Phonology
Vowels
High Eldich has a basic set of five pure vowels. Three front vowels /i/, /e/ and /a/ as well as two back vowels /o/. High Eldich vowels are not lengthened and do not weaken when unstressed.
Front Vowels
High Eldich has three front vowels: /i/, /e/ and /a/. The exact phonetic position of /e/ is slightly lower than is typically found in most language and is approaching the slightly more open vowel [ɛ]. For the sake of ease (as well as for accuracy), it is represented with the phoneme /e/, however in order to reflect its lowness, elementally it is represented with the |I A| with a headed |A|. The other two phonemes /i/ and /a/ are expressed as they typically would be in most languages around the world:
sigo ['sigo] “year”
sí [si] “almost”
esto ['esto] “base”
seda ['seda] “son”
adiré [a'dire] “yesterday”
ré [re] “behind”
radis ['radis] “new”
High Eldich has three front vowels: /i/, /e/ and /a/. The exact phonetic position of /e/ is slightly lower than is typically found in most language and is approaching the slightly more open vowel [ɛ]. For the sake of ease (as well as for accuracy), it is represented with the phoneme /e/, however in order to reflect its lowness, elementally it is represented with the |I A| with a headed |A|. The other two phonemes /i/ and /a/ are expressed as they typically would be in most languages around the world:
sigo ['sigo] “year”
sí [si] “almost”
esto ['esto] “base”
seda ['seda] “son”
adiré [a'dire] “yesterday”
ré [re] “behind”
radis ['radis] “new”
Back Vowels
High Eldich also has two back vowels /o/ and /u/:
enu ['enu] “air”
dusúrne [du'surne] “to fill”
no [no] “with”
chanórne [ka'norne] “to destroy”
pellá ['pel:a] “again”
High Eldich also has two back vowels /o/ and /u/:
enu ['enu] “air”
dusúrne [du'surne] “to fill”
no [no] “with”
chanórne [ka'norne] “to destroy”
pellá ['pel:a] “again”
Diphthongs
Although High Eldich doesn’t particularly like diphthongs very much, it still has them and actually form a major part of the grammar. Typically, a diphthong in High Eldich is either heavy or light based on its phonological make-up. If the diphthong has more than two elements in it, it is generally considered heavy, but if it only has two, it is light. The weight of a diphthong in High Eldich doesn’t not affect the stress pattern although it does affect phonotactics as a diphthong cannot be found in a closed syllable.
As with any analysis with Element Theory, if the initial or final segment of a diphthong is simplex, it is pronounced according to its liquid. For instance, /i/ and /j/ are considered to be same, and therefore, where there would be a hiatus, in Element Theory there are only diphthongs. Therefore although phonemically /ui/ may be read as such, phonetically it would represent [uj]. This is the same for the diphthong /ue/ which treats both [u] and [ʋ] as the same, the phonetic representation would be [ʋe].
As with any analysis with Element Theory, if the initial or final segment of a diphthong is simplex, it is pronounced according to its liquid. For instance, /i/ and /j/ are considered to be same, and therefore, where there would be a hiatus, in Element Theory there are only diphthongs. Therefore although phonemically /ui/ may be read as such, phonetically it would represent [uj]. This is the same for the diphthong /ue/ which treats both [u] and [ʋ] as the same, the phonetic representation would be [ʋe].
|I| Final Diphthongs
|I| final diphthongs are generally heavy diphthongs where the final phonetic segment is [j]. They are the second most common group of diphthongs and are all rising:
|I| final diphthongs are generally heavy diphthongs where the final phonetic segment is [j]. They are the second most common group of diphthongs and are all rising:
Since they are considered heavy, they form a nucleus which has two skeletal points.
elonui [e'lonuj] “kings”
aipolu [aj'polu] “jelousy”
beino [be̞jno] “fur”
moirá ['mojra] “according to”
aipolu [aj'polu] “jelousy”
beino [be̞jno] “fur”
moirá ['mojra] “according to”
|U| Final Diphthongs
|U| final diphthongs are also heavy where the final phonetic segment is [ʋ]. These are the least common diphthongs in High Eldich:
|U| final diphthongs are also heavy where the final phonetic segment is [ʋ]. These are the least common diphthongs in High Eldich:
Like the |I| final diphthongs, these diphthongs are syllabified in a branching nucleus:
thiniúthe [θi'njuθe] “she will die”
launu ['laʋnu] “wonder”
lavión ['laʋjon] “garden”
launu ['laʋnu] “wonder”
lavión ['laʋjon] “garden”
|A| Final Diphthongs
|A| final diphthongs are all falling diphthongs and are light. Since the phoneme /e/ is made up of the elements |A I|, it is also treated as forming an |A| final diphthong:
|A| final diphthongs are all falling diphthongs and are light. Since the phoneme /e/ is made up of the elements |A I|, it is also treated as forming an |A| final diphthong:
hianas ['xjanas] “dangerous”
miepo ['mje̞po] “trousers”
mitue ['mitʋe] “mothers”
miepo ['mje̞po] “trousers”
mitue ['mitʋe] “mothers”