||
- Vowel length is governed by the Scottish vowel length rule and is therefore non-phonemic. /ɨ,ɐ,ʌ/ and the unstressed-only /ə/ are always short, whereas /e,ɛ,a,ɔ,o/ are normally long but can be shortened due to the SVLR. Conversely, both /i/ and /ʉ/ are normally short, but can be lengthened due to the SVLR. [2]
- /i,e,ɛ/ are slightly lower than the corresponding cardinal vowels, but the difference is not very big. [2]
- /ɨ/, a phonologically central vowel, is further front and more open than cardinal [ɨ]: [ ɨ̟˕ ]. Before /r/, it is lengthened and slightly lowered to [ ɘ̟ː ] (transcribed with ⟨ɨː⟩ in this article). [2]
- /ʉ/, a phonologically central vowel, is further front than cardinal [ʉ] but not quite as front as the German /ʏ/ and /yː/. The long allophone is almost fully close [ ʉ̟ː ], but the short allophone is somewhat lower: [ ʉ̟˕ ]. Before /r/, a long open [ ʉ̟˕ː ] is found to the exclusion of [ ʉ̟ː ]. [2] For simplicity, both long allophones are written with ⟨ʉː⟩ in this article, whereas the short allophone is written with ⟨ʉ⟩.
- /o/ is more strongly rounded and closer than the cardinal [o]: [ o̹˔ ]. It is similar in quality to Swedish and Norwegian /uː/. [2]
- In certain fused verb forms, /e/ is realized as [ ɪ ]. An example of that is hae tae[ˈhɪtə] 'have to' (cf. hae[heː] 'have'). It also occurs as an allophone of /ɐ/ in unstressed syllables (in e.g. Pawlish[ˈpɔːlɪʃ] 'Polish'). Its phonetic quality is similar to that of /ɨ/ but more front. It is close to the KIT vowel (/ɪ/) in RP. [2]
- /ə/ is close-mid [ ɘ ]. [2]
- /ʌ,ɔ/ are near-back [ʌ̟, ɔ̟]. [2]
- /ɐ/ is near-open near-front [ ɐ̟ ]. It corresponds to English /ɪ/, which in most English dialects is much closer [ ɪ ]. However, a similar sound of an [ ɐ̟ ] quality is used by some speakers of Ulster English. [2]
- /ɑ/ is near-back: [ ɑ̟ ], much like RP /ɑː/. [2]