Catalan phonology and orthography
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[edit] Diachronical phonological features in relation to Latin
Several characteristic features of Catalan as a Romance language:
- Like Occitan, loss of Latin final unstressed vowels, except -a; and then after some of the resulting consonantic groups a support vowel -e (pronounced [e] or [ə]) appears, e. g. fame → fam "hunger"; bucca → boca "mouth"; nostru → nostre "ours".
- Loss of final -n after the demise of final unstressed vowels, e. g. manu → *man → mà "hand".
- In Oriental dialects: Latin short e → closed [e], and Latin long e → neutral vowel [ə] and then later → open [ɛ]; so the final outcome of Latin short and long e is reversed in relation to other Romance languages.
- Unlike Occitan and other Gallic Romance languages, Catalan preserves the three degrees for rounded back vowels /ɔ o u/, and /u/ is not fronted to /y/.
- Unlike Spanish and other Iberian Romance languages, betacism or loss of b/v distinction seems to be in Catalan an innovation since the modern era, in fact non-betacist dialects are still preserved in most areas.
- Like Asturian, palatalization of Latin word initial l-; e.g. luna → lluna "moon"; lupu → llop "wolf".
- Vocalization to [w] of final -d of diverse origins and the Latin verbal ending -tis: pede → peu [pɛw] "foot"; credit → creu['krɛw] "he believes"; miratis → miratz → mirau → mireu [mi'rɛw] "you watch".
- Consonantic palatalizations, similar to most Romances:
- /k/ + [e], [i], [j] → *[ts] → [s]; e. g. caelu → cel [sɛl] "sky, heaven".
- /g/ + [e], [i], [j] → *[dʒ] → [ʒ]; e. g. gelu → gel [ʒɛl] "ice".
- -ly-, -ll-, -c'l-, -t'l- → ll [ʎ]; e. g. muliere → muller "wife"; caballu → cavall "horse", but cf other cases like villa → vila "town", where the geminate has been simplified; auricula → *oric'la → orella "ear"; uetulus → *vet'lu → vell "old man".
- -ny-, -gn-, -nn- → ny [ɲ]; e. g. ligna → llenya "wood".
- Consonantic lenition, similar to most of Western Romances:
- Intervocalic voiced stops become fricatives or zero. E. g. caballu → cavall "horse", volebat → volia "s/he wanted", pavore → pahor → por "awe".
- Intervocalic voiceless stops become voiced. E. g. vita → vida "life".
- Intervocalic geminate voiceless stops are simplified, but intervocalic geminate voiceless fricatives are preserved. E. g. bucca → boca "mouth", passare → passar "pass".
See also specific articles on: Alguerese, Balearic, Ribagorçan, Valencian.
[edit] Phoneme inventory and orthography
A summary of the phonemes of contemporary Catalan, their graphemes and sounds:
[edit] Plosives
Plosives in final position become voiceless.
- /p/ p
- /b/ b, v (see /v/ below), where /v/ is merged with /b/ the result of the merger is a bilabial phoneme articulated as fricative [β] between vowels or liquids; [p] in final position. In those dialects where /v/ is preserved, bilabial /b/ is plosive in all phonetic contexts (as English or French /b/)
- /t/ t, this phoneme has a dental articulation, just like Italian or Spanish /t/
- /d/ d, articulated as fricative [ð] between vowels or liquids; [t] in final position
- /k/ c before a, o, u; qu before e, i; qu for /kw/ before a, o, u; qü for /kw/ before e, i
- /g/ g before a, o, u; gu before e, i; gu for /gw/ before a, o, u; gü for /gw/ before e, i, articulated as fricative [ɣ] between vowels or liquids, [k] in final position
[edit] Affricates
Affricates in final position become voiceless. Word final /ts, tʃ/ followed by a vowel become voiced.
- /ts/ ts (not considered a separate phoneme but /t/ + /s/, by most authors).
- /dz/ tz (not considered a separate phoneme but /t/ + /z/, by most authors). In Ribagorçan and Apitxat Valencian (comarques around Valencia city), /dz/ has merged with voiceless /ts/.
- /tʃ/ tx; sometimes ig in word final position; many exceptions.
- /dʒ/ tj before a, o, u; tg before e, i; many exceptions. In Ribagorçan and Apitxat Valencian (comarques around Valencia city), /dʒ/ has merged with voiceless /tʃ/.
[edit] Fricatives
Fricatives in final position become voiceless. Word final /s/ and /ʃ/ followed by a vowel become voiced.
- /f/ f
- /v/ v. In many modern Catalan dialects /v/ has merged with bilabial plosive /b/ (a phenomenon called betacism). /v/ is still a separate phoneme in Balearic, Alguerese, Valencian (except the comarques around Valencia city), and the comarques around Tarragona city.
- /s/ s; ss between vowels; also c before e, i and ç elsewhere.
- /z/ z; s between vowels. In Ribagorçan and Apitxat Valencian (comarques around Valencia city), /z/ has merged with voiceless /s/.
- /ʃ/ x; ix after vowel or in word final position. In Occidental variants (Lleida, Valencian), the written form -ix- is pronounced [jʃ] or [js]. In Barcelona city, /ʃ/ in initial position or after nasals is sometimes pronounced as affricate [tʃ].
- /ʒ/ j before a, o, u; g before e, i; many exceptions. In Barcelona city, /ʒ/ in initial position or after nasals is sometimes pronounced as affricate [dʒ]. Some j from standard correspond to [j] in Pallarese or Ribagorçan, and then the rest of j from standard correspond to [tʃ] in Ribagorçan. Most j of standard western Catalan correspond to the affricate phoneme /dʒ/ in Valencian, and then in Apitxat Valencian (comarques around Valencia city) /dʒ/ has merged with voiceless /tʃ/.
[edit] Nasals
Nasals in final position retain distinct point or articulation, unlike in Spanish or French.
- /m/ m
- The digraph tm in intervocalic position is assimilated to a geminate [m:], as in setmana "week", except usually in some loaned words such as ritme "rhythm".
- The syllable final digraph mp is reduced to [m], as in compte "account", temptar "to tempt".
- /n/ n
- The digraph tn in intervocalic position is assimilated to a geminate n [n:], as in cotna "bark", except usually in some learned words such as ètnia "ethnic group".
- /ɲ/ ny, palatal nasal, as in Hungarian
- velar nasal [ŋ], which is written as nc or ng in final position, is not considered a separate phoneme, but /n/ + /k/ or /n/ + /g/, by most authors.
[edit] Laterals
- /l/ l. Catalan /l/ has a distinctive velar resonance: [ʟ], like English "dark l" (as in full) unlike the Spanish or French equivalents.
- l·l is ela geminada, a Catalan characteristic grapheme, appearing only in intervocalic position and which stands for a geminate [ʟ:]. This geminate pronunciation is always maintained in several popular words, such as til·la "linden" and xarel·lo "muscatel grape". However, by influence from Spanish, many speakers no longer pronounce them geminate in many other words (mostly in learned words borrowed from Latin).
- The digraph tl in intervocalic position is assimilated to a geminate l [l:], as in espatla (shoulder), except usually in some borrowed words such as atleta "athlete".
- /ʎ/ ll, palatal lateral approximant. Standard Catalan /ʎ/ has not merged with /j/, unlike in French, and ieisme is socially stigmatized in the prestigious speech of Barcelona. That said, the merger of /ʎ/ and /j/ (cervell = servei) is now common among younger speakers in larger urban areas, especially in Valencia. There is a kind of ieisme called "etymological", affecting only the Eastern dialects and originating from the 13th century, which weakened the /ʎ/ from the etymological intervocalic -c'l-, -g'l-, -l'y-, -t'l- (in Spanish those groups have resulted in /x/). Thus, some ll from standard Catalan corresponds to the palatal approximant [j] or to nothing at all in Balearic; e. g. uetula → vella "old woman", Balearic vea.
- tll, this trigraph is assimilated into a geminate ll [ʎ:], as in rotllo "roll".
[edit] Rhotics
Two rhotic sounds exist in Catalan.
- /ɾ/ Alveolar flap, written r in all positions but word initial.
- /r/ Alveolar trill, written r word-initially, rr between vowels.
[edit] Vowels
The Standard vowel system has seven different vowels in stressed position /a ɛ e i ɔ o u/, but only [ə i u] can appear in unstressed positions.
In most of Balearics, /ə/ (written e, è) can be a distinct phoneme as well in stressed position. In Valencian and NW Catalan [e] and [o] can appear as well in unstressed positions. In some Balearics dialects, especially most of those of Majorca, [o] can also appear in unestressed positions, though it is usually rendered [u] if it's followed by a stressed [i] sound.
[edit] Dialectal variation
The differences in the vocalic systems outlined above are the main criteria used to differentiate between the major dialects:
- Central (Girona province, Barcelona province, Tarragona province but the Ebro bassin)
- Northern (Roussillon)
- Balearic (Balearic Islands)
- Alguerese (L'Alguer)
- North-Western (Andorra, Lleida province, Ribagorça, Ebre bassin of Tarragona province)
- Valencian (Eastern half of País Valencià, and Carxe in the Murcia province)
- /a/ a, à. Catalan /a/ is tenser and more open than the Spanish or French ones. In eastern Catalan /a/ is only possible in stressed position. When unstressed, /a/ weakens to [ə] in eastern Catalan while in western varieties, especially in Valencian, the vowel usually remains close to an [a] quality (back and front varieties of unstressed /a/ are quite usual though).
- /ɛ/ e, è. In all Catalan dialects this vowel is only possible in stressed syllables. Historically there has never been an open /ɛ/ vowel in unstressed syllables but a mid-close /e/. In western Catalan unstressed /ɛ/ remains generally mid-close /e/ (as in pre-classic eastern Catalan) but this /e/ is weakened to [ə] in eastern dialects. This weak e ([ə]) of eastern Catalan is merged with unstressed /a/ (see */e/ e, é below).
- /ə/ e, è. Only in stressed position. In most Balearic variants it is always pronounced as [ə], but in other eastern variants it merges with /ɛ/ and in western ones with /e/. Due to these dialectal fluctuations, many authors do not use /ə/ at all.
- /e/ e, é. In eastern Catalan this vowel only occurs in stressed syllables. In Valencian and Lleida (western Catalan) unstressed /e/ has been kept different from unstressed /a/ so words like "palleta" and "pelleta" are always distinguished. In eastern Catalan unstressed /e/ generally merges with unstressed /a/ and the result of this merger is a mid-central vowel/ə/. Due to this merger of weak /e/ and /a/ eastern Catalan varietes make no difference in minimal pairs like "pelleta" / "palleta" or "sogre" / "sogra".
- /i/ i, í, ï.
- /ɔ/ o, ò. This vowel can only occur in stressed syllables. When unstressed this vowel is weakened to [u] in Eastern dialects while in Western variants (Lleida, Valencian) and Majorca a mid-close [o] is generally preserved.
- /o/ o, ó. In northeastern dialects this vowel can only occur in stressed syllables, when unstressed o is weakened to [u]. In western variants (Lleida, Valencian) and Majorca, with a more conservative weak vowel system, /o/ is not limited to stressed syllables, thus minimal pairs like "suposa" / "s'oposa" or "putada" / "potada" are distinguished.
- /u/ u, ú, ü.
[edit] Diphthongs and triphthongs
Unlike Spanish or French, contiguous vowels normally form descending diphthongs, not ascending ones. Examples:
- mai "never" [maj] (1 syllable)
- noi "boy" [nɔj] (1 syllable)
- rei "king" [rej] (1 syllable)
- pau "peace" [paw] (1 syllable)
- bou "ox" [bɔw] (1 syllable)
- neu "snow" [new] (1 syllable)
- diu "he says" [diw] (1 syllable)
- vuit "eight" [bujt] (1 syllable)
But:
- dia "day" ['di ə] (2 syllables)
- cua "tail" ['ku ə] (2 syllables)
- deia "he said" ['dɛ jə] (2 syllables)
- diuen "they say" ['di wən] (2 syllables)
The only ascending diphthongs are those of the kind gu(a/o), gü(e/i) and qu(a/o), qü(e/i):
- aigua "water" ['aj gwə] (2 syllables)
- ungüent "ointment" [uŋ 'gwɛnt] (2 syllables)
- pingüí "penguin" [piŋ 'gwi] (2 syllables)
- llenguota "big tongue" [ʎəŋ gwɔ tə] (3 syllables)
- quatre "four" ['kwa trə] (2 syllables)
- qüestió "question" [kwəs 'tjo] (2 syllables)
- aqüífer "aquifer" [ə 'kwi fər] (3 syllables)
- quota "quota" ['kwɔ tə] (2 syllables)
A few triphthongs are formed upon those:
- aguaitar "to look at" [ə gwəj 'tɑ] (3 syllables)
- liqüeu "you liquify" [li 'kwɛw] (2 syllables)
If a diaeresis appears over the i or u of what would otherwise be a descending diphthong, the diphthong is broken into a hiatus:
- raïm "grape" [rə 'im] (2 syllables)
- taüt "coffin" [tə 'ut] (2 syllables)
- ruïna "ruin" [ru 'i nə] (3 syllables)
