Sardinian is conventionally divided, mainly on phonological criteria, into three main varieties: Campidanese, Logudorese, and Nuorese. [lower-alpha 1] The last of these has a notably conservative phonology, compared not only to the other two varieties, but also to other Romance languages as well. [1]
All Sardinian varieties shared an original vowel system characterized by the merger of each of Latin's short vowels with its long counterpart (/i/ merged with /iː/, /u/ merged with /uː/, and so on) resulting in an inventory of five vowels: /iɛaɔu/. [lower-alpha 2]
Sardinian vowels are lengthened under primary stress, especially in open syllables. Compare /ˈmanku/[ˈmaˑŋˑku] and /ˈmanu/[ˈmaːnu]. [2]
Sardinian vowels have long been subject to a process of metaphony whereby [ɛɔ] are raised to [e o] if the following syllable contains a high vowel (either /i/ or /u/). If the syllable that precedes the resulting [e] or [o] itself contains another [ɛ] or [ɔ], that vowel is also raised, a process which may repeat across multiple syllables. /fɛˈnɔmɛnu/, for instance, is realized as [feˈnoːmenu], with metaphony spreading to all three syllables preceding the final /u/. [3]
In the Campidanese varieties spoken in the south of the island, /ɛɔ/ underwent a general raising to /iu/ in final syllables. [lower-alpha 3] The new /iu/ produced by this change failed, however, to trigger metaphony in preceding syllables, as original /iu/ had. Since this obscured the conditions for metaphony, [eo] could now contrast with [ɛɔ]. For instance, the older [ˈbɛːnɛ] 'well' and [ˈbeːni] 'come' became [ˈbɛːni] and [ˈbeːni] respectively, a minimal pair distinguished only by their stressed vowels. This meant that the difference between [ɛɔ] and [eo] had achieved phonemic status, giving Campidanese a total of seven distinct vowels, as opposed to the older five-vowel system retained by other Sardinian dialects. [4]
| Front | Central | Back | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Close | i | u | |
| Close-mid | e † | o † | |
| Open-mid | ɛ | ɔ | |
| Open | a |
† Only in Campidanese.
Sardinian possesses the following consonant phonemes: [5]
| Labial | Dental | Alveolar | Retroflex | Post-alv./ Palatal | Velar | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Plosive/ Affricate | voiceless | p | t | t͡s | t͡ʃ † | k | |
| voiced | b | d | d͡z | ɖ | d͡ʒ † | ɡ | |
| Fricative | voiceless | f | θ ‡ | s | ʃ † | ||
| voiced | v † | ʒ † | |||||
| Nasal | m | n | ɲ † | ||||
| Vibrant | r | ||||||
| Approximant | w † | l | j | ||||
† Variable presence, depending on dialect.
‡ Mainly in Nuorese.
The Sardinian system of plosives cannot be exhaustively characterized by either qualitative (voicing) or quantitative (duration) contrasts, but both contrasts must be specified independently on some level of grammar. All plosives participate in a system-wide and complex process of lenition that characterizes all varieties of Sardinian and operates across word boundaries. [6]
There are three series of plosives or corresponding approximants:
Most varieties are characterised by the historic neutralization of Latin /l/ and /r/ into the archiphoneme /R/ within the morpheme: marralzu~marrarzu 'rock'. The Campidanese dialect does not generally allow this /R/ to end syllables except if followed by another /R/; as a result, underlying /R.C/ sequences are synchronically and systematically repaired, either through assimilation or metathesis: [19] [22]
Only /s/, /n/, /r/, /t/ are permitted word-finally. The first three of these alternate in notable external sandhi processes. For Nuorese, /s/ and /r/ neutralise (merge) when in sandhi in the following way: [16] [22]
The word-final /t/ is assimilated to the following consonant within a phrase, or can be said to disappear, inducing strengthening: Log. cheret bennere[ˈkɛrɛbˈbɛnnɛrɛ] '(s)he wants to come'.
Unlike Tuscan Italian, Neapolitan and Sicilian, Sardinian doesn't have a productive process of syntactic gemination since most Latin final consonants have been maintained. Nevertheless, there are a few lexical items that formerly ended in consonants, and thus prevented initial-consonant weakening (lenition); as a result, consonants occurring after these words undergo strengthening, typically by gemination. These include the conjunction e 'and' < La. et, the preposition a 'to, at' < La. ad as well as the interrogative particle a < La. aut, at or an. [15]
Several features distinguish Sardinian, although not necessarily all its dialects, from other Romance varieties.
Sardinian contains the following phonetic innovations:
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