Marīnī Phonology
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Marīnī phonology is very complex and highly dependent on register. There exists four registers of Marīnī, which are the following:
Classical Marini: spoken from about 2000-1000 years ago by native Marini speakers. It is now extinct.
Academic Marini: spoken since 1000 years ago by scholars living outside the Marinaed, most notably in Eolyrag and Rezmattjan. Slowly, academic Marini has been fading in favor of vernacular and other classical languages, especially in Eolyrag.
Ecclesiastical Marini: spoken since 1000 years ago by scholars and the church within the Marinaed.
Aumira Marini: spoken since 1000 years ago by Aumira scholars and clergy. Gradually it is getting replaced by Ecclesiastical variety.
Labial | Dental | Alveolar | Velar | Uvular | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Nasal | m | n | |||
Plosive | p, b | t, d | k, g | q | |
Fricative | v | θ | s, z | x | |
Affricate | t͡s | ||||
Approximate | l, r | j |
Nasals
For the most part, nasal consonants are consistent between dialects and across words. There is only two forms of allophony, where /n/ becomes [ŋ] before /k, g/ and [ɴ] before /q/ and the clusters /gm, gn/ are both realized as [ɲː] in non-classical registers.
Plosives
The plosives /p, t, k/ are largely consistent, though they do follow one notable variation: academic registers spoken in Eolyrag aspirate the plosives in stressed syllables.
The voiced plosives /b, d, g/ are realized as [b~ β, d ~ð, g~ɣ] in Ecclesiastical and Aumira varieties.
The plosive /q/ is perhaps the most variable phoneme across all registers. The classical tongue pronounced it as /q/ unconditionally. Academic registers usually pronounce it as [k] or [g], whereas Aumira pronounces it as [ʔ]. There is no set pronunciation in Ecclesiastical registers, and the phoneme often varies by dialect, although the priest Kathra Aethrihma encourages the usage of the original pronunciation /q/ for clarity.
Fricatives
Certain academic registers pronounce /v/ as [w] between vowels. In all other instances and dialects it is pronounced [v].
The fricative /θ/ is highly variable. In both Classical and Eolyrag academic pronunciation, it is pronounced as [θ]. Aumira dialects pronounce it as [f]. Similar to /q/, its specific pronunciation varies based on region in Ecclesiastical variations, realized as [f, s̪, θ, s]. However, [θ] is most standard.
The velar fricative /x/ was pronounced [x] in classical dialects. In Eolyrag, speakers use [χ] except before /i, e/.