Appendix:Ravkan pronunciation
Ravkan has 38 consonants, 8 vowels and 2 glides.
Standard Romanization
| Letter | IPA | English example | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| a | a ~ ə | father, sofa | Pronounced [ə] in unstressed, post-tonic syllables, [a] elsewhere. |
| ai | aj | lie | |
| b | b | bath | |
| by | bʲ ~ bj | beauty | |
| ch | tʃ | watch | |
| d | d | dog | |
| dy | dʲ ~ dj | add you | |
| dz | dz | adze | |
| dzy | dzʲ ~ dzj | adds you | |
| e | ɛ | bet | |
| ei | ɛj | bait | |
| f | f | food | |
| fy | fʲ ~ fj | few | |
| g | ɡ | good | |
| gh | ɣ | — | Roughly like French r in rouge or like Spanish g in lago. |
| ghy | ɣʲ ~ ɣj | — | Roughly like French ri in Marielle. |
| gy | ɡʲ ~ ɡj | gules | |
| i | i, ɨ | machine, chicken | Pronounced [ɨ] in unstressed syllables, [i] elsewhere. |
| j | dʒ | jog | |
| k | k | skill | |
| ky | kʲ ~ kj | skew | |
| l | l | left | |
| ly | ʎ | million | |
| m | m | man | |
| my | mʲ ~ mj | mule | |
| n | n | no | Assimilates to a following velar consonant. |
| ny | ɲ | onion | |
| o | ɔ | lot | |
| oi | ɔj | point | |
| p | p | span | |
| py | pʲ ~ pj | spew | |
| r | ɾ | battle | |
| ry | ɾʲ ~ ɾj | medium | |
| s | s | see | |
| sh | ʃ | sheep | |
| sy | sʲ ~ sj | pass you | |
| t | t | stop | |
| ts | ts | pits | |
| tsy | tsʲ ~ tsj | pits you | |
| ty | tʲ ~ tj | list you | |
| u | u | rude | |
| v | v | voice | |
| vy | vʲ ~ vj | view | |
| w | w | wet | |
| y | j | young | |
| z | z | zone | |
| zh | ʒ | casual | |
| zy | zʲ ~ zj | buzz you |
Phonetics
Consonants
Ravkan has 38 phonemic consonants and 2 phonemic glides:
| Labial | Alveolar | Palatal | Velar | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| plain | palatalized | plain | palatalized | plain | palatalized | |||
| Nasal | m | my [mʲ] | n | ny [ɲ] | (n [ŋ]) | |||
| Stop | voiceless | p | py [pʲ] | t | ty [tʲ] | k | ky [kʲ] | |
| voiced | b | by [bʲ] | d | dy [dʲ] | g | gy [ɡʲ] | ||
| Affricate | voiceless | ts | tsy [tsʲ] | ch [tʃ] | ||||
| voiced | dz | dzy [dzʲ] | j [dʒ] | |||||
| Fricative | voiceless | f | fy [fʲ] | s | sy [sʲ] | sh [ʃ] | ||
| voiced | v | vy [vʲ] | z | zy [zʲ] | zh [ʒ] | gh [ɣ] | ghy [ɣʲ] | |
| Glide | w | y [j] | ||||||
| Lateral | l | ly [ʎ] | ||||||
| Tap | r [ɾ] | ry [ɾʲ] | ||||||
Vowels
Ravkan has five phonemic monophthongs:
| Front | Mid | Back | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Close | i [i] | (i [ɨ]) | u |
| Mid | e [ɛ] | (a [ə]) | o [ɔ] |
| Open | a |
Diphthongs
Ravkan has three diphthongs: ai [aj], ei [ɛj], and oi [ɔj].
Stress
Most Ravkan words are stressed on their penultimate syllable, although some are irregularly stressed. Furthermore, some suffixes move stress to the final or antepenultimate syllable.