Belarusian phonology
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The phonological system of the modern Belarusian language consists of 45 (54) sounds: 6 vowels and 39 (48) consonants[1].
Some of the Belarusian consonants may form complemental pairs, differing only in palatalisation (hard vs soft). In some of such pairs, the place of articulation is additionally changed (see distinctive features below). Some of the consonants are always palatalised, and some are always unpalatalised. The phonetic transcription of Belarusian denotes the palatalised ("soft") consonants with the symbol <ʲ>.
Contents |
[edit] Distinctive features
As an East Slavic language, Belarusian differs from closely related languages in a number of ways:[2]
- Akannye (Belarusian: аканне) – the pronunciation of unstressed /o/ and /a/ as clear open front unrounded vowel [a]. Unlike Russian, [a] also appears after /j/. However, there is no emphasised separation after the /j/ in the pronunciation of the iotified /ja/, /jo/, /je/ and /ji/[3].
- Dzyekanye (Belarusian: дзеканне) – the pronunciation of Old East Slavic /dʲ/ as a soft affricate [ʣʲ].
- Tsyekannye (Belarusian: цеканне) – the pronunciation of Old East Slavic /tʲ/ as a soft affricate [ʦʲ].
- Strong palatalization of /sʲ/ and /zʲ/.[4]
- Postalveolar consonants are all hard (laminal retroflex) while Russian and Ukrainian have both hard and soft postalveolars.
- /rʲ/ has hardened and merged with /r/.
- After vowels /u/ transforms to semivowel [u̯], e.g. воўк [vɔu̯k] ('wolf').
- Both [j] and [w] are considered semi-vowels or glides. Also reflected in the formal names of these phonemes: respectively, "non-syllabic I" and "non-syllabic U" (Belarusian: нескладовы)[5].
[edit] Vowels
| Belarusian script | IPA | Description | Belarusian example |
|---|---|---|---|
| i | /i/ | close front unrounded | лiст ('leaf') |
| э | /e/ | open-mid front unrounded | гэты ('this one') |
| ы | /ɨ/ | close central unrounded | мыш ('mouse') |
| a | /a/ | open central unrounded | кат ('executioner') |
| у | /u/ | close back rounded | шум ('noise') |
| о | /ɔ/ | open-mid back rounded | кот ('cat') |
[edit] Consonants
| Place of articulation → | Labial | Coronal | Dorsal | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Manner of articulation ↓ | Bilabial | Labio- dental |
Dental/ Alveolar |
Palatalized Alveolar |
Retroflex | Palatal | Velar |
| Nasal | m | n | nʲ | ||||
| Plosive | p b | t d | c ɟ | k g | |||
| Affricate | ts dz | tsʲ dzʲ | tʂ dʐ | ||||
| Fricative | f v | s z | sʲ zʲ | ʂ ʐ | ç ʝ | x ɣ | |
| Trill | r | ||||||
| Approximant | l | lʲ | j | w | |||
The rare phoneme /g/ is present only in several borrowed words, e.g. ганак [ˈganak], however, геаграфія [ʝea'ɣrafʲija] ('geography').
The geminated variations are transcribed as followed: падарожжа [padaˈroʐʐa], ззяць [zʲzʲatsʲ], стагоддзе [staˈɣodzʲdzʲe], каханне [kaˈxanʲnʲe], рассячы [rasʲˈsʲatʂɨ], ліхалецце [lʲixaˈlʲetsʲtsʲe], сярэднявечча [sʲarɛdnʲaˈvʲetʂtʂa].
[edit] Notes
- ^ Usually, the number of 39 is quoted, excluding the 9 geminated versions of consonants as "mere variations". Sometimes, rare consonants are also excluded, thus bringing the quoted number of consonants further down. Number of 48 comprises all consonant sounds, variations and rare included, which may have a phonological meaning in the modern Belarusian language
- ^ Sussex & Cubberly (2006:53)
- ^ Padluzhny, p.53.
- ^ "Stronger than in Russian, weaker than in Polish", per Беларуская мова...
- ^ Padluzhny, p.54.
[edit] Sources
- Беларуская граматыка. У 2-х ч. / АН БССР, Ін-т мовазнаўства імя Я. Коласа; [Рэд. М. В. Бірыла, П. П. Шуба]. – Мн. : Навука і тэхніка, 1985.
- Беларуская мова: Вучэб. дапам. / Э. Д. Блінава, Н. В. Гаўрош, М. Ц. Кавалёва і інш.; Пад рэд. М. С. Яўневіча. — Мн. : Выш. школа, 1991. ISBN 5-339-00539-9.
- Sussex, Roland & Paul Cubberly (2006), written at Cambridge, The Slavic Languages, Cambridge University Press, ISBN 0521223156
- (Padluzhny) Фанетыка беларускай літатурнай мовы / І. Р. Бурлыка, Л. Ц. Выгонная, Г. В. Лосік, А. І. Падлужны; Рэд. А. І. Падлужны. — Мн.:Навука і тэхніка, 1989. — 335 с. ISBN 5-343-00292-7.
|
|||||
