Phonology
Inventory
Pre-Kaddesol features the following phonemic inventory of consonants:
| Labial | Dental | Palatal | Velar | Uvular | Glottal | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nasal | m | n | ɲ | ŋ | ||
| Plosive | p, b | t, d | k, g | ɢ | ʔ | |
| Liquid | ʋ | l | j | ʀ |
And these are its vowels:
| Front | Back | |
|---|---|---|
| Close | i | u |
| Close-Mid | e | o |
| Open-Mid | ɛ | ɔ |
| Open | ɑ |
These phonemes have the following romanizations:
- [ɲ] is written nj
- [ŋ] is written ng
- [ɢ] is written ḡ
- [ʔ] is written h’ for initial CV syllables and h otherwise
- [ʋ] is written w
- [ʀ] is written rh when initial and r when medial
- [ɛ] is written ē
- [ɔ] is written ō
- [ɑ] is written a
Phonological Prehistory
Initial contrast formed between nasals and plosives. The development of
voiceless consonants occurred shortly after with a close association
of m with voiced plosives and n with voiceless plosives.
The first syllable of some
Pre-Kaddesol
roots shows remnants of contraction
where two unlike consonants were brought together and mutated. These were
often nasal plosive pairings that subsequently produced initial palatal
and uvular nasals.
Where the contraction brought vowels together, the initial vowel became a
liquid. Closed vowels becoming ʋ, close-mid l, open-mid j, and
open vowels became ʀ.
Contractions that brought two plosives together nasalize the second.
Glottals paired with long vowels blocked contraction. Glottals with short vowels dropped in favor of initial vowels.
Phonotactics
Pre-Kaddesol shows a strong preference for CV syllables. The prehistory introduced irregularities to the first syllable of the root, which can be CV, ONV, NOV, or V.