Appendix:Zemeni pronunciation
Zemeni has 29 consonants, 5 vowels and 2 glides.
Standard Romanization
| Letter | IPA | English example | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| a | a | father | |
| b | b | bath | |
| d | d | dog | |
| dy | dj | dew (British English) | Always pronounced with a y sound following, unlike American pronunciations with yod-dropping. |
| dz | dz | adze | |
| dzy | dzj | adds you | |
| e | e | bait | |
| f | f | food | |
| g | ɡ | good | |
| h | h | ham | |
| i | i | machine | |
| j | dʒ | jog | |
| k | k | skill | |
| kh | x | loch (Scottish English) | |
| ky | kj | skew | |
| l | l | left | |
| ly | ʎ | million | |
| m | m | man | |
| n | n | no | Assimilates to a following velar consonant. |
| ny | ɲ | onion | |
| o | o | moat | |
| p | p | span | |
| r | ɾ | battle | |
| ry | ɾj | medium | |
| s | s | see | |
| sy | sj | sue (British English) | Always pronounced with a y sound following, unlike American pronunciations with yod-dropping. |
| t | t | stop | |
| ts | ts | pits | |
| tsy | tsj | pits you | |
| ty | tj | stew (British English) | Always pronounced with a y sound following, unlike American pronunciations with yod-dropping. |
| u | u | rude | |
| v | v | voice | |
| w | w | wet | |
| y | j | young | |
| z | z | zone | |
| zy | zj | buzz you |
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
Zemeni has 29 phonemic consonants and 2 phonemic glides.
Vowels
Zemeni has five phonemic vowels:
| Front | Mid | Back | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Close | i | u | |
| Mid | e | o | |
| Open | a |