Latgalian phonology

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Latgalian language is considered a Latvian language dialect by the Latvian government, others[ who? ] argue that it is an independent language.

Contents

Vowels

Vowel phonemes of Latgalian [1]
Front Central Back
short long shortlongshortlong
Close i ⟨i⟩ iː ⟨ī⟩( ɨ ) ⟨y⟩ u ⟨u⟩ uː ⟨ū⟩
Mid ɛ ⟨e⟩( ɛː ) ⟨ē⟩ ɔ ⟨o⟩( ɔː ) ⟨ō⟩
Open æ ⟨e⟩ æː ⟨ē⟩ a ⟨a⟩ aː ⟨ā⟩
Diphthongs iɛ uɔ

Consonants

Consonant phonemes of Latgalian [5]
Labial [a] Dental/
Alveolar 		Postalveolar/
Palatal 		Velar
hardsofthardsofthardsoft [b] hardsoft
Nasal m mʲ n nʲ
Stop voiceless p pʲ t tʲ k kʲ
voiced b bʲ d dʲ ɡ ɡʲ
Affricate voiceless t͡s t͡sʲ t͡ʃ ( t͡ɕ )
voiced d͡z d͡zʲ d͡ʒ ( d͡ʑ )
Fricative voiceless( f ) [c] s sʲ ʃ ( ɕ )( x ) [d]
voiced v [e] vʲ [e] z zʲ ʒ ( ʑ )
Approximant l lʲɪ̯(i̯) [f] ʊ̯ [g] (u̯) [g] [f]
Trill r (rʲ)
  1. ↑ /m,mʲ,p,pʲ,b,bʲ/ are bilabial, whereas /f,v,vʲ/ are labiodental.
  2. ↑ The alveolo-palatals occur only in some non-standard dialects, with the fricatives /ɕ,ʑ/ being more common than the affricates /t͡ɕ,d͡ʑ/. [6]
  3. ↑ /f/ occurs only in some loanwords, such as ortografejatransl. orthography. In other loanwords, it is replaced by /p/, as in kopejstransl. coffee. [7]
  4. ↑ /x/ occurs only in some loanwords, such as tehnologejatransl. technology. In other loanwords, it is replaced by /k/, as in kokejstransl. hockey. [7]
  5. 1 2 /v,vʲ/ are traditionally classified as approximants [ʋ,ʋʲ] which phonetically may be fricatives [v,vʲ]. [7]
  6. 1 2 For the approximants /ɪ̯/ and /ʊ̯/ the contrast between their hard and soft versions is phonetically realized as a contrast between retraction and advancement. The "soft" counterparts of /ɪ̯/ and /ʊ̯/ are /i̯/ and /u̯/. [8] [9] Brejdak (2006, p. 198-199) considers those to have phonemic status and argues that the contrast between them and the plain /ɪ̯/ and /ʊ̯/ corresponds to the soft/hard contrast. However, Nau (2011, p. 13) considers the phonemic status of /u̯/ and especially /i̯/ (which he transcribes with a non-IPA symbol ⟨jʲ⟩) as questionable. If the difference is considered to be allophonic, the resulting single palatal approximant can be transcribed with ⟨j⟩ and the corresponding labio-velar with ⟨w⟩. In this article, the difference is assumed to be phonemic.
  7. 1 2 /ʊ̯,u̯/ are labial-velar. [9]

Accent

Stress

The stress is most often on the first syllable. [9]

Tonal accents

There are two phonemic tonal accents in Latgalian, which appear only on long syllables, i.e. those with a long vowel, a diphthong, or a sequence of a short vowel and a sonorant. These are falling (also called level) and broken (also called sharp). However, there are only a handful of minimal (or near-minimal) pairs, such as [rɛ̀ɪ̯tʲ] 'swallow' and [rɛ̂ɪ̯t] 'tomorrow', both written reit. [9]

Phonetically, both of the tonal accents are falling; the falling accent is realized as an even decrease in intensity and pitch, whereas the broken accent is realized as a sudden decrease in intensity and pitch. [9]

References

  1. 1 2 3 Nau (2011), p. 9.
  2. ↑ Nau (2011), pp. 9–10.
  3. ↑ Nau (2011), p. 10.
  4. ↑ Nau (2011), pp. 9–11.
  5. ↑ Nau (2011), pp. 11–13.
  6. ↑ Nau (2011), p. 11.
  7. 1 2 3 Nau (2011), p. 12.
  8. ↑ Brejdak (2006), p. 198-199.
  9. 1 2 3 4 5 Nau (2011), p. 13.

Bibliography

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