Phonology
Consonants
There are twenty-three consonants in High Eldich which are distributed across the entire phonological chart. In the chart above, I have put the phoneme on the left and its elemental makeup on the right. A voiceless consonant appears above and a voiced consonant is underneath it.
In the chart we can see that the elemental structure of each segment have elements in common depending on place: labials are represented with headed |U| where velars have unheaded |U|. Palatals contain |I| where for dentals it is unheaded |I|. Unheaded |A| is used for non-dental coronals. All nasals have the |L| element and all fricatives contain |H| which are both unheaded. All liquids/approximants are either simplex or unheaded meaning they are phonologically weak.
In the chart we can see that the elemental structure of each segment have elements in common depending on place: labials are represented with headed |U| where velars have unheaded |U|. Palatals contain |I| where for dentals it is unheaded |I|. Unheaded |A| is used for non-dental coronals. All nasals have the |L| element and all fricatives contain |H| which are both unheaded. All liquids/approximants are either simplex or unheaded meaning they are phonologically weak.
Voicing
As can be observed from the consonants in the chart, High Eldich is an L language. This means that it has two types of consonants when it comes to voicing: those which are traditionally viewed as voiceless are neutral and have no aspiration, whereas those which are voiced are fully so. In its elemental structure, this means that a voiceless consonant, for example /p/, is only voiceless because of the absence of the voicing element |L| rendering its elements as |U ʔ|. On the other hand, /b/ is considered fully voiced and therefore contains |L| rendering |U ʔ L|. Typical of L languages, High Eldich therefore has |L| as headed since it is phonologically active, meaning that in assimilatory environments, |L| will spread to the following consonant making it voiced and never vice versa. Since High Eldich phonotactics are typically quite strict, a phenomenon where two stops come together is not common, however where it is seen is in loan words. The Classical Hopyratian word dimdāg ['dimdag] refers to a type of “britches” for which there is no Eldich equivalent. When follow by an Eldich word beginning with a voiceless consonant, that voiceless consonant becomes voiced:
As can be observed from the consonants in the chart, High Eldich is an L language. This means that it has two types of consonants when it comes to voicing: those which are traditionally viewed as voiceless are neutral and have no aspiration, whereas those which are voiced are fully so. In its elemental structure, this means that a voiceless consonant, for example /p/, is only voiceless because of the absence of the voicing element |L| rendering its elements as |U ʔ|. On the other hand, /b/ is considered fully voiced and therefore contains |L| rendering |U ʔ L|. Typical of L languages, High Eldich therefore has |L| as headed since it is phonologically active, meaning that in assimilatory environments, |L| will spread to the following consonant making it voiced and never vice versa. Since High Eldich phonotactics are typically quite strict, a phenomenon where two stops come together is not common, however where it is seen is in loan words. The Classical Hopyratian word dimdāg ['dimdag] refers to a type of “britches” for which there is no Eldich equivalent. When follow by an Eldich word beginning with a voiceless consonant, that voiceless consonant becomes voiced:
dimdāg pé terro la cherin
['dindɑg be̞ 'te̞rːo la 'ke̞rin]
“those Hopyratian britches on the table are green”
['dindɑg be̞ 'te̞rːo la 'ke̞rin]
“those Hopyratian britches on the table are green”
This is due to the |L| spreading to /p/:
An interesting exception to this rule is the consonant /n/which is one of the few consonants which are permitted to be in clusters or as word final. For instance, in the cluster /nt/ in dentas “direct” is not *['de̞ndas] but ['de̞ntas]. The reason for this is found in the unheaded of |L| in /n/ which is different from |L| in the other voiced consonants. Unheaded |L| doesn’t spread.
Where this voicing does occur is with final /s/. Although /z/ does not exist in High Eldich, owing to the voicing which does occur, when /s/ comes before a voiced consonant, it is realised as very slightly voiced [s̬)]. The reason why this voicing is so slight is due to the special status of /s/ which will be expanded upon later. Like the example which can be viewed above, /s/ goes through the same regressive assimilation:
Where this voicing does occur is with final /s/. Although /z/ does not exist in High Eldich, owing to the voicing which does occur, when /s/ comes before a voiced consonant, it is realised as very slightly voiced [s̬)]. The reason why this voicing is so slight is due to the special status of /s/ which will be expanded upon later. Like the example which can be viewed above, /s/ goes through the same regressive assimilation:
Stops
High Eldich has the six stops which are present in most languages, namely: /p/, /t/, /k/ and their voiced counterparts /b/, /d/ and /g/. Unlike English, High Eldich doesn’t aspirate its consonants when initial, resulting in a flavour similar to that of Italian or Spanish, so for example [p] will remain so in any context. The old cluster [ks] which was presence in Ancient Eldich (represented by ⟨x⟩) had already evolved out of the language, leniting to the geminated [s:].
panérne [pan'erne] “to come”
barani [ba'rani] “beast”
terine [te'rine] “grass”
deti ['deti] “cheek”
chí [ki] “no”
gelis ['gelis] “great”
axé ['akse] > assé ['as:e] “than”
High Eldich has the six stops which are present in most languages, namely: /p/, /t/, /k/ and their voiced counterparts /b/, /d/ and /g/. Unlike English, High Eldich doesn’t aspirate its consonants when initial, resulting in a flavour similar to that of Italian or Spanish, so for example [p] will remain so in any context. The old cluster [ks] which was presence in Ancient Eldich (represented by ⟨x⟩) had already evolved out of the language, leniting to the geminated [s:].
panérne [pan'erne] “to come”
barani [ba'rani] “beast”
terine [te'rine] “grass”
deti ['deti] “cheek”
chí [ki] “no”
gelis ['gelis] “great”
axé ['akse] > assé ['as:e] “than”
Nasals
High Eldich uses four distinctive nasal sounds across the phonetic grid. Each are represented as a separate phoneme and as a separate grapheme in both the official alphabet and the Romanised orthography. The phoneme /ŋ/ has the allophones [ŋk] and [ŋg] in the northern dialects of the language (which is the pronunciation I personally favour). The other two phonemes are the labial nasal /m/ and the palatal nasal /ɲ/:
nalidórne [nali'dorne] “to write”
malhani [ma'ʎani] “empire”
lanhana [la'ɲana] “angel”
dangárne [da'ŋ arne] or [da'ŋgarne] “to say”
There are cases where /n/ will assimilate regressively according to the consonant which proceeds it. For example, manpalón “market” is rendered as [mam'palon]. This is because within /n/ there is no headed element and in /p/ there is a headed |U|. This means that the coronal element in /n/ is surpressed and |U| spreads:
High Eldich uses four distinctive nasal sounds across the phonetic grid. Each are represented as a separate phoneme and as a separate grapheme in both the official alphabet and the Romanised orthography. The phoneme /ŋ/ has the allophones [ŋk] and [ŋg] in the northern dialects of the language (which is the pronunciation I personally favour). The other two phonemes are the labial nasal /m/ and the palatal nasal /ɲ/:
nalidórne [nali'dorne] “to write”
malhani [ma'ʎani] “empire”
lanhana [la'ɲana] “angel”
dangárne [da'ŋ arne] or [da'ŋgarne] “to say”
There are cases where /n/ will assimilate regressively according to the consonant which proceeds it. For example, manpalón “market” is rendered as [mam'palon]. This is because within /n/ there is no headed element and in /p/ there is a headed |U|. This means that the coronal element in /n/ is surpressed and |U| spreads:
Fricatives
High Eldich has a fair number of fricatives in its inventory, and usually tries to avoid the use of voiced fricatives in most contexts. The labiodental fricative /f/ is unaccompanied by its voiced counterpart, and the same for the phoneme /s/ where /z/ is lacking due to its historical assimilation with /Ʒ/. Both the postalveolar fricatives are present /ʃ/ and /Ʒ/, as well as both the dental fricatives /θ/ with /ð/. Although the velar fricatives are both present, the voiced /ɣ/ is often indistinguishable with the stop /g/:
falami [fa'lami] “animal”
sali ['sali] “army”
shoto ['ʃoto] “house”
jhá [Ʒa] “by”
elonathe [elo'naθe] “kingdom”
adhino [aðino] “reason”
huredi [xu'redi] “people”
thugho – ['θuɣo] “belt”
Weak /s/
The fricative /s/ in High Eldich is an interesting one phonologically. Unlike the other sibilant consonants /ʃ/ and /ʒ/ there is no voiced /z/. It is also able to serve as word-final and with clusters which is a position only found with the liquids /n/ /l/ and /r/. The interesting case of /s/ is that is phonological different from the other fricatives which all have a headed element, for instance /ʃ/ and /ʒ/ with |I H| and |I H L| respectively. In /s/ however, there is no headed element is represented purely by |A H| making it equally as weak as other liquids such as /l/ |A I|. Therefore the Eldich /s/ could best be described as a kind of sibilant approximant [s̞].
High Eldich has a fair number of fricatives in its inventory, and usually tries to avoid the use of voiced fricatives in most contexts. The labiodental fricative /f/ is unaccompanied by its voiced counterpart, and the same for the phoneme /s/ where /z/ is lacking due to its historical assimilation with /Ʒ/. Both the postalveolar fricatives are present /ʃ/ and /Ʒ/, as well as both the dental fricatives /θ/ with /ð/. Although the velar fricatives are both present, the voiced /ɣ/ is often indistinguishable with the stop /g/:
falami [fa'lami] “animal”
sali ['sali] “army”
shoto ['ʃoto] “house”
jhá [Ʒa] “by”
elonathe [elo'naθe] “kingdom”
adhino [aðino] “reason”
huredi [xu'redi] “people”
thugho – ['θuɣo] “belt”
Weak /s/
The fricative /s/ in High Eldich is an interesting one phonologically. Unlike the other sibilant consonants /ʃ/ and /ʒ/ there is no voiced /z/. It is also able to serve as word-final and with clusters which is a position only found with the liquids /n/ /l/ and /r/. The interesting case of /s/ is that is phonological different from the other fricatives which all have a headed element, for instance /ʃ/ and /ʒ/ with |I H| and |I H L| respectively. In /s/ however, there is no headed element is represented purely by |A H| making it equally as weak as other liquids such as /l/ |A I|. Therefore the Eldich /s/ could best be described as a kind of sibilant approximant [s̞].
Approximants and Trills
The Eldich linguists liked to group these two type of sounds together purely due to the fact they believed they were articulated in the same way. There is one trill in High Eldich: the obvious alveolar trill /r/. High Eldich makes use of the palatal approximant /j/ and, as a replacement for the lack of a labiodental fricative, a labiodental approximant /ʋ/ which is fortified to [v] in the descendent languages. High Eldich also has two types of lateral approximants: the alveolar /l/, which is never velarised when final, and the palatal /ʎ/.
seru ['seru] “morning”
vero ['ʋero] “chair”
yandón [jandon] “village”
elona [e'lona] “king”
malhani [ma'ʎani] “empire”
Confusion over /ʋ/
The bilabial approximant /ʋ/ is a tricky one since it behaviour varies with its position. /ʋ/ is represented by the element |U| which gives it the same representation as vowel /u/ and therefore accounts for the pronunciation of the diphthong /ue/ as [ʋe] rather than *[we] since [w] does not exist in Eldich. However it can also be found in stronger positions, such as in the consonant cluster /vr/ [ʋr] which would typically demand a stronger labiodental fricative [v] represented with |U H L| for example. This however is not the case due to its variation with /u/. The answer is actually found in the phonological structure of /r/ which is represented by unheaded |A|. In this sense, /ʋ/ can have a stronger phonological value than /r/ and can therefore govern it in a cluster.
This is most prominent with the use of the diphthong /ue/ as the feminine plural, which appears to break phonotactic rules. Quite often it can be seen plurals such as jhahue “flower”, pronounced as [ʒaxʋe] which is, of course, illegal in High Eldich. However, owing to the special property of /ʋ/ being a vowel-approximant-fricative in a sort of free variation, it is permitted as a cluster.
Additional confusion over /ʋ/ comes from the orthography itself since there is a difference graphemical difference between both the letters ⟨v⟩ and ⟨u⟩. The distinction made by the Elds is also made in the romanisation even if it isn’t made in the phonology. Typically, despite the diphthong /ue/ being pronounced as [ʋe] it is written as ⟨ue⟩.
This confusion with /ʋ/ is an interesting case study from High Eldich, highlighting the imperfect interpretation over the sound by the Eldich linguists. The fact that there existed two graphemes, ⟨v⟩ and ⟨u⟩, in the script to mark both categories, but they both shared the same pronunciation at different point is testament to the ambiguous nature over their phonetic realisations. It might even be evidences for two types of /ʋ/ where one was more sonorant [ʋ̞] and the other more obstruent [v̞]. This ambiguity was completely lost in the daughter languages which treated both /u/ and /v/ as contrasting.
The Eldich linguists liked to group these two type of sounds together purely due to the fact they believed they were articulated in the same way. There is one trill in High Eldich: the obvious alveolar trill /r/. High Eldich makes use of the palatal approximant /j/ and, as a replacement for the lack of a labiodental fricative, a labiodental approximant /ʋ/ which is fortified to [v] in the descendent languages. High Eldich also has two types of lateral approximants: the alveolar /l/, which is never velarised when final, and the palatal /ʎ/.
seru ['seru] “morning”
vero ['ʋero] “chair”
yandón [jandon] “village”
elona [e'lona] “king”
malhani [ma'ʎani] “empire”
Confusion over /ʋ/
The bilabial approximant /ʋ/ is a tricky one since it behaviour varies with its position. /ʋ/ is represented by the element |U| which gives it the same representation as vowel /u/ and therefore accounts for the pronunciation of the diphthong /ue/ as [ʋe] rather than *[we] since [w] does not exist in Eldich. However it can also be found in stronger positions, such as in the consonant cluster /vr/ [ʋr] which would typically demand a stronger labiodental fricative [v] represented with |U H L| for example. This however is not the case due to its variation with /u/. The answer is actually found in the phonological structure of /r/ which is represented by unheaded |A|. In this sense, /ʋ/ can have a stronger phonological value than /r/ and can therefore govern it in a cluster.
This is most prominent with the use of the diphthong /ue/ as the feminine plural, which appears to break phonotactic rules. Quite often it can be seen plurals such as jhahue “flower”, pronounced as [ʒaxʋe] which is, of course, illegal in High Eldich. However, owing to the special property of /ʋ/ being a vowel-approximant-fricative in a sort of free variation, it is permitted as a cluster.
Additional confusion over /ʋ/ comes from the orthography itself since there is a difference graphemical difference between both the letters ⟨v⟩ and ⟨u⟩. The distinction made by the Elds is also made in the romanisation even if it isn’t made in the phonology. Typically, despite the diphthong /ue/ being pronounced as [ʋe] it is written as ⟨ue⟩.
This confusion with /ʋ/ is an interesting case study from High Eldich, highlighting the imperfect interpretation over the sound by the Eldich linguists. The fact that there existed two graphemes, ⟨v⟩ and ⟨u⟩, in the script to mark both categories, but they both shared the same pronunciation at different point is testament to the ambiguous nature over their phonetic realisations. It might even be evidences for two types of /ʋ/ where one was more sonorant [ʋ̞] and the other more obstruent [v̞]. This ambiguity was completely lost in the daughter languages which treated both /u/ and /v/ as contrasting.