Lim-hazhrahael-sav-taran Wikia
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Phonemic inventory[]

The Taranvor Standard Dialect contains twenty-nine to thirty phonemes, comprised of nineteen or twenty consonants and ten vowels.

Consonants[]

There are six stops, two nasal stops, nine fricatives, one lateral fricative, one approximant, and one lateral approximant.

Labial Dental Alveolar Postalveolar Velar Uvular Glottal
Plosive t d k g q   ɢ
Nasal m n
Fricative f v s z ʃ   ʒ x   ɤ ʁ h
Lateral Fricative ɬ
Approximant
Lateral Approximant l

The Taran consonants are usually inscribed as following:

Sound                    /   t    d    k    g    q    ɢ    m    n    f    v    s   z    ʃ    ʒ    x    ɤ    h    ɬ    ʁ    l   /

Transliteration        <  t    d    k    g    q    gh  m    n    f    v    s   z   sh   zh  xh  x   h    hl   r    l   >

Dialects vary slightly in consonantal phonemic inventory. Most dialects outside the Taranvor lakes region have also lost the distinction between [ɢ] and [ʁ]. The frequent lenition of the uvular plosive to [ɢ] triggered an interpretation this and the historical uvular fricative were the same phoneme. The Port Karum dialect has begun to treat [ʧ] and [ʤ] as phonemes, and as with many dialects, contains dialectical variations on the voiced uvular fricative.

There are great dialectical variations of pronunciation with phonemic /ʁ/, which may be realized as [ʁ], [χ], [ɰ], [ʀ], and even [r] in word final positions. Several linguistic theories accounting for the variation have arisen.

The great variation of the realization of [ʁ] might have been caused by an original /ɹ/ contained an allophonic variant [r]. Over time, the [ɹ] was moved backward to a velar or uvular placement while the allophone [r] remained. Over time, the backed phoneme became a trill in all contexts, varying between [ʀ] and [r], or it took on frication and gained an [ʁ] allophone.

By another account, /ʁ/ has changed to remain distinct with other pharyngeal plosives. Historically the Taran language was supposed to contain both voiced and voiceless uvular fricative phonemes, but over time was reduced to a single phoneme which assimilated voicing by context. [χ] was realized before or after a consonant, [ʁ] elsewhere. The voiced counterpart of the phoneme was and still is often produced as a velar approximant [ɰ], and this pronunciation is constant in many dialects, such as the Port Karum dialect. In other situations, to contrast between [ɢ] and [ʁ], the latter became produced as the uvular trill [ʀ]. In the north near Shenwarii, whose language has [r], the coronal rhotic trill has been integrated as an allophone or the uvular rhotic.

Vowels[]

The vowel system consists of five basic vowels which have a long-short distinction for a total of ten vowels.

High       i   i:        u   u:

Mid        e  e:        o   o:

Low       ɑ  ɑ:

Sound                   /   i   i:       e   e:   ɑ  ɑ:   u   u:            o   o:   /

Transliteration    <  i   ii/ie   e   ae  a   aa   u   uu/uCC   o   ou  >

Vowel variations occur in several regions, the most radical shifts occurring due to contact with the Shenvaan language in the south. These dialects frequently have added a diphthong [ɑɪ]. Other dialects retain the presence of the vowel [ʌ], which has been lost in most dialects, including the Standard Taranvor Dialect.

Some dialects always realize /ɑ/ as [ə], while other dialects like the Standard Taran Dialect only realize a [ə] in specific contexts of reduction.

Allophones[]

Allophonic variation depends upon dialect.

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