TheCatalan phonology (orValencian phonology) has a certain degree of dialectal variation. Although there are two standard varieties, one based onCentral Eastern dialect and another one based on South-Western orValencian, this article deals with features of all or most dialects, as well as regional pronunciation differences.
^3/n/,/l/,/ɾ/ areapical front alveolar[n̺],[l̺],[ɾ̺],[3][4][e][f][g] but the first two are laminal denti-alveolar[n̪],[l̪] before/t/,/d/.[5] In addition,/n/ ispostalveolar[n̠][5] oralveolo-palatal[ɲ̟][5] before/ʃ/,/ʒ/,/t͡ʃ/,/d͡ʒ/,[5] velar[ŋ] before/k/,/ɡ/ andlabiodental[ɱ] before/f/, (/v/), where it merges with/m/. It also merges with/m/ (to[m]) before/p/,/b/.
^5/t͡s/,/d͡z/ are apical alveolar[t͡s̺],[d͡z̺].[k][l][7] They may be somewhatfronted, so that the stop component is laminal denti-alveolar, while the fricative component is apical post-dental./t͡s/ is rare and may not be phonemic (seebelow).
^6/ʎ/,/ɲ/ are laminal "front alveolo-palatal"[ʎ̟],[ɲ̟].[3][4]
Obstruentsassimilate to the voicing of the following consonant. Voiced obstruents undergofinal-obstruent devoicing so thatfred ('cold',m.s.) is pronounced with[t] ([ˈfɾɛt],[ˈfɾət],[ˈfɾet]) whilefredes ('cold',f.pl.) is pronounced with[ð] ([ˈfɾɛðəs],[ˈfɾəðəs],[ˈfɾeðes]).[13][14][15]
In non-betacist dialects (those who do not merge/b/ with/v/),/b/ remains unlenited (ull debou[ˈuʎdəˈbɔw] (B) /[ˈuʎdeˈbɔw] (V) 'oeil-de-boeuf').
In some dialects, e.g. many Valencian accents, initial (that is, in all environments except after a nasal)/ɡ/ can be lenited:gat[ˈɣat] ('cat').[16]
In the coda position, these sounds are always realized as stops;[17] except in some Valencian dialects, where they might be lenited.[18]
In Catalan and Balearic (not in Valencian), labial/b/ and/p/, and velar stops/ɡ/ and/k/ may begeminated in intervocalic position before/l/ (e.g.poble[ˈpɔbːlə] 'village, people',regla[ˈreɡːlə] 'rule').[19][20]
Intervocalic/d/ is dropped (particularly inparticiples) in regular speech in Valencian, withcompensatory lengthening of vowel/a/; e.g.vesprada[vesˈpɾaː] ('afternoon').[21]
In Majorcan varieties, velar stops/k/ and/ɡ/ become[c] and[ɟ] word-finally and before front vowels,[18] in some of these dialects, this has extended to all environments except beforeliquids andback vowels; e.g.sang[ˈsaɲc] ('blood').[6]
The dorso-palatal[ʝ] may occur in complementary distribution with[ɟ], only in Majorcan varieties that have dorso-palatals rather than the velars found in most dialects:guerra[ˈɟɛrə] ('war') vs.saguerra[səˈʝɛrə] ('the war').[22]
In the Valencian dialects final voiceless plosives (/p,t,k/) may be lenited before a vowel:tot açò[ˈtoð‿aˈsɔ] ('all this').[23]
The phonemic status ofaffricates is dubious; after other consonants, affricates are in free variation with fricatives, e.g.clenxa[ˈklɛɲʃə]~[ˈklɛɲt͡ʃə] (E) /[ˈklɛɲt͡ʃa] (W) ('hair parting')[24] and may be analyzed as either single phonemes or clusters of a stop and a fricative.
Alveolar affricates,[t͡s] and[d͡z], occur the least of all affricates.[25]
[d͡z] only occurs intervocalically:metzines[məˈd͡zinəs] (E) /[meˈd͡zines] (W) ('toxic substances').[26]
In Valencian, many instances of[d͡z] (especially the -itzar suffix) are deaffricated to[z]:utilitzar[utiliˈzaɾ] ('to use').
Instances of[t͡s] arise mostly from compounding; the few lexical instances arise from historical compounding.[24] For instance,potser[puˈt͡se] (E) /[poˈt͡se(ɾ)] (W) ('maybe') comes frompot ('may') +ser ('be'inf). As such,[t͡s] does not occur word-initially; other than some rare words of foreign origin (e.g.tsar 'tsar',[m]tsuga 'tsuga'[n]), but it may occur word-finally and quite often in cases of heteromorphemic (i.e. across a morpheme boundary) plural endings:tots[ˈtot͡s] ('everybody').[25] Several linguists claim[t͡s] is not a phoneme on its own, but a simple combination of[t] and[s], in the same way that the[ts] in English 'cats' is not phonemic.[27]
In most of Valencian and southern Catalonia,[25][28] most occurrences of[d͡ʒ] correspond to the voiced fricative[ʒ] in Standard Eastern Catalan:gel[ˈd͡ʒɛl] ('ice').
In Standard Eastern Catalan, word-initial[t͡ʃ] is found only in a few words of foreign origin (e.g.txec 'Czech',[o]Txaikovski 'Tchaikovsky') while being found freely intervocalically (e.g.fletxa 'arrow') and word-finally:despatx[dəsˈpat͡ʃ] (E) /[desˈpat͡ʃ] (W) ('office').
Standard Eastern Catalan also only allows[d͡ʒ] in intervocalic position (e.g.metge 'medic'). Phonemic analyses show word-final occurrences of/d͡ʒ/ (e.g.raig esbiaixat[ˈrad͡ʒ‿əzβiəˈʃat] (E) /[ˈrad͡ʒ‿ezβiajˈʃat] (W) 'skew ray'), but final devoicing eliminates this from the surface:raig[ˈrat͡ʃ] ('ray').
In various other dialects (as well as in emphatic speech),[12] including Valencian and its standard variety,[tʃ] occurs word-initially and after another consonant to the exclusion of[ʃ] (although there are exceptions). These instances of word-initial[t͡ʃ] seem to correspond to[ʃ] in other dialects, including the standard (Eastern Catalan) on which the orthography is based:xinxa ('bedbug'), pronounced[ˈʃiɲʃə] in Standard Catalan, is[ˈt͡ʃiɲt͡ʃa] in these varieties[26] (including Standard Valencian).
There is dialectal variation in regards to affricate length, with long affricates occurring in both Eastern and Western dialects such as in Majorca and few areas in Southern Valencia.[29] Also, intervocalic affricates are predominantly long, especially those that are voiced or occurring immediately after a stressed syllable (e.g.metge[ˈmed͡ːʒə] (E) /[ˈmed͡ːʒe] (W) 'medic').[30] In Modern Valencian[d͡ʒ] and[d͡ːʒ] have merged into/d͡ʒ/, except in some parts of Southern Valencian.
InAragonese Catalan (especiallyRibagorçan) and Central Valencian (the so calledapitxat accent), voiced fricatives and affricates are missing (i.e./z/ has merged with/s/,/d͡ʒ/ has merged with/t͡ʃ/, with only voiceless realizations occurring).[31]
The labiodental fricative (/v/) occurs in Balearic,[12] as well as inAlguerese,Standard Valencian and some areas in southern Catalonia.[32] Everywhere else (including parts of Valencian, like its central dialect),[31] it hasmerged with historic/β/ so that[b] and[β] occur in complementary distribution.[33]
In Valencian,/v/ is realized as an approximant[ʋ] after continuants:avanç[aˈʋans] ('advance').[34]
In Majorcan,[v] and[w] are in complementary distribution, with[v] occurring before vowels (e.g.blava[ˈblavə] 'blue'f. vs.blau[ˈblaw] 'blue'm.).
In other varieties that have both sounds, they are in contrast before vowels, with neutralization in favor of[w] before consonants.[35]
In Majorcan and Minorcan,/f/ undergoes total assimilation to a following consonant (just as stops do):buf gros[ˈbuɡ‿ˈɡɾɔs] ('large puff').[35]
The dental fricative/θ/ only appears in Ribagorçan and Lower Aragon, in contrast with/s/. Spanish loanwords with this sound may be replaced by/s/ in both Catalan and Valencian.[36]
The velar fricative/x/ (or uvular/χ/) is found in Spanish interferences, especially in Aragon and Southern Valencia.[37]
The glottal fricative/h/ is found in loanwords and interjections,[38] although/h/ is usually replaced by/x/ in loanwords.[39]
Laterals assimilate the place of articulation of the following consonant (see "Assimilations" below). The lateral/l/ may begeminated in careful speech (e.g.iŀlusió[ilːuziˈo] 'illusion'). A geminated/ʎː/ may also occur (e.g.ratlla[ˈraʎːə] (E) /[ˈraʎːa] (W) 'line').[12]
While "dark (velarized) l",[ɫ], may be a positional allophone of/l/ in most dialects (such as in thesyllable coda; e.g.sòl[ˈsɔɫ] 'ground'),[40]/l/ isdark irrespective of position in Eastern dialects like Majorcan[41] and standard Eastern Catalan (e.g.tela[ˈtɛɫə]). For simplicity dark l is not transcribed in this article.
Nasals assimilate the place of articulation of the following consonant (see "Assimilations" below). In careful speech,/n/ and/m/ may begeminated (e.g.innecessari[inːəsəˈsaɾi] (E) /[inːeseˈsaɾi] (W) 'unnecessary',emmagatzemar[əmːəɣəd͡zəˈma] (E) /[emːaɣa(d͡)zeˈma(ɾ)] (W) 'to store').[12]
In Alguerese and Ribagorçan word-final/ɲ/ is depalatized to[n]:any[ˈan] ('year').[43][44]
The distribution of the tworhotics/r/ and/ɾ/ closely parallelsthat of Spanish. Wheeler analyzes intervocalic[r] as the result of gemination of a single rhotic phoneme:[45]serra/ˈsɛɾɾə/→[ˈsɛrə] (E) //ˈsɛɾɾa/→[ˈsɛra] (W) 'saw, mountains' (this is similar to the common analysis of Spanish andPortuguese rhotics).[46]
Between vowels, the two contrast (e.g.mirra[ˈmirə] (E) /[ˈmira] (W) 'myrrh' vs.mira[ˈmiɾə] (E) /[ˈmiɾa] (W) 'he or she looks'), but they are otherwise in complementary distribution.[ɾ] appears in the onset, except in word-initial position (ruc 'donkey'), after/l/,/n/, and/s/ (folre 'lining',honra 'honour',Israel 'Israel'), and incompounds (infraroig 'infrared'), where[r] is used.
Majorcan contrasts/r/ and/ɾ/ in word final position, e.g.xerr[ˈt͡ʃɛr] ('I speak') vs.mor[ˈmɔɾ] ('he or she dies').[47]
In Majorcan final/ɾ/ +[n] can be assimilated to[nː] (e.g.carn[ˈcanː] 'meat').[48]
Different dialects vary in regards to rhotics in the coda, with Western Catalan generally featuring[ɾ] and Central Catalan dialects like those of Barcelona or Girona featuring a weakly trilled[r] unless it precedes a vowel-initial word in the sameprosodic unit, in which case[ɾ] appears (per[peɾ] (W),[pər] (E) 'for', but (E)per a tu[pəɾ‿əˈtu] 'for you').[49]
There is free variation in/r/ word-initially, after/l/,/n/, and/s/, and in compounds (if/r/ is preceded by consonant), wherein/r/ is pronounced[r] or[ɹ], the latter being similar to Englishred:ruc[ˈruk]~[ˈɹuk] ('donkey').
In Northern Catalonia and in some accents of Majorcan (e.g. in the town of Sóller), a uvular trill[ʀ] or approximant[ʁ] can be heard instead of the alveolar trill; e.g.córrer[ˈkoʀə]~[ˈkoʁə] ('to run').[50]
The vowel/a/ ([ä] in General Catalan) is further back and open than the Castilian counterpart in North-Western and Central Catalan (i.e. it approaches[ɑ] in isolation or in a neutral environment),[53] it is slightly fronted and closed in Valencian and Ribagorçan ([ä~ɐ], also represented as[ä̝] due to its lower quality in comparison with the Barcelonan[ɐ]), and further fronted and closed ([a~æ]) in Majorcan.[54]
Stressed/a/ can be further retracted to[ɑ] in contact with velar consonants (including the velarized[ɫ]), and fronted to[a] in contact with palatals.[55] This is not transcribed in the article.
The palatal pronunciation of/a/ may merge with/ɛ/ by some speakers.[56]
The central vowel/ə/ in stressed position is found in Majorcan and part of Minorcan, in the Balearic Islands.
The realization of the reduced vowel/ə/ varies from mid[ə] to near-open[ɐ], with the latter variant being the most usual in theBarcelona metropolitan area, where the distinction between/ə/ and/a/ is less pronounced than in other varieties that maintain the distinction.[5][57]
In some subvariants (Solsonès andGarrotxa), it has a more back pronunciation, like[ʌ].[58]
The open-mid/ɛ/ and/ɔ/ are lower[æ] and[ɔ̞] (also represented by[ɒ] in some sources) in Majorcan, Minorcan and Valencian.[5][59][60]
/ɛ/ is slightly more open and centralized before liquids/l,ɾ,r/ and in monosyllabics.[61]
/ɔ/ is most often a back vowel. In some dialects (like Majorcan and Southern Valencian)/ɔ/ can be unrounded.[62]
/e/ and/o/ can be realized as mid vowels[e̞,o̞] in some cases. This occurs more often with/o/.[63]
InNorthern Catalan, ModernAlguerese and some places bordering theAragonese andSpanish-speaking areas, open-mid and close-mid vowels may merge into mid vowels;[e̞] and/or[o̞] (or[ɛ̝] and/or[ɔ̝]; as represented on the chart above. Note these vowels can also be represented with/E/ and/O/ in some manuals).[64]
The close vowels/i,u/ are more open than in Castilian. Unstressed/i,u/ are centralized.[65]
In Valencian and most Balearic dialects/i,u/ are further open and centralized, especially in unstressed position[ɪ,ʊ].[65]
Northern Catalan sometimes adds two loanrounded vowels,[y] and[œ̝] (or[ø̞]), fromFrench andOccitan (e.g.but[ˈbyt] 'aim',fulles[ˈfœ̝jəs] 'leaves').[66]
Phonetic nasalization occurs for vowels occurring between nasal consonants or when preceding a syllable-final nasal:diumenge[diwˈmẽɲʒə] (E) /[diwˈmẽɲd͡ʒe] (W) ('Sunday').[67]
Vowels can be lengthened in some contexts, e.g.coordinació[kuːɾðinəsiˈo] (E) /[koːɾðinasiˈo] (W) ('coordination').[68]
InEastern Catalan, vowels in unstressed positionreduce to three :/a/,/e/,/ɛ/→[ə] (phonetically[ɐ] in Barcelona);/o/,/ɔ/,/u/→[u];/i/ remains unchanged. However there are some dialectal differences:Alguerese merges/a/,/e/ and/ɛ/ with/a/; and in most areas of Majorca,[o] can appear in unstressed position (that is,/o/ and/ɔ/ are usually reduced to[o]).[73]
InWestern Catalan (which includes Valencian and North-Western Catalan), vowels in unstressed position reduce to five:/e/,/ɛ/→[e];/o/,/ɔ/→[o];/a/,/u/,/i/ remain unchanged.[74] However, in some Western dialects reduced vowels tend to merge into different realizations in some cases:
Unstressed/e/ may merge with/a/ before anasal orsibilant consonant (e.g.enclusa[aŋˈkluza] 'anvil',eixam[ajˈʃam] 'swarm'), in some environments before anyconsonant (e.g.terròs[taˈrɔs] 'earthy'), and in monosyllabicclitics. This sounds almost the same as the Barcelonan open schwa[ɐ].[75] Likewise, unstressed/e/ may merge into/i/ when in contact withpalatal consonants (e.g.senyor[siˈɲo(ɾ)] 'lord').[76]
Unstressed/o/ may merge with/u/ before abilabial consonant (e.g.cobert[kuˈβɛɾt] 'covered'), before a stressed syllable with ahigh vowel (e.g.conill[kuˈniʎ] 'rabbit'), in contact withpalatal consonants (e.g.Josep[d͡ʒuˈzɛp] 'Joseph'), and in monosyllabic clitics.[77]
Besides vowel harmony or vowel assimilation (seebelow), unstressed[ɛ] and[ɔ] may be found sporadically in compounds likedèsset ('seventeen') anddènou (ordèneu) ('nineteen').
The harmony of Valencian is a clear example of harmony conditioned by a strong element: in some Valencian dialects, word-final post-tonic/a/ becomes[ɛ] and[ɔ] when the preceding syllable contains tonic open-mid (or near-open) vowels/ɛ/ and/ɔ/; that is,/ɛ/ and/ɔ/ propagate the palatal and labial features, respectively, to the final vowel/a/, as the examples. The articulatory features extend from a phonologically privileged position—the stressed syllable—to a weak position—an unstressed syllable—a perceptual asymmetry emphasized by the fact that the harmony trigger belongs to the radical while the assimilated segment is normally an inflectional affix.
a)
Example
IPA
Translation
terra
[ˈtɛrɛ]
'Earth, land'
tela
[ˈtɛlɛ]
'fabric'
pela
[ˈpɛlɛ]
'he or she peels'
perla
[ˈpɛɾlɛ]
'pearl'
b)
Example
IPA
Translation
cosa
[ˈkɔzɔ]
'thing'
mora
[ˈmɔɾɔ]
'Moor', f.
tova
[ˈtɔvɔ]
'soft', f.
vora
[ˈvɔɾɔ]
'edge, shore'
In the most widespread system of harmony, both open-mid vowels cause assimilation; in other systems, distributed over the harmonic territory quite randomly, only one of the vowels triggers the change. For example, in Cullera only the front vowel causes assimilation, while in Borriana the labial vowel is the only one that allows harmony. However, in both the broadest and the narrowest versions, and even in the sporadic cases of two-way harmony that are presented here, the pattern of strong → weak extension remains constant.
In the harmonic phenomenon just described, articulatory features spread from left to right. However, there is no shortage of assimilations in which the features spread to the left of the prominent position. This occurs in Majorcan when pretonic/o/ is closed to[u] in words that contain a close tonic vowel, e.g.c[u]nill,c[u]sí,c[u]mú (cf.Veny Clar (1982)). The change involves the extension of the height feature again in the direction dictated by the strong → weak saliency relationship. Similar closures are documented in various Western languages; among these, Tortosan stands out, where the phenomenon, quite variable and often limited to the elderly, presents the peculiarity that height does not only propagate from tonic vowels, but can also do so from unstressed ones (cfr.Morales). In general terms, and in accordance with the data collected byMorales (in prep.), a pretonic mid vowel may become close under the influence of a close vowel with the same point of articulation—palatal or labial—in a following syllable; in this way, vowel sequences of the typee...i ando...u becomei...i a) and u...u b), respectively. The assimilation of mid vowels to a high vowel of a different point of articulation is possible, but in the sequencee...u it is reduced to some words c), and in the sequenceo...i it is usually limited to fossilized cases, so that the disharmonious alternatives in d) reflect only copied pronunciations of the orthography.[78]
a)
Example
IPA
Translation
melic
[miˈlik]
'belly button'
delicat
[diliˈkat]
'delicate'
b)
Example
IPA
Translation
absolut
[apsuˈlut]
'absolute'
bromur
[bɾuˈmur]
'bromide'
c)
Example
IPA
Translation
betum
[biˈtum]
'betumen'
menut
[miˈnut]
'small'
d)
Example
IPA
Translation
avorrir
[aβuˈrir]
'to bore'
botiga
[buˈtiɣa]
'shop'
Of the phenomena presented above, the most common and systematic is the changee...i →i...i. As in the examples,/e/ becomes[i] when it precedes a stressed/i/ or unstressed/i/. Closure can even affect a series of two pretonic vowels. Assimilation never affects stressed vowels and there is also no harmony when/e/ and/i/ do not occupy adjacent syllables.
With certain restrictions, the phenomenon can modify the final vowel of the first element of a compound and proclitic elements such as numerals or unstressed pronouns. In the last case, when the vowel of the pronoun is not strictly adjacent to the syllable that triggers the harmony, there is no assimilation; according toMorales (in prep.), the lack of spread is related to the fact that groups of pronouns generate a secondary accent, which would protect the original quality of the vowel.
Morales also reports some examples of rightward (regressive) assimilation between weak elements; that is, cases where an unstressed sequencei...e becomesi...i. Harmony to the right is documented only between vowels that are in pretonic position; therefore, the inflectional elements and the post-tonic vowels belonging to the radical are excluded from the change.
General Valencian is another variety in which the extension of features is limited to the main metric foot: in plain words, the final post-tonic, which is part of the main foot, is affected by harmony a); on the other hand, in proparoxytone words (esdrúixoles) the final does not belong to the main foot and is, therefore, beyond the scope of assimilation b). In Valencian from the south of Alicante, the harmony affects an intermediate layer between the main metrical foot and the clitic group: the prosodic word (PPr) (cfr.Montoya (1989),Segura (1996),Beltran (2008)).
Harmony in General Valencian:
a)
Example
IPA
Translation
afecta
[aˈfɛktɛ]
'affects'
granota
[ɡɾaˈnɔtɔ]
'frog'
b)
Example
IPA
Translation
mèdica
[ˈmɛðika]
'medic', f.
ròtula
[ˈrɔtula]
'kneecap'
Harmony from Southern Valencian (Alicante):
a)
Example
IPA
Translation
afecta
[ɛˈfɛktɛ]
'affects'
granota
[ɡɾɔˈnɔtɔ]
'frog'
In the harmony of Valencian, Majorcan and, mostly, Tortosan, the features extend from a strong element to a weak element. In the other possible model, on the other hand, the features are spread in the reverse direction, that is, from positions that are not prominent to positions that are stronger from the perceptual point of view. The trigger for change is in this case a weak element (cf.Walker (2005)). Central Catalan provides an example of harmony—with considerable geographical and idiolectal variation—conditioned by segments located in weak positions. In this dialect, stressed mid vowels in words from other languages tend to be adapted as open mids, as in the paroxytones in example a), with regular reduction in the unstressed syllable, that is, with the vowels[ə],[i] and[u] in this position. Borrowings also have the peculiarity that they tend to block the neutralization of the unstressed middle vowels e and o, which are realized as[e] and[o], respectively. In principle, these two trends should not be mutually exclusive; however, if the post-tonic sound is close-mid, the tonic mids are usually also realized as close, as shown by the plain words in example b), in which the levelling between the two vowels is almost universal. Therefore, the quality of the most prominent vowel is determined by the features of the following vowel, since the appearance of close-mid vowels in tonic position depends on the presence of vowels of the same pitch in the post-tonic syllable.
a)
Example
IPA
Translation
Creta
[ˈkɾɛtə]
'Crete'
euro
[ˈɛwɾu]
'Euro'
Betty
[ˈbɛti]
'Betty'
Rodes
[ˈrɔðəs]
'Rhodes'
poli
[ˈpɔli]
'cop'
gnosi
[ˈnɔzi]
'gnosis'
b)
Example
IPA
Translation
Lesbos
[ˈlezβos]
'Lesbos'
euro
[ˈewɾo]
'Euro'
Bette
[ˈbete]
'Bette'
Rodos
[ˈroðos]
'Rodos'
polo
[ˈpolo]
'polo'
Cnossos
[ˈnosos]
'Knossos'
In proparoxytones there is greater variability. In the variety analyzed byCabré Castellví (2009)esdrúixol words (i.e. words with stressed on the antepenultimate syllable) are generally subject to the same restrictions and the presence of a close mid in post-tonic position implies the presence of close mids in tonic position a); the syllabic adjacency between the two vowels is key to harmony, since words likeSòcrates[ˈsɔkɾətes] orHèrcules[ɛrkules] are usually presented without assimilation despite the presence of an unreduced post-tonic e. In the variety described byBonet Alsina, Lloret-Romanyach & Mascaró Altimiras (2007), on the other hand, post-tonic vowels do not condition the realization of the tonic vowel inesdrúixols b). On the other hand, and in accordance with the interpretation of the aforementioned authors, the adaptation of tonic vowels as open mids is compatible in all varieties with the appearance of unreduced mid vowels in pre-tonic syllables.
One of the most unique features of Catalan and Valencian is the treatment of vowels that come into contact within the speech chain. When a word-final vowel meets an initial vowel there are two possible reactions: lengthening (if both vowels are the same)[79] or weakening/elision of one of the vowels (if they are different).[80] In general terms, two consecutive vowels diphthongize more frequently in Valencian, North Western Catalan and Alguerese.[81] Some examples (in Valencian):
Lengthening
Unstressed/i/ followed by/i/, e.g.platgesi illots[ˈpladʒez‿iːˈʎɔts] ('beaches and islets').
Unstressed/o/ followed by/o/, e.g.escrito oral?[esˈkɾitoːˈɾal] ('written or oral?').
Elision
Unstressed/a/ followed by stressed/ɔ/ →[ɔ], e.g.quina hora és?[ˌkin‿ˈɔɾɔˈes] or[ˌkin‿ˈɔɾaˈes] ('what time is it?').
Stressed/a/ followed by unstressed/e/ →[a], e.g.màesquerra[ˈmaˈskɛrɛ] or[ˈmaˈskɛra] ('left hand').
Unstressed/a/ followed by unstressed/e/ →[a], e.g.agarrael gos[aˈɣaralˈɣos] ('take the dog').
Stressed/e/ followed by stressed/a/ →[a], e.g.què has fet?[ˈkasˈfet] ('what have you done?').
Unstressed/e/ followed by/ɔ/ →[ɔ], e.g.este home[ˌest‿ˈɔme] ('this man').
Stressed/o/ followed by unstressed/e/ →[o], e.g.noels volen[ˈnolzˈvɔlen] ('they don't want them').
In Standard Eastern Catalan, rising diphthongs (that is, those starting with[j] or[w]) are only possible in the following contexts:[83]
[j] in word-initial position, e.g.iogurt[juˈɣur] ('yoghurt').
The semivowel ([j] or[w]) occurs between vowels as infeia[ˈfɛjə] ('he or she was doing') ordiuen[ˈdiwən] ('they say').
In the sequences[ɡw] or[kw] plus vowel, e.g.guant ('glove'),quota ('quota'),qüestió ('question'),pingüí ('penguin'); these exceptional cases even lead some scholars[84][45] to hypothesize the existence of rare labiovelar phonemes/ɡʷ/ and/kʷ/.[85]
There are certain instances ofcompensatory diphthongization in Majorcan so thattroncs/ˈtɾoncs/ ('logs') (in addition to deleting the palatal stop) develops a compensating palatal glide and surfaces as[ˈtɾojns] (and contrasts with the unpluralized[ˈtɾoɲc]). Diphthongization compensates for the loss of the palatal stop (segment loss compensation). There are other cases where diphthongization compensates for the loss of point of articulation features (property loss compensation) as in[ˈaɲ] ('year') vs.[ˈajns] ('years').[86]
The dialectal distribution of compensatory diphthongization is almost entirely dependent on the dorsal stop (/k~c/) and the extent of consonant assimilation (whether or not it is extended to palatals).[87]
Voiced affricates are devoiced after stressed vowels in dialects like Eastern Catalan where there may be a correlation between devoicing and lengthening (gemination) of voiced affricates:metge/ˈmed͡ːʒə/ →[ˈmet͡ːʃə] ('medic').[9] In Barcelona, voiced stops may befortified (geminated and devoiced); e.g.poble[ˈpɔpːlə] 'village, people').[12]
In (Majorcan) Catalan is known the historical process of erasing the vowel (the nucleus) of unstressed final syllables.Burzio (1988) (cited byKenstowicz (1994)) andKaye (1990), have proposed similar theories, in that one or more 'extrasyllabic' final consonants represent the opening of a syllable with null vowel (Burzio) or empty nucleus (Kaye). However, in the case of Catalan, such a structure is fundamentally the one that has been proposed (e.g. inMascaró Altimiras (1987)) to trigger vowel epenthesis in cases such as the followings:[88]
Catalan denti-alveolar stops can fullyassimilate to the following consonant, producinggemination; this is particularly evident beforenasal andlateral consonants: e.g.setmana ('week'),cotna ('rind'),Betlem,rotllo ('roll'). Learned words can alternate between featuring and not featuring such assimilation (e.g.atles[ˈadləs]~[ˈalːəs] (E) /[ˈadlas]~[ˈalːas] (W) 'atlas',sotmetre[sudˈmɛtɾə]~[suˈmːɛtɾə] (E) /[sodˈmetɾe]~[soˈmːetɾe] (W) 'to submit',ètnic[ˈɛdnik] ~[ˈɛnːik] 'ethnic').[89][90]
There is dialectal variation regarding words with⟨tll⟩. While Central and North-Western Catalan tend to innovate with a palatalized pronunciation[ʎː], Valencian and Balearic maintain the traditional pronunciation without palatalization[lː], i.e.⟨tl⟩, in most cases (e.g.ametlla vsametla 'almond').
Valencian dialects (especially Central Valencian) features simple elision in many of these cases (e.gsetmana[seˈmana] 'week',rotllo[ˈroʎo] 'roll') and learned words might not exhibit either assimilation or elision:atles[ˈadles] andadministrar[adminisˈtɾaɾ].[91]
Stress most often occurs on any of the last three syllables of a word (e.g.brúixola[ˈbɾuʃulə] (E) /[ˈbɾujʃola] (W) 'compass',càstig[ˈkastik] 'punishment',pallús[pəˈʎus] (E) /[paˈʎus] (W) 'fool').
Compound words and adverbs formed with/ˈment/ may have a syllable with secondary stress (e.g.bonament[ˌbɔnəˈmen̪(t)] (E)[ˌbɔnaˈmen̪(t)] (W) 'willingly';parallamps[ˌpaɾəˈʎam(p)s] (E)[ˌpaɾaˈʎam(p)s] (W) 'lightning conductor') but every lexical word has just one syllable with main stress.[14]
The structure of thesyllable shows a mandatorynucleus, and the optional presence of a margin before and/or behind the nucleus. Core and margin contrast articulatory due to the fact that the core is emitted with a higher degree of oral opening than the margin. In Catalan and Valencian, the core position is occupied by a vowel and the margin position by one or more consonants. Depending on the number of consonants that make up the margin and the location of the margin in relation to the core, syllabic structures of the type V, CV, VC, CVC, CCV, CCVC, CCVCC, VCC, VCCC, CVCC, CVCCC, etc. are possible. The margin that precedes the nucleus is called "explosive", and the one that follows it, "implosive", syllables can be classified as "open" or "closed" by virtue of the absence or presence of a margin postnuclear, respectively.[92]
Any consonant, as well as[j] and[w] may be anonset.Clusters may consist of a consonant plus a semivowel (C[j], C[w]) or an obstruent plus aliquid. Some speakers may have one of these obstruent-plus-liquid clusters preceding a semivowel, e.g.síndria[ˈsin.dɾjə] ('watermelon'); for other speakers, this is pronounced[ˈsin.dɾi.ə] (i.e. the semivowel must be syllabic in this context).[93]
Word-medial codas are restricted to one consonant +[s] (extra[ˈɛks.tɾə] (E) /[ˈɛks.tɾa] (W)).[94] In the coda position, voice contrasts among obstruents are neutralized.[95] Although there are exceptions (such asfutur[fuˈtuɾ] 'future'), syllable-finalrhotics are often lost before a word boundary or before the plural morpheme of most words:color[kuˈlo] (E) /[koˈlo(ɾ)] (W) ('color') vs.coloraina[kuluˈɾajnə] (E) /[koloˈɾajna] (W) ('bright color').[12]
In Central Eastern (and North-Western Catalan), obstruents fail to surface word-finally when preceded by ahomorganic consonant (e.g./nt/→[n̪]). Complex codas simplify only if the loss of the segment doesn't result in the loss of place specification.[96]
Suffixation examples in Central Eastern and North-Western Catalan varieties
Final
gloss
Internal
gloss
no cluster
camp
[ˈkam]
'field'
camperol
[kəmpəˈɾɔl] (EC) [kampeˈɾɔl] (NW)
'peasant'
punt
[ˈpun̪]
'point'
punta
[ˈpun̪tə] (EC) [ˈpun̪ta] (NW)
'tip'
banc
[ˈbaŋ]
'bank'
banca
[ˈbaŋkə] (EC) [ˈbaŋka] (NW)
'banking'
malalt
[məˈlal̪] (EC) [maˈlal̪] (NW)
'ill'
malaltia
[mələl̪ˈti.ə] (EC) [malal̪ˈti.a] (NW)
'illness'
hort
[ˈɔr]
'orchard'
hortalissa
[uɾtəˈlisə](EC) [oɾtaˈlisa] (NW)
'vegetable'
gust
[ˈɡus]
'taste'
gustar
[ɡusˈta]
'to taste'
cluster
serp
[ˈserp]
'snake'
serpentí
[səɾpənˈti] (EC) [seɾpenˈti] (NW)
'snake-like'
disc
[ˈdisk]
'disk'
disquet
[disˈkɛt] (EC) [disˈket] (NW)
'diskette'
remolc
[rəˈmɔlk] (EC) [reˈmɔlk] (NW)
'trailer'
remolcar
[rəmulˈka] (NE) [remolˈka] (NW)
'to tow'
When the suffix-erol[əˈɾɔl] is added tocamp[ˈkam] it makes[kəmpəˈɾɔl], indicating that the underlying representation is/ˈkamp/ (with subsequent cluster simplification), however when the copula[ˈes] is added it makes[ˈkamˈes]. The resulting generalization is that this underlying/p/ will only surface in a morphologically complex word.[97] Despite this, word-final codas are not usually simplified in most of Balearic and Valencian (e.g.camp[ˈkamp]).[98]
Word-initial clusters from Graeco-Latin learned words tend to drop the first phoneme:gnom[ˈnom] ('gnome'),mnemotècnia[nəmuˈtɛŋniə] (E) /[nemoˈtɛŋnia] (W) ('mnemotechnical'),pneumàtic[nəwˈmatik] (E) /[newˈmatik] (W) ('pneumatic'),pseudònim[səwˈðɔnim] (E) /[sewˈðɔnim] (W) ('pseudonym'),pterodàctil[təɾuˈðaktil] (E) /[teɾoˈðaktil] (W) ('pterodactylus').[99]
Word-final obstruents are devoiced; however, they assimilate voicing of the following consonant, e.g.cuc de seda[ˈkuɡ‿dəˈsɛðə] (E) /[ˈkuɡ‿deˈsɛða] (W) ('silkworm'). In regular and fast speech, stops often assimilate the place of articulation of the following consonant producing phonetic gemination:tot bé[ˈtod‿ˈbe]→[ˈtob‿ˈbe] ('all good').[100]
Word-final fricatives (except/f/) are voiced before a following vowel; e.g.bus enorme[ˈbuz‿əˈnormə] (E) /[ˈbuz‿eˈnorme] (W) ('huge bus').[101]
The prepositionamb ('with') inCentral Catalan is usually pronounced[əm], but in careful speech when it is before a vowel sound or an/l/ is pronounced[əmb].[102]
Regarding consonants,betacism and fricative–affricate alternations are the most prominent differences between dialects.
Other dialectal features are:
Vowels
In a number of dialects unstressed/i/ can merge with/ə/ (Eastern dialects) or/e,a/ (Western dialects) according to the previous or following vowel (i.e. through assimilation when these vowels are high or dissimilation when they are mid or low). This merger is especially common in words with the prefixin- orim-.[105]
In Southern Valencian subvarieties, especially in Alicante Valencian, the diphthong/ɔw/ (phonetically[ɒw] in Valencian) has become[ɑw]:bous[ˈbɑws] ('bulls').[106]
In regular speech in both Eastern and Western Catalan dialects, word-initial unstressed/o/—[u] or[o]—may be diphthongized to[əw] (Eastern Catalan) or[aw] (Western Catalan):ofegar[əwfəˈɣa] (E)[awfeˈɣa(ɾ)] (W) 'to drown, suffocate'.[107]
Consonants
Varying degrees ofL-velarization among dialects:/l/ isdark irrespective of position in Balearic and Central Catalan and might tend tovocalization in some cases. In Western varieties like Valencian, this dark l contrasts with aclear l in intervocalic and word-initial position; while in other dialects, like Alguerese or Northern Catalan,/l/ is never velarized in any instance.[40][108]
Iodització (also known asiesme històric "historicyeísmo") in regular speech in most of Majorcan, Northern Catalan and in the historic comarca of Vallès (Barcelona), Latin-derived words that had intervocalic/l/ +yod (-LI-, -LE-) or velar +/l/ (-CVL-, -GVL-) developed[j] (e.g.palla[ˈpajə] 'straw') from LatinPALEA), rather than/ʎ/ as in the majority of other regions. Accents with traditionalieisme use/ʎ/ only in words where this sound developed from Latin initialL- (as inlluna[ˈʎunə] 'moon') or intervocalic -LL- (as inella[ˈeʎə] 'she').[109]
In northern and transitional Valencian, word-initial and postconsonantal/d͡ʒ/ (Eastern Catalan/ʒ/ and/d͡ʒ/) alternates with[jʒ] intervocalically; e.g.joc[ˈd͡ʒɔk] 'game', butpitjor[piˈʒo] 'worse',boja[ˈbɔjʒa] 'crazy' (Standard Valencian/ˈd͡ʒɔk/,/piˈd͡ʒoɾ/;/ˈbɔd͡ʒa/; Standard Catalan/ˈʒɔk/,/piˈd͡ʒo/ and/ˈbɔʒə/).[110]
In northern Valencia and southern Catalonia/s/ has merged with realizations of/ʃ/ after a high front vocoid; e.g.terrissa[teˈriʃa] ('pottery'),insistisc[insiʃˈtiʃk] ('I insist') vs.pixar[piˈʃa~piˈʃaɾ] ('to pee'),deixar[deˈʃa~dejˈʃaɾ] ('to leave'). In these varieties/ʃ/ is not found after other voiced consonants, and merges with/t͡ʃ/ after consonants; e.g.punxa[ˈpuɲt͡ʃa] ('thorn').[111]
In some Valencian dialects (e.g. Northern Valencian),/s/ and/ʃ/ are auditorily similar such that neutralization may occur in the future.[112] That is the case of Northern Valencian where/ʃ/ is depalatalized[clarification needed] to[js̠~jsʲ] as incaixa ('box'). Central Valencian words likemig ('half') andlleig ('ugly') have been transcribed with[t͡s] rather than the expected[t͡ʃ], and Southern Valencian/t͡ʃ/ "has been reported to undergo depalatalization without merging with[t͡s]",[112] as inpassets ('small steps') vs.passeig ('stroll, avenue')
Abundance of diphthongs containing/w/, as in Galician and Portuguese.[114]
Abundance of/ʎ/ and/ɲ/ occurring at the end of words, as for instancemoll ("wet") andany ("year"), unlike Spanish,[115] Portuguese or Italian.
In contrast with many other Romance languages, Catalan has manymonosyllabic words; and those ending in a wide variety of consonants and someconsonant clusters.[114] Also, Catalan hasfinal obstruent devoicing, thus featuring many couplets likeamic ('male friend') vs.amiga ('female friend').[114]
Tots els éssers humans neixen/naixen lliures i iguals en dignitat i en drets. Són dotats de raó i de consciència, i han de comportar-se fraternalment els uns amb els altres.
Beltran, Vicent (2008),El parlar de les Valls del Vinalopó i del Carxe, Petrer, Alicante: Centre d’Estudis Locals del Vinalopó
Bonet Alsina, Eulàlia; Mascaró Altimiras, Joan (1997), "On the representation of contrasting rhotics", in Martínez Gil, Fernando; Morales Front, Alfonso (eds.),Issues in the Phonology and Morphology of the Major Iberian Languages, Washington, DC: Georgetown University Press, pp. 103–126,ISBN978-0-87840-647-0,LCCN96-47798
Bonet Alsina, Eulàlia; Lloret-Romanyach, Maria-Rosa; Mascaró Altimiras, Joan (2007),Domain and directionality in Catalan ATR harmony
Burzio, Luigi (1988),English stress. Certamen Phonologicum. Papers from the 1987 Cortona Phonology Meeting.
Cabré Castellví, Maria Teresa (2009), "Vowel reduction and vowel harmony in Eastern Catalan loanword phonology", in Vigário, Marina; Frota, Sónia; Freitas, M. João (eds.),Phonetics and Phonology: Interactions and interrelations, Current Issues in Linguistic Theory, vol. 306, John Benjamins, pp. 267–286,doi:10.1075/cilt.306.13cab,ISBN978-90-272-4822-0
Carbonell Costa, Joan F.; Llisterri Boix, Joaquim (1999), "Catalan",Handbook of the International Phonetic Association: A Guide to the Usage of the International Phonetic Alphabet, Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, pp. 61–65,ISBN978-0-521-63751-0
Carrera Sabaté, Josefina; Pons Moll, Clàudia;Solà Cortassa, Joan (2014),Els sons del català (in English and Catalan), Universitat Autonòmica de Barcelona
Coromines, Joan (1976),Lleures i converses d'un filòleg, Club Editor
Dols, Nicolau; Wheeler, Max (1995),El consonantisme final del mallorquí i el «llicenciament d'obertures»
Herrick, Dylan (February 2000), "Catalan phonology: Cluster simplification and nasal place assimilation. Linguistic Symposium on Romance Languages", in Wiltshire, Caroline R.; Camps, Joaquim (eds.),Romance Phonology and Variation: Selected papers from the 30th Linguistic Symposium on Romance Languages, Current Issues in Linguistic Theory, vol. 217, Gainesville, FL: John Benjamins, pp. 69–83,doi:10.1075/cilt.217.08her,ISBN9781588110794
Kaye, Jonathan (1990),'Coda' licensing, Phonology 7
Kenstowicz, Michael (1994),Phonology in Generative Grammar, Oxford, Blackwell{{citation}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
Lacreu Cuesta, Josep (2002),Manual d'ús de l'estàndard oral (6th ed.), Valencia: Universitat de València,ISBN978-84-370-5390-5
Lleó Pujol, Concepció (1970),Problems of Catalan Phonology, Studies in Linguistics and Language Learning, vol. 8, Seattle, WA: University of Washington
Lloret-Romanyach, Maria Rosa (April 2003), "The Phonological Role of Paradigms", in Auger, Julie; Clements, J.Clancy; Vance, Barbara (eds.),The Phonological Role of Paradigms: The case of insular Catalan. Contemporary Approaches to Romance Linguistics: Selected Papers from the 33rd Linguistic Symposium on Romance Languages, Current Issues in Linguistic Theory, vol. 258, Bloomington, IN: John Benjamins, pp. 275–297,doi:10.1075/cilt.258.15llo,ISBN9781588115980
Mascaró Altimiras, Joan (1976),Catalan Phonology and the Phonological Cycle (PhD), Massachusetts Institute of Technology,hdl:1721.1/7582,OCLC03491250
Mascaró Altimiras, Joan (1986), "Studies in compensatory lengthening",Compensatory diphthongization in Majorcan Catalan, Dordrecht: Foris
Mascaró Altimiras, Joan (1987), "Studies in Romance languages",Syllable-final processes in Catalan, Dordrecht: Foris, pp. 163–180
Mascaró Altimiras, Joan (2001), "Compensatory diphthongization in Majorcan Catalan", in Kreidler, Charles W. (ed.),Phonology: Critical Concepts in Linguistics, vol. 3, Routledge, pp. 574–587,ISBN0415203473
Montoya, Brauli (1989),La interferència lingüística al sud valencià, Valencia: Generalitat Valenciana
Morales, Alfonso,Height Harmony in Tortosí Catalan, Washington D.C.: Georgetown University
Institut d'Estudis Catalans (2009), "I.5 Els diftongs, els triftongs i els hiats",Gramàtica de la llengua catalana(PDF) (in Catalan) (Provisional draft ed.), archived fromthe original(PDF) on 14 January 2016
Recasens Vives, Daniel (1986),Estudis de fonètica experimental del català oriental central [Experimental phonetics studies of Central Eastern Catalan], Biblioteca Milà i Fontanals (in Catalan), vol. 6, L'Abadia de Montserrat
Recasens Vives, Daniel (1993),Fonètica i Fonologia, Biblioteca Universitària, Enciclopèdia Catalana
Saborit Vilar, Josep (2009),Millorem la pronúncia [Let's improve the pronunciation], Recerca (in Catalan), vol. 11,Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua
Segura, Carles (1996),Estudi lingüístic del parlar d'Alacant, Alicante: Institut d'Estudis Juan Gil-Albert, Generalitat Valenciana
Veny Clar, Joan (1978),Estudis de geolingüística catalana [Studies on Catalan geolinguistics] (in Catalan), Barcelona, Spain: Grup 62,ISBN84-297-1430-8
Veny Clar, Joan (1982) [1978],Els parlars catalans. (Síntesi de dialectologia catalana) (in Catalan), Palma, Spain: Editorial Moll
Veny Clar, Joan (1989),Els parlars catalans. Síntesi de dialectologia, Biblioteca «Raixa» (in Catalan), vol. 128 (8th ed.), Palma, Spain: Editorial Moll,ISBN978-84-273-1038-4
Veny Clar, Joan (2006),Contacte i constrast de llengües i dialectes [Contact and contrast of languages and dialects], Biblioteca Lingüística Catalana (in Catalan), vol. 30, Valencia, Spain: Universitat de València,ISBN84-370-6300-0
