Τëξëνι

Osrican phonology

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Osrican phonology is the system of sounds used in the pronunciation of the Osrican language.

This page reflects the pronunciation of Standard Osrican, which is based on the Vastkhëld dialect (the capital of Osric), there are other dialects spoken across the Osric Republic but those have not been created in detail yet.

Standard Osrican has 27 consonant sounds, 8 monophthongs and 10 diphthongs.

Vowels

Monophthongs

Front Central Back
High i (ɪ) y (ʏ) u (ʊ)
Mid e ø ə o
Low ɐ

The symbols in parenthesis represent allophones, the allophony rules are as follows:

Other notes:

Diphthongs

To unrounded To rounded
From high i̯ɐ iu̯
From mid ei̯ ɤi̯ øy̯ oy̯ eu̯
From low ɐi̯ ɒe̯ ɐu̯

Consonants

Labial Alveolar Palatal Velar
Nasal m n ɲ ŋ
Stop p b t d k ɡ
Affricate t͡s d͡z t͡ʃ d͡ʒ
Fricative f v s z ʃ ʒ x
Rhotic r (ɾ)
Approximant w j (ʝ) ɰ
Lateral l ʎ

The symbols in parenthesis represent allophones, the allophony rules are as follows:

Other notes:

Stress

Stress in Osrican words is lexical, that means that it doesn't follow any predictable patterns; it has to be memorized.

Loanwords have the main stress in the same syllable as the original word.

Compound words keep the stress of the first word in the compound.

Romanization

The romanization of Osrican is the use of the roman alphabet to write the Osrican language.

Osrican is normally written with a variation of the Greek alphabet, for more info see Osrican orthography.

The romanization is used in contexts where Osrican text is aimed at non-Osrican speakers, like in learning material for foreigners, linguistics, literature, history and culture.

The standard romanization is as follows:

Letter IPA English approximation Notes
a ɐ Like Received Pronunciation cut. Pronounced like in German oder.
ai ɐi̯ Similar to General American light.
au ɐu̯ Similar to Canadian English mouse.
b b Like bear.
ch t͡ʃ Like church. This sound features no aspiration.
d d Like door.
dj d͡ʒ Like judge.
dz d͡z Like adds. Pronounced like Italian zero. This consonant doesn't appear at the beginning of syllables in English, however it can start syllables in Osrican.
e e Like Australian English head. Pronounced like Spanish fe.
ei ei̯ Similar to General American day.
eu eu̯ No English equivalent. Pronounced like Spanish Europa.
ë ə Like about. This is a fairly well known sound among linguistics enthusiasts because it's the most common vowel sound in English, it's even got its own name, it's called the "schwa".
ëi ɤi̯ No English equivalent. Pronounced like Estonian kõik.
f f Like full.
g ɡ Like gear.
ğ ɰ No English equivalent. Similar to Spanish agua.
i i (ɪ) Similar to English sea when in stressed positions, like English sit when in unstressed positions. Like Spanish sí when in stressed positions.
ia i̯ɐ Similar to Received Pronunciation fear. Similar to German mir.
k k Like lurk. This sound features no aspiration.
kh x Like Scottish English loch. Like Spanish relajar.
l l Like leaf. This sound features no velarization.
ly ʎ Like Received Pronunciation million. Similar to Italian moglie.
m m Like moon.
n n Like noon.
ng ŋ Like sing. This consonant doesn't appear at the beginning of syllables in English, however it can start syllables in Osrican.
ny ɲ Similar to canyon. Like Spanish sueño.
o o Similar to Received Pronunciation caught. Like Spanish no.
oe ɒe̯ No English equivalent. Basically like Canadian English lot followed by the vowel in Spanish fe.
oü oy̯ No English equivalent. Similar to German heute.
ö ø No English equivalent. Like French bœufs. Basically like the vowel in Spanish fe but with the lips pursed.
öü øy̯ No English equivalent. Basically lke French bœufs followed by the vowel in German süß. Like German heute but with the lips pursed all the way through both vowel sounds.
p p Like lap. This sound features no aspiration.
r r (ɾ) No English equivalent. Like Spanish perro when it's not clustering with other consonants, like Spanish pero when it's clustering with other consonants.
s s Like soon.
sh ʃ Like shoes.
t t Like bought. This sound features no aspiration.
ts t͡s Like cats. Like Japanese tsunami. This consonant doesn't appear at the beginning of syllables in English, however it can start syllables in Osrican.
u u (ʊ) Similar to General American food when in stressed positions, like General American foot when in unstressed positions. Like Spanish tú when in stressed positions.
ü y (ʏ) No English equivalent. Like French rue when in stressed positions. Basically like the vowel in Spanish sí but with the lips pursed.
v v Like very.
w w Like was.
y j (ʝ) Like yes when not at the end of the syllable. No English equivalent for the sound it makes at the end of a syllable. At the end of a syllable the sound if pronounced similarly to English hue but with the vocal folds vibrating, or alternatively it's like English yes but with the tongue closer to the roof of the mouth so that it starts making a more airy type of sound.
z z Like zoo.
zh ʒ Like vision. Like French journal.