TUNDRIAN PHONETICS AND PHONOLOGY


INDEX

  1. Vowels
  2. Consonants

Tundrian has the following phonemes:


VOWELS

SIMPLE VOWELS

Front unrounded Front rounded Central unrounded Back rounded
High i y u
Higher-mid e ø o
Lower-mid ɛ ə ɔ
Low a ɑ

The following table provides a description of each of these phonemes in terms of their closest English, French and German equivalents. For each phoneme, examples are also given to illustrate the different possible spellings. In accordance with IPA usage, the apostrophe shows that the following syllable bears the principal stress in the word.

Phoneme English equivalent French equivalent German equivalent Tundrian examples (with phonetic transcription)
i feet1 machine viel seira 'evening' ['sira]
fid 'faith' ['fid]
hymn 'hymn' ['in]
féicat 'liver' ['fikat]
xerví 'he served' [ʃɛr'vi]
facîa 'I/he was doing'  [fa'tʃia]
naïvitat 'naivety' [naivi'tat]
phýsica 'physics' ['fizika]
e fate1 été fehlen ped 'foot' ['ped]
ciel 'sky' ['tʃel]
lé 'to her' ['le]
sêix 'six' ['seʃ
leer 'to read' ['ler]
ɛ met fête Geld tzerra 'earth' ['tsɛra]
faer 'to do' ['fɛr]
mêrcodzi 'Wednesday' ['mɛrkudzi]
êruca 'caterpillar' [ɛ'ryka]
joëntut 'youth' [ʒuɛn'tyt]
leerá 'he shall read' [lɛ'ra]
a cat2 chat Aal portar 'to carry' [pɔr'tar]
dará 'he will give' [da'ra]
caixa 'box' ['kaʃa]
ɑ heart3 pâte Jahr4 canto 'I sing' ['kɑntu]
ân 'year' ['ɑn]
u boot1 four Bruder soul 'sun' ['sul]
mûnd 'world' ['mund]
poteir 'to be able to' [pu'tir]
rûix 'red' ['ruʃ]
o boat1 chauve Sohn pote 'he can' ['potə]
cantó 'he sang' [kɑn'to]
coixa 'thigh' ['koʃa]
pauvro 'poor' ['povru]
ɔ caught port Rock porta 'door' ['pɔrta]
taur 'bull' ['tɔr]
côr 'leather' ['kɔr]
ôceán 'ocean' [ɔtʃɛ'an]
cáustic 'caustic' ['kɔstik]
y [no equivalent] mur über luna 'moon' ['lyna]
devú 'he had to' [də'vy]
duixi 'I led' ['dyʃi]
reünioun 'meeting' [rɛyn'jun]
ø burn peur töten seut 'seven' ['søt]
calhéu 'pebble' [ka'ʎø]
oesophag 'esophagus' [øzu'fag]
amiyci 'friends' [a'møtʃi]
ə among chevreau Katze case 'houses' ['kazə]
legë 'he reads' ['ledʒə]

1 Without diphthongization

2 As pronounced in Northern England or Scotland

3 As pronounced in Southern England

4 As pronounced in Swiss German, but with no lip-rounding


DIPHTHONGS

  Front unrounded Front rounded Back rounded
High
High-mid eĭ, eŭ øĭ oĭ, oŭ
Low aĭ, aŭ    

The following table provides a description of each of these diphthongs:

Phoneme English equivalent French equivalent German equivalent Tundrian examples (with phonetic transcription)
few [no equivalent] [no equivalent] rîu 'river' ['r]
pay payer [no equivalent] lêit 'bed' ['lt]
rey 'king' ['reĭ]
[no equivalent] [no equivalent] [no equivalent] dzêu 'god' ['dz]
pie taille weit lait 'milk' ['laĭt]
cantái 'I sang' [kɑn'taĭ]
payna 'page' ['paĭna]
house [no equivalent] Haus clâu 'key' ['kl]
[no equivalent] lui [no equivalent] buiro 'butter' ['bru]
devúi 'I had to' [də'v]
ruyna 'ruin' ['rna]
øĭ [no equivalent] feuille [no equivalent] dziyt 'finger' ['dzøĭt]
[no equivalent] fouille pfui dûita 'doubt' ['duĭta]
noi 'to us' [nuĭ]
royal 'royal' [ruĭ'al]
boy [no equivalent] Eule noit 'night' ['noĭt]
ôitanta 'eighty' [oĭ'tɑnta]
boya 'buoy' ['boĭa]
nose [no equivalent] [no equivalent] nôu 'new; nine' ['n]


CONSONANTS

  Labial / Labiodental Dental / Alveolar Palatal

Velar

Voiceless stops p t   k
Voiced stops b d   g
Voiceless affricates   ts  
Voiced affricates   dz  
Voiceless fricatives f s ʃ  
Voiced fricatives v z ʒ  
Nasal consonants m n ɲ  
Lateral consonant   l ʎ  
Trill consonant   r    
Semivowels w   j  

The following table provides a description of each of these consonants, as well as providing sample words with different spellings:

Phoneme English equivalent French equivalent German equivalent Tundrian examples (with phonetic transcription)
p sport père Person paire 'father' ['paĭrə]
apportar 'to bring' [ɑpɔr'tar]
absûrd 'absurd' [ɑp'surd]
t stand terre tausend teica 'shop' ['tika]
catti 'cats' ['kɑti]
theatro 'theatre' [tɛ'ɑtru]
k school courir kalt casa 'house' ['kaza]
toccar 'to touch' [tɔ'kar]
quatro 'four' ['kwɑtru]
quinci 'fifteen' ['kintʃi]
acquereir 'to acquire' [ɑkə'rir]
chemia 'chemistry' ['kemja]
sacchariyna 'saccharine' [sɑka'røĭna]
geologs 'geologists [acc.]' [dʒɛu'loks]
kilometro 'kilometre' [kilu'mɛtru]
taxi 'taxi' ['tɑksi]
b bite bon Bank biveir 'to drink' [bi'vir]
bbat 'Saturday' ['sɑbat]
d dare donner dünn doy 'I give' ['doĭ]
additzoun 'addition' [ɑdi'tsun]
g get gant Geist gûla 'throat' ['gula]
guerra 'war' ['gɛra]
spaghetti 'spaghetti' [spa'gɛti]
ts cats tsar Zeit tzerra 'earth' ['tsɛra]
lats 'sides [acc.]' ['lats]
myths 'myths [acc.]' ['mits]
niyds 'nests [acc.]' ['nøĭts]
cherry tchèque deutsch cent 'hundred' ['ɛnt]
bacciyn 'basin' [bɑ'øĭn]
vouç 'voice' ['vu]
viatx 'travel' ['vja]
dz adze zingaro [no equivalent] dzent 'tooth' ['dzɛnt]
jet adjoint Dschungel gent 'people' ['ɛnt]
ggereir 'to suggest' [suə'rir]
adjectiyv 'adjective' [aɛk'tøĭf]
f foot foire fünf flour 'flower' ['flur]
affêitar 'to affect' [ɑfeĭ'tar]
phôtographía 'photography' [fɔtugra'fia]
adjectiyv 'adjective' [adʒɛk'tøĭf]
s soot soir sechs seira 'evening' ['sira]
clâssic 'classic' ['klɑsik]
meiz 'month' ['mis]
xim 'maximum' ['mɑsim]
taxi 'taxi' ['tɑksi]
ʃ shoot chaud Schuh xîc 'dry' ['ʃik]
rûix 'red' ['ruʃ]
cognosceir 'to know' [kunɔ'ʃir]
aa 'axe' ['ɑʃa]
Chûgna (Tundrian county) ['ʃuɲa]
v vine voir Wahl viyn 'wine' ['vøĭn]
ovviar 'to remedy' [ɔvj'ar]
wagón 'carriage' [va'gon]
z zero zéro Sohn zebra 'zebra' ['zebra]
casa 'house' ['kaza]
exemplo 'example' [ɛ'zɛmplu]
ʒ pleasure jouer Garage jo 'I' ['ʒu]
beixla 'beetle' ['biʒla]
m1 man mère Mahl man 'hand' ['man]
flamma 'flame' ['flɑma]
anma 'soul' ['ama]
n1 nest noir nehmen nan 'dwarf' ['nan]
pinna 'fin' ['pina]
amphitheatro 'amphitheatre' [ɑnfitɛ'ɑtru]
homne 'man' ['onə]
cognosceir 'to know' [kunɔ'ʃir]
ɲ  onion agneau [no equivalent] nhive 'snow' ['ɲivə]
agnêil 'lamb' [a'ɲeĭl]
l let lent leisten lait 'milk' ['laĭt]
cavalli 'horses' [ka'vɑli]
ʎ2 million million Milieu lhi 'to him' [ʎi]
r3 rest roi rot rosa 'rosa' ['roza]
tzerra 'earth' ['tsɛra]
rhinocer 'rhinoceros' [rinu'tʃer]
diarrheia 'diarrheia' [djɑ'ria]
w wet oui [no equivalent] huest 'west' ['wɛst]
quatro 'four' ['kwɑtru]
lingüística 'linguistics' [lin'gwistika]
toalha 'tablecloth' ['twaʎa]
j yet pied Jahr yera 'I/he was' ['jera]
hieri 'yesterday' ['jeri]
piano ['pjanu]
legïam 'we were reading' [lə'dʒjam]

1 Pronounced [ɱ], like English m in symphony or comfort, when followed by /f/ or /v/: enfant [ɛɱ'fɑnt], symphonía [siɱfu'nia], invitar [iɱvi'tar]; and [ŋ], like English n in sink or ng in sing, when followed by /g/ or /k/: ng ['fuŋg], cinq ['tʃiŋk].

2 Like gli in Italian aglio or ll in Spanish llave.

3 In fact, a rolled r as in Italian or Spanish rato.