View source for Appendix:Fjerdan pronunciation

{{LangBar|Fjerdan|Shadow and Bone}}

The [[Fjerdan language]] has 21 consonants, 9 vowels, and 2 glides. 

==Standard Romanization==
{| class="wikitable" cellpadding="5"
|-
! Letter
! IPA
! English example
! Notes
|-
| ''' ' '''
| ʔ,&nbsp;∅
| uh'''-'''oh, —
| Not phonemic. Written between two subsequent vowels, where an epenthetic [ʔ] is pronounced, which for example distinguishes '''a'i''' [ɑʔi] from '''ai''' [aj]. Also used to write clitics, where it does not represent any sound. 
|-
| '''a'''
| ɑ
| f'''a'''ther
|
|-
| '''ai'''
| aj
| l'''ie'''
|
|-
| '''ä'''
| æ
| c'''a'''t
|
|-
| '''b'''
| b
| '''b'''other
|
|-
| '''ch'''
| tʃ
| wa'''tch'''
|
|-
| '''d'''
| d
| '''d'''og
|
|-
| '''e'''
| e&nbsp;~&nbsp;ǝ
| b'''ai'''t, sof'''a'''
| Pronounced [ǝ] in unstressed syllables, [e] elsewhere.
|-
| '''f'''
| f
| '''f'''ood
|-
| '''g'''
| ɡ
| '''g'''ood
|
|-
| '''h'''
| h&nbsp;~&nbsp;ç
| '''h'''am, '''h'''uge
| Pronounced [ç] after front vowels, [h] elsewhere.
|-
| '''hw'''
| ʍ
| '''wh'''at (''certain pronunciations'')
| 
|-
| '''hy'''
| ç
| '''h'''uge
|
|-
| '''i'''
| i
| mach'''i'''ne
|
|-
| '''j'''
| dʒ
| '''j'''og
|
|-
| '''k'''
| k
| s'''k'''ill
|
|-
| '''l'''
| l
| '''l'''eft
|
|-
| '''m'''
| m
| '''m'''an
|
|-
| '''n'''
| n
| '''n'''o
| Assimilates to a following velar consonant.
|-
| '''ng'''
| ŋ
| si'''ng'''
|-
| '''o'''
| o
| m'''oa'''t
|
|-
| '''ö'''
| ø
| —
| Like the '''ai''' in b'''ai'''t pronounced with rounded lips.
|-
| '''p'''
| p
| s'''p'''an
|
|-
| '''r'''
| ʀ
| —
| Pronounced roughly like the '''r''' in French '''rouge'''.
|-
| '''s'''
| s
| '''s'''ee
| 
|-
| '''sh'''
| ʃ
| '''sh'''eep
| 
|-
| '''t'''
| t
| s'''t'''op
| 
|-
| '''u'''
| u
| r'''u'''de
|
|-
| '''ü'''
| y
| —
| Like the '''i''' in mach'''i'''ne pronounced with rounded lips.
|-
| '''v'''
| v
| '''v'''oice
|
|-
| '''w'''
| w
| '''w'''et
|
|-
| '''y'''
| j
| '''y'''oung
|
|-
| '''zh'''
| ʒ
| ca'''s'''ual
|
|}

'''Notes''':
* ''Geminates'': To pronounce a geminate consonant, simply pronounce it twice. They are written by doubling the consonant letter. In the case of digraphs, only the first letter of the digraph is doubled.

==Phonetics==

===Consonants===
Fjerdan has 21 phonemic consonants and 2 glides:

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center;"
! colspan=2 | 
! Labial !! Alveolar !! Post-alveolar !! Palatal !! Velar !! Uvular !! Glottal
|-
! colspan=2 | Nasal
| m || n ||  ||  || ng [ŋ] ||  ||
|-
! rowspan=2 | Stop/Affricate !! <small>voiceless</small>
| p || t || ch [tʃ] ||  || k ||  || ([ʔ])
|-
! <small>voiced</small>
| b || d || j [dʒ] ||  || ɡ ||  || 
|-
! rowspan=2 | Fricative !! <small>voiceless</small>
| f || s || sh [ʃ] || hy [ç] || hw [ʍ] ||  || h
|-
! <small>voiced</small>
| v ||  || zh [ʒ] ||  ||  ||  || 
|-
! colspan=2 | Approximant
| w || l ||  || y [j] ||  ||  || 
|-
! colspan=2 | Trill
|  ||  ||  ||  ||  || r [ʀ] || 
|}

===Vowels===

Fjerdan has 8 phonemic monophthongal vowels.

====Diphthongs====
The Fjerdan language has the diphthong '''ai''' [aj].

==Phonotactics==
Some key rules for the phonetic realization of Fjerdan words include:
* Word-initial vowels are realized with an epenthetic glottal stop [ʔ] before them, which is not written in the romanization.
* Subsequent vowels are also pronounced with a medial epenthetic glottal stop, where vowel hiatus would otherwise occur. This glottal stop can co-occur with an apostrophe ('''&apos;''') in the romanization, at least in some cases in order to prevent ambiguity with diphthongs.

[[Category:Fjerdan language|Pronunciation]]
[[Category:Pronunciation by language]]