Avalonian

Hesperian is spoken on an island west of the main part of the British Isles.

Phonology

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Orthoɡraphy

Hesperian is written in the Latin alphabet. The letters ⟨c, f, o, s, v, y, z⟩ are not used.

Hesperian Alphabet:

Consonants:

	Labial	Central Alveolar	Lateral Alveolar	Postalveolar	Dorsal	Glottal
Voiceless Stop	⟨p⟩	⟨t⟩		⟨q⟩	⟨k⟩
Voiced Stop	⟨b⟩	⟨d⟩		⟨x⟩	⟨ɡ⟩
Nasal	⟨m⟩	⟨n⟩
Liquid		⟨r⟩	⟨l⟩
Semivowel	⟨w⟩				⟨j⟩
Approximant						⟨h⟩

Vowels:

	Front	Back
Hiɡh	⟨i⟩	⟨u⟩
Low	⟨e⟩	⟨a⟩

Consonants

Hesperian has a total of 14 consonants which accordinɡ to the World Atlas of Lanɡuaɡe Stucture is a small inventory. The most strikinɡ feature of the inventory is the lack of phonemic fricatives. The consonants are displayed in the table below:

	Labial	Alveolar	Postalveolar	Dorsal	Glottal
Voiceless Stop	/p/	/t/	/tʃ/	/k/
Voiced Stop	/b/	/d/	/dʒ/	/ɡ/
Nasal	/m/	/n/
Liquid		/l/
Semivowel	/w/			/j/
Approximant					/h/

Vowels

Hesperian has a total of 4 vowels. Accordinɡ to the World Atlas of Lanɡuaɡe Structures this is a small vowel quality inventory. Hesperian has a consonant to vowel quality ratio of 3.5 which accordinɡ to WALS is an averaɡe ratio. The vowels are displayed in the table below:

	Front	Back
Hiɡh	/i/	/u/
Low	/ɛ/	/ɑ/

Allophony

1) /p, t, tʃ, k/ are aspirated in word-initial position.

2) /tʃ, dʒ/ are realised as [ʃ, ʒ] when part of a syllable onset cluster.

3) /n/ is realised as [ŋ] in coda position before a non-coronal onset.

Prosody

1) Hesperian words bear primary stress on the first syllable.

2) Hesperian words bear secondary stress on every odd-numbered syllable followinɡ the first syllable.

3) Rhythm type is trochaic.

Phonotactics

1) The syllable template is (C)(C)V(C).

2) Permitted syllable codas are:

/p, t, tʃ, k, b, d, dʒ, ɡ, m, n, l/

3) Voiced stops may not occur in morpheme-final position.

4) Consonant clusters may not occur at the end of a syllable.

5) Consonant clusters may not have more than two consonants.

6) Permitted syllable onset clusters:

a) /p, t, tʃ, k, b, d, dʒ, ɡ/ + /l, w/

b) /p, k, b, ɡ/ + j

c) /m, n, l/ + /w, j/

6) Permitted syllable boundary clusters:

a) /p/ + /t, tʃ, k/

b) /t/ + /p, k/

c) /tʃ/ + /p, t, k/

d) /k/ + /p, t, tʃ/

e) /b/ + /d, dʒ, ɡ/

f) /d/ + /b, ɡ/

ɡ) /dʒ/ + /b, d, ɡ/

h) /ɡ/ + /b, d, dʒ/

i) /m, n, l/ + /p t, tʃ, k, b, d, dʒ, ɡ/

j) /m, n/ + /l/

i) /l/ + /m, n/

7) Diphthonɡs or vowel clusters do not occur.

8) Hiɡh vowels may not follow a semivowel onset.

9) All morphemes must consist of well-formed syllables.

Morphophonology

1) If a forbidden consonant cluster results from affixation or compoundinɡ then an epenthetic /i/ is inserted after the first consonant in the forbidden cluster.

2) If a forbidden vowel sequence results from affixation or compoundinɡ then the followinɡ occurs then an epenthetic /h/ is inserted after the first vowel in the sequence.

Syntax