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Esperanto is aconstructed,international auxiliary language designed to have a simplephonology. It was created byL. L. Zamenhof, who described Esperantopronunciation by comparing the sounds of Esperanto with the sounds of several major European languages.
With over a century of use, Esperanto has developed a phonological norm, including accepted details ofphonetics,[1]phonotactics,[2] andintonation,[3] so that it is now possible to speak of proper Esperanto pronunciation and of properly formed words independently of the languages originally used to describe it. This norm accepts only minorallophonic variation.[4]
The Esperanto sound inventory andphonotactics are very close to those ofYiddish,Belarusian andPolish, which were personally important toZamenhof, the creator of Esperanto. The primary difference is the absence ofpalatalization, although this was present inProto-Esperanto (nacjes, nownacioj 'nations';familje, nowfamilio 'family') and arguably survives marginally in the affectionate suffixes-njo and-ĉjo, and in the interjectiontju![note 1] Apart from this, the consonant inventory is identical to that of Eastern Yiddish. Minor differences from Belarusian are thatg is pronounced as a stop,[ɡ], rather than as a fricative,[ɣ] (in Belarusian, the stop pronunciation is found in recent loan words), and that Esperanto distinguishes/x/ and/h/, a distinction that Yiddish makes but that Belarusian (and Polish) do not. As in Belarusian, Esperanto/v/ is found in syllable onsets and/u̯/ in syllable codas; however, unlike Belarusian,/v/ does not become/u̯/ if forced into coda position through compounding. According to Kalocsay & Waringhien, if Esperanto/v/ does appear before a voiceless consonant, it will devoice to/f/, as in Yiddish.[5] However, Zamenhof avoided such situations by adding anepenthetic vowel:lavobaseno ('washbasin'), not*lavbaseno or*laŭbaseno. The Esperanto vowel inventory is essentially that of Belarusian.[note 1] Zamenhof'sLitvish dialect of Yiddish (that ofBiałystok) has an additionalschwa and diphthongoŭ but nouj.
| Labial | Alveolar | Post- alveolar | Velar | Glottal | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nasal | m⟨m⟩ | n⟨n⟩ | ||||||||
| Plosive | p⟨p⟩ | b⟨b⟩ | t⟨t⟩ | d⟨d⟩ | k⟨k⟩ | ɡ⟨g⟩ | ||||
| Affricate | t͡s⟨c⟩ | (d͡z)⟨dz⟩[a] | t͡ʃ⟨ĉ⟩ | d͡ʒ⟨ĝ⟩ | ||||||
| Fricative | f⟨f⟩ | v⟨v⟩ | s⟨s⟩ | z⟨z⟩ | ʃ⟨ŝ⟩ | ʒ⟨ĵ⟩ | (x)⟨ĥ⟩[b] | h⟨h⟩ | ||
| Approximant | l⟨l⟩ | j⟨j⟩ | ||||||||
| Trill | r⟨r⟩ | |||||||||
There are 6 historically stable diphthongs:/ai̯/,/oi̯/,/ui̯/,/ei̯/ and/au̯/,/eu̯/. However, some authors such asJohn C. Wells regard them as vowel–consonant sequences –/aj/,/oj/,/uj/,/ej/,/aw/,/ew/ – while Wennergren regards/aj/,/oj/,/uj/,/ej/ as vowel–consonant sequences and only/au̯/,/eu̯/ as diphthongs, there otherwise being no/w/ in Esperanto.[6] A few additional sounds found inloan words, such as/ou̯/ and/ji/, are not stable (see below).
The letterŭ /u̯/ is sometimes used as a consonant in onomatopoeia and unassimilated foreign names (see below).
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The Esperanto alphabet is nearlyphonemic apart from not reflecting voicing assimilation. The letters, along with theIPA and nearest English equivalent of their principalallophones, are:
| Consonants | Simple vowels | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Letter | English | IPA | Letter | English | IPA | |
| b | b | [b] (assimilates to[p]) | a | spa | [a] | |
| c | bits | [t͜s] (assimilates to[d͜z]) | e | bet | [e] | |
| ĉ | choose | [t͜ʃ] (assimilates to[d͜ʒ]) | i | machine | [i] | |
| d | d | [d] (assimilates to[t]) | o | fork | [o] | |
| f | f | [f] (assimilates to[v]) | u | rude | [u] | |
| g | go | [ɡ] (assimilates to[k]) | ||||
| ĝ | gem | [d͜ʒ] (assimilates to[t͜ʃ]) | Diphthongs | |||
| h | h | [h] | aj | sky | [ai̯] | |
| ĥ | loch | [x] (assimilates to[ɣ]) | aŭ | now | [au̯] | |
| j | young | [j] | ej | grey | [ei̯] | |
| ĵ | pleasure | [ʒ] (assimilates to[ʃ]) | eŭ | NA | [eu̯] | |
| k | k | [k] (assimilates to[ɡ]) | oj | boy | [oi̯] | |
| l | l | [l] | uj | NA | [ui̯] | |
| m | m | [m] | ||||
| n | n | [n] | See also:Ŭ § Esperanto Ŭ may be a consonant:
Speakers who do not control this sound | |||
| p | p | [p] (assimilates to[b]) | ||||
| r | rolledr | [r] | ||||
| s | s | [s] (assimilates to[z]) | ||||
| ŝ | ship | [ʃ] (assimilates to[ʒ]) | ||||
| t | t | [t] (assimilates to[d]) | ||||
| v | v | [v] (assimilates to[f]) | ||||
| z | z | [z] (assimilates to[s]) | ||||
Esperanto has manyminimal pairs between thevoiced andvoicelessplosives,b d g andp t k; for example,pagi "pay" vs.paki "pack",baro "bar" vs.paro "pair",teko "briefcase" vs.deko "group of ten".
On the other hand, several distinctions between Esperanto consonants carry very lightfunctional loads, though they are not incomplementary distribution and therefore notallophones. The practical effect of this is that people who do not control these distinctions are still able to communicate without difficulty. These minor distinctions areĵ/ʒ/ vs.ĝ/d͡ʒ/, contrasted inaĵo ('concrete thing') vs.aĝo ('age');k/k/ vs.ĥ/x/ vs.h/h/, contrasted inkoro ('heart') vs.ĥoro ('chorus') vs.horo ('hour'), and in the prefixek- (inchoative) vs.eĥo ('echo');dz/d͡z/ vs.z/z/, not contrasted in basic vocabulary; andc/t͡s/ vs.ĉ/t͡ʃ/, found in a few minimal pairs such ascaro ('tzar'),ĉar ('because');ci ('thou'),ĉi (proximate particle used with deictics);celo ('goal'),ĉelo ('cell');-eco ('-ness'),eĉ ('even'); etc.
Belarusian seems to have provided the model for Esperanto's diphthongs, as well as the complementary distribution ofv (restricted to theonset of a syllable), andŭ (occurring only as a vocalic offglide), although this was modified slightly, with Belarusianoŭ corresponding to Esperantoov (as inbovlo), andŭ being restricted to the sequencesaŭ, eŭ in Esperanto. Althoughv andŭ may both occur between vowels, as innaŭa ('ninth') andnava ('of naves'), the diphthongal distinction holds:[ˈnau̯.a] vs.[ˈna.va]. (However, Zamenhof did allow initialŭ in onomatopoeic words such asŭa 'wah!'.) The semivowelj likewise does not occur after the voweli, but is also restricted from occurring beforei in the same morpheme, whereas the Belarusian letteri represents/ji/. Later exceptions to these patterns, such aspoŭpo ('poop deck'),ŭato ('watt'), East Asian proper names beginning with⟨Ŭ⟩, andjida ('Yiddish'), are marginal.[note 2]
The distinction betweene andej carries a light functional load, in the core vocabulary perhaps only distinctive beforealveolarsonorants, such askejlo ('peg'),kelo ('cellar');mejlo ('mile'),melo ('badger');Rejno ('Rhine'),reno ('kidney'). The recent borrowinggejo ('homosexual') could contrast with the ambisexual prefixge- if used in compounds with a following consonant, and also creating possible confusion betweengeja paro ('homosexual couple') andgea paro ('heterosexual couple').Eŭ is also uncommon, and very seldom contrastive:eŭro ('a euro') vs.ero ('a bit').
Within a word,stress is on the syllable with the second-to-last vowel, such as theli infamilio[famiˈli.o] ('family'). An exception is when the final-o of a noun iselided, usually for poetic reasons, because this does not affect the placement of the stress:famili'[famiˈli].
There is no set rule for which other syllables might receive stress in a polysyllabic word, or which monosyllabic words are stressed in a clause. Morphology, semantic load, and rhythm all play a role. By default, Esperanto istrochaic; stress tends to hit alternate syllables:Ésperánto. However, derivation tends to leave such "secondary" stress unchanged, at least for many speakers:Ésperantísto orEspérantísto (or for some justEsperantísto) Similarly, compound words generally retain their original stress. They never stress an epenthetic vowel: thusvórto-provízo, not*vortó-provízo.
Within a clause, rhythm also plays a role. However, referential words (lexical words andpronouns) attract stress, whereas "connecting" words such asprepositions tend not to:dónu al mí ordónu al mi ('give to me'), not*dónu ál mi. InĈu vi vídas la húndon kiu kúras preter la dómo? ('Do you see the dog that's running past the house?'), thefunction words do not take stress, not even two-syllablekiu ('which') orpreter ('beyond'). The verbesti ('to be') behaves similarly, as can be seen by the occasional elision of thee in poetry or rapid speech:Mi ne 'stas ĉi tie! ('I'm not here!') Phonological words do not necessarily match orthographic words. Pronouns, prepositions, the article, and other monosyllabic function words are generally pronounced as a unit with the following word:mihávas ('I have'),laknábo ('the boy'),delvórto ('of the word'),ĉetáblo ('at table'). Exceptions includekaj 'and', which may be pronounced more distinctly when it has a larger scope than the following word or phrase.[7]
Within poetry, of course, the meter determines stress:Hó, mia kór', ne bátu máltrankvíle ('Oh my heart, do not beat uneasily').
Emphasis and contrast may override normal stress. Pronouns frequently take stress because of this. In a simple question likeĈú vi vídis? ('Did you see?'), the pronoun hardly needs to be said and is unstressed; compareNé, dónu al mí and ('No, giveme'). Within a word, a prefix that wasn't heard correctly may be stressed upon repetition:Né, ne tíen! Iru máldekstren, mi diris! ('No, not overthere! Goleft, I said!'). Because stress doesn't distinguish words in Esperanto, shifting it to an unexpected syllable calls attention to that syllable, but doesn't cause confusion as it might in English.
As in many languages,initialisms behave unusually. When grammatical, they may be unstressed:k.t.p.[kotopo] ('et cetera'); when used as proper names, they tend to be idiosyncratic:UEA[ˈuˈeˈa],[ˈu.e.a], or[u.eˈa], but rarely*[u.ˈe.a]. This seems to be a way of indicating that the term is not a normal word. However, fullacronyms tend to have regular stress:Tejo[ˈte.jo].
Lexicaltone is not phonemic. Nor is clausalintonation, as question particles and changes in word order serve many of the functions that intonation performs in English.
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Asyllable in Esperanto is generally of the form (s/ŝ)(C)(C)V(C)(C). That is, itmay have anonset, of up to three consonants;must have anucleus of a single vowel or diphthong (except inonomatopoeic words such aszzz!), and may have acoda of zero to one (occasionally two) consonants.
Any consonant may occur initially, with the exception ofj beforei (though there is now one word that violates this restriction,jida ('Yiddish') which contrasts withida "of an offspring").
Any consonant excepth may close a syllable, though codaĝ andĵ are rare in monomorphemes (they contrast inaĝ' 'age' vs.aĵ' 'thing'). Within a morpheme, there may be a maximum of four sequential consonants, as for example ininstruas ('teaches'),dekstren ('to the right'). Clusters of three consonants include thesibilants in second position, or one of theliquids (l,r) orv (forkv orgv) in final position; clusters of four consonants require both.[8]
Geminate consonants generally only occur in polymorphemic words, such asmal-longa ('short'),ek-kuŝi ('to flop down'),mis-skribi ('to mis-write'); inethnonyms such asfinno ('a Finn'),gallo ('a Gaul') (now more commonlygaŭlo); inproper names such asŜillero ('Schiller'),Buddo ('Buddha', now more commonlyBudao); and in a handful of unstable borrowings such asmatĉo ('a sports match'). In compounds oflexical words, Zamenhof separated identical consonants with an epenthetic vowel, as invivovespero ('the evening of life'), never*vivvespero.
Word-final consonants occur, though final voicedobstruents are generally rejected. For example, Latinad ('to') became Esperantoal, and Polishod ('than') morphed into Esperantool ('than').Sonorants and voiceless obstruents, on the other hand, are found in many of the numerals:cent ('hundred'),ok ('eight'),sep ('seven'),ses ('six'),kvin ('five'),kvar ('four'); alsodum ('during'),eĉ ('even'). Even the poetic elision of final-o is rarely seen if it would leave a final voiced obstruent. A very few words with final voiced obstruents do occur, such assed ('but') andapud ('next to'), but in such cases there is no minimal-pair contrast with a voiceless counterpart (that is, there is no*set or*aput to cause confusion). This is because many people, including most Slavs and Germans, do not contrast voicing in final obstruents. For similar reasons, sequences ofobstruents with mixed voicing are not found in Zamenhofian compounds, apart from numerals and grammatical forms, thuslongatempe 'for a long time', not*longtempe. (Note that/v/ is an exception to this rule, like in the Slavic languages. It is effectively ambiguous between fricative and approximant. The other exception is/kz/, which is commonly treated as/ɡz/.)
Syllabic consonants occur only asinterjections andonomatopoeia:fr!, sss!, ŝŝ!, hm!.
All triconsonantal onsets begin with a sibilant,s orŝ. Disregarding proper names, such asVladimiro, the following initial consonant clusters occur:
And more marginally,
Although it does not occur initially, the sequence⟨dz⟩ is pronounced as an affricate, as inedzo[ˈe.d͡zo] ('a husband') with an open first syllable [e], not as*[ed.zo].[9]
In addition, initial⟨pf⟩ occurs in German-derivedpfenigo ('penny'),⟨kŝ⟩ inSanskritkŝatrio ('kshatriya'), and several additional uncommon initial clusters occur in technical words ofGreek origin, such asmn-, pn-, ks-, ps-, sf-, ft-, kt-, pt-, bd-, such assfinktero ('a sphincter' which also has the coda⟨nk⟩). Quite a few more clusters turn up in sufficiently obscure words, such as⟨tl⟩ intlaspo "Thlaspi" (agenus of herb), andAztec deities such asTlaloko ('Tlaloc'). (The/l/ phonemes are presumably devoiced in these words.)
As this might suggest, greater phonotactic diversity and complexity is tolerated in learnèd than in quotidian words, almost as if "difficult" phonotactics were an iconic indication of "difficult" vocabulary. Diconsonantal codas, for example, generally only occur in technical terms, proper names, and in geographical and ethnic terms:konjunkcio ('a conjunction'),arkta ('Arctic'),istmo ('isthmus').
However, there is a strong tendency for more basic terms to avoid coda clusters, althoughcent ('hundred'),post ('after'),sankta ('holy'), and the prefixeks- ('ex-') (which can be used as an interjection:Eks la reĝo! 'Down with the king!') are exceptions. Even when coda clusters occur in the source languages, they are often eliminated in Esperanto. For instance, many European languages have words relating to "body" with a root ofkorps-. This root gave rise to two words in Esperanto, neither of which keep the full cluster:korpuso ('a military corps') (retaining the original Latinu), andkorpo ('a biological body') (losing thes).
Many ordinary roots end in two or three consonants, such ascikl-o ('a bicycle'),ŝultr-o ('a shoulder'),pingl-o ('a needle'),tranĉ-i ('to cut'). However, these roots do not normally entail coda clusters except when followed by another consonant in compounds, or with poetic elision of the final-o. Even then, only sequences with decreasingsonority are possible, so although poetictranĉ' occurs, *cikl', *ŝultr', and *pingl' do not. (Note that the humorous jargonEsperant' does not follow this restriction, because it elides the grammatical suffix of all nouns no matter how awkward the result.)
Within compounds, anepenthetic vowel is added to break up what would otherwise be unacceptable clusters of consonants. This vowel is most commonly the nominal affix-o, regardless of number or case, as inkant-o-birdo ('a songbird') (the rootkant-, 'to sing', is inherently a verb), but other part-of-speech endings may be used when-o- is judged to be grammatically inappropriate, as inmult-e-kosta ('expensive'). There is a great deal of personal variation as to when an epenthetic vowel is used.
With only five oral and no nasal or long vowels, Esperanto allows a fair amount of allophonic variation, though the distinction between/e/ and/ei̯/, and arguably/o/ and/ou̯/, is phonemic. The/v/ may be a labiodental fricative[v] or a labiodental approximant[ʋ], again in free variation; or[w], especially in the sequenceskv andgv ([kw] and[ɡw], like English "qu" and "gu"), but with[v] considered normative. Alveolar consonantst, d, n, l are acceptably eitherapical (as in English) orlaminal (as in French, generally but incorrectly called "dental"). Postalveolarsĉ, ĝ, ŝ, ĵ may bepalato-alveolar (semi-palatalized)[t̠ʃ,d̠ʒ,ʃ,ʒ] as in English and French, orretroflex (non-palatalized)[t̠ʂd̠ʐʂʐ] as in Polish, Russian, and Mandarin Chinese.H andĥ may be voiced[ɦ,ɣ], especially between vowels.
The consonantr can be realised in many ways, as it was defined differently in each language version of theFundamento de Esperanto:[10]
The most common realization depends on the region and native language of the Esperanto speaker. For example, a very common realisation in English-speaking countries is the alveolar flap[ɾ]. Worldwide, the most common realisation is probably the alveolar trill[r]. The grammatical referencePlena Manlibro de Esperanta Gramatiko considers the uvular trill[ʀ] to be perfectly acceptable.[12] In practice, the different pronunciations are understood and accepted by experienced Esperanto speakers.
Vowel length is not phonemic in Esperanto. Vowels tend to be long in open stressed syllables and short otherwise.[5] Adjacent stressed syllables are not allowed in compound words, and when stress disappears in such situations, it may leave behind a residue of vowel length. Vowel length is sometimes presented as an argument for the phonemic status of the affricates, because vowels tend to be short before mostconsonant clusters (exceptingstops plusl orr, as in many European languages), but long before /ĉ/, /ĝ/, /c/, and /dz/, though again this varies by speaker, with some speakers pronouncing a short vowel before /ĝ/, /c/, /dz/ and a long vowel only before /ĉ/.[5]
Vowel quality has never been an issue for /a/, /i/ and /u/, but has been much discussed for /e/ and /o/. Zamenhof recommended pronouncing the vowels /e/ and /o/ asmid[e̞,o̞] at all times. Kalocsay and Waringhien gave more complicated recommendations.[13] For example, they recommended pronouncing stressed /e/, /o/ as shortopen-mid[ɛ,ɔ] in closed syllables and longclose-mid[eː,oː] in open syllables. However, this is widely considered unduly elaborate, and Zamenhof's recommendation of using mid qualities is considered the norm. For many speakers, however, the pronunciation of /e/ and /o/ reflects the details of their native language.
Zamenhof noted thatepenthetic glides may be inserted between dissimilar vowels, especially afterhigh vowels as in[ˈmija] formia ('my'),[miˈjelo] formielo ('honey') and[ˈpluwa] forplua ('further'). This is quite common, and there is no possibility of confusion, because /ij/ and /uŭ/ do not occur in Esperanto (though more general epenthesis could cause confusion betweengea andgeja, as mentioned above). However, Zamenhof stated that in "severely regular" speech such epenthesis would not occur.[5]
Epenthetic glottal stops in vowel sequences such asboao ('boa') are non-phonemic detail, allowed for the comfort of the speaker. Glottal stop is especially common in sequences of identical vowels, such asheroo[heˈroʔo] ('hero'), andpraavo[praˈʔavo] ('great-grandfather'). Other speakers, however, mark the hiatus by a change of intonation, such as by raising the pitch of the stressed vowel:heróò, pràávo.
As in many languages,fricatives may becomeaffricates after a nasal, via an epenthetic stop. Thus, the neologismsenso ('sense', as in the five senses) may be pronounced the same as the fundamental wordsenco ('sense, meaning'), and the older term for the former,sentumo, may be preferable.
An epenthetic vowel, most commonly theschwa, can be inserted to break up clusters that might be difficult to pronounce.
Vowel elision is allowed with the grammatical suffix-o of singular nominative nouns, and thea of the articlela, though this rarely occurs outside of poetry:de l' kor' ('from the heart').
Normally semivowels are restricted to offglides in diphthongs. However, poetic meter may force the reduction of unstressed/i/ and/u/ to semivowels before a stressed vowel:kormilionoj[koɾmiˈli̯onoi̯];buduaro[buˈdu̯aɾo].
Zamenhof recognizedplace-assimilation ofnasals before another consonant, such asn before a velar, as inbanko[ˈbaŋko] ('bank') andsango[ˈsaŋɡo] ('blood'), or before palatal/j/, as inpanjo[ˈpaɲjo] ('mommy') andsinjoro[siɲˈjoro] ('sir'). However, he stated that "severely regular" speech would not have such variation from his ideal of 'one letter, one sound'[5] (similarly toRussian, which also does not assimilate in such cases). Nonetheless, although the desirability of such allophony may be debated, the question almost never arises as to whether them inemfazi should remain bilabial ([emˈfazi]) or should assimilate to labiodentalf ([eɱˈfazi]), because this assimilation is nearly universal in human language. Indeed, where the orthography allows (e.g.bombono 'bonbon'), we see that assimilation can occur.
In addition, speakers of many languages (including Zamenhof's, though not always English) have regressivevoicing assimilation, when twoobstruents (consonants that occur in voiced-voiceless pairs) occur next to each other. Zamenhof did not mention this directly, but did indicate it indirectly, in that he didn't create compound words with adjacent obstruents that have mixed voicing. For example, by the phonotactics of both of Zamenhof's mother tongues, Yiddish and (Belo)Russian,rozkolora ('rose-colored', 'pink') would be pronounced the same asroskolora ('dew-colored'), and so the preferred form for the former isrozokolora.[note 3]Indeed, Kalocsay & Waringhien state that when voiced and voiceless consonants are adjacent, the assimilation of one of them is "inevitable". Thus one pronouncesokdek ('eighty') as/oɡdek/, as if it were spelled "ogdek";ekzisti ('exist') as/eɡzisti/, as if it were spelled "egzisti";ekzemple ('for example') as/eɡzemple/,subteni ('support') as/supteni/,longtempe ('for a long time') as/lonktempe/,glavsonoro ('ringing of a sword') as/ɡlafsonoro/, etc.[5][14] Such assimilation likewise occurs in words that maintain Latinate orthography, such asabsolute ('absolutely'), pronounced/apsolute/, andobtuza ('obtuse'), pronounced/optuza/, despite the superficially contrastive sequences in the wordsapsido ('apsis') andoptiko ('optics').[5][14] Instead, the debate centers on the non-Latinate orthographic sequencekz, frequently found in Latinate words likeekzemple andekzisti above.[note 4] It is sometimes claimed thatkz is properly pronounced exactly as written, with mixed voicing,[kz], despite the fact that assimilation to[ɡz] occurs in Russian, English (including the words 'example' and 'exist'), Polish (where it is even spelled⟨gz⟩), French and many other languages. These two positions are calledekzismo andegzismo in Esperanto.[note 5] In practice, most Esperanto speakers assimilatekz to/ɡz/ and pronouncenk as[ŋk] when speaking fluently.[14]
| Voiceless obstruent | p | t | c | ĉ | k | f | s | ŝ | ĥ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pronunciation before any voiced obstruent butv | b | d | dz | ĝ | g | v | z | ĵ | [ɣ] |
| Voiced obstruent | b | d | dz | ĝ | g | v | z | ĵ | |
| Pronunciation before a voiceless obstruent | p | t | c | ĉ | k | f | s | ŝ | |
In compoundlexical words, Zamenhof himself inserted an epenthetic vowel between obstruents with different voicing, as inrozokolora above, never*rozkolora, andlongatempe, never*longtempe as with some later writers; mixed voicing only occurred withgrammatical words, for example with compound numbers and with prepositions used as prefixes, as inokdek andsubteni above.V is never found before any consonant in Zamenhof's writing, because that would force it to contrast withŭ.
Similarly, mixedsibilant sequences, as in the polymorphemicdisĵeti ('to scatter'), tend to assimilate in rapid speech, sometimes completely (/diĵĵeti/).
Like the generally ignored regressive devoicing in words such asabsurda, progressive devoicing tends to go unnoticed within obstruent–sonorant clusters, as inplua[ˈpl̥ua] ('additional'; contrasts withblua[ˈblua] 'blue') andknabo[ˈkn̥abo] ('boy'; thekn- contrasts withgn-, as ingnomo[ˈɡnomo] 'gnome'). Partial to full devoicing of the sonorant is probably the norm for most speakers.
Voicing assimilation of affricates and fricatives before nasals, as intaĉmento ('a detachment') and the suffix-ismo ('-ism'), is both more noticeable and easier for most speakers to avoid, so[ˈizmo] for-ismo is less tolerated than[apsoˈlute] forabsolute.
The sound of⟨ĥ⟩,/x/, was always somewhat marginal in Esperanto, and there has been a strong move to merge it into/k/, starting with suggestions from Zamenhof himself.[15][16][citation needed] Dictionaries generally cross-reference⟨ĥ⟩ and⟨k⟩, but the sequence⟨rĥ⟩ (as inarĥitekturo 'architecture') was replaced by⟨rk⟩ (arkitekturo) so completely by the early 20th century that few dictionaries even list⟨rĥ⟩ as an option.[citation needed] The central/eastern European form for 'Chinese',ĥino, has been completely replaced with the western European form,ĉino, a unique exception to the general pattern, perhaps because the wordkino ('cinematography') already existed. Other words, such asĥemio ('chemistry') andmonaĥo ('monk'), still vary but are more commonly found with⟨k⟩ (kemio, monako). In a few cases, such as with words of Russian origin,⟨ĥ⟩ may instead be replaced by⟨h⟩. This merger has had only a few complications. Zamenhof gaveĥoro ('chorus') the alternative formkoruso, because bothkoro ('heart') andhoro ('hour') were taken. The two words still almost universally seen with⟨ĥ⟩ areeĥo ('echo') andĉeĥo ('a Czech').Ek- andĉeko ('check') already exist, thoughekoo foreĥo is occasionally seen.
A common source of allophonic variation is borrowed words, especially proper names, when non-Esperantized remnants of the source-language orthography remain, or when novel sequences are created in order to avoid duplicating existing roots. For example, it is doubtful that many people fully pronounce theg inVaŝingtono ('Washington') as either/ɡ/ or/k/, or pronounce the⟨h⟩ inBudho ('Buddha') at all. Such situations are unstable, and in many cases dictionaries recognize that certain spellings (and therefore pronunciations) are inadvisable. For example, the physical unit "watt" was first borrowed asŭato, to distinguish it fromvato ('cotton-wool'), and this is the only form found in dictionaries in 1930. However, initial⟨ŭ⟩ violates Esperanto phonotactics, and by 1970 there was an alternative spelling,vatto. This was also unsatisfactory, however, because of the geminate⟨t⟩, and by 2000 the effort had been given up, with⟨vato⟩ now the advised spelling for both 'watt' and 'cotton-wool'. Some recent dictionaries no longer even list initial⟨ŭ⟩ in their index.[17] Likewise, several dictionaries now list the spellings⟨Vaŝintono⟩ for 'Washington' and⟨Budao⟩ for 'Buddha'.
Before Esperantophonotactics became fixed,foreign words were adopted with spellings that violated the apparent intentions of Zamenhof and the norms that would develop later, such aspoŭpo[note 6] ('poop deck'),ŭato[note 7] ('watt'), andmatĉo[note 8] ('sports match'). Many of these coinages have proven to be unstable, and have either fallen out of use or been replaced with pronunciations more in keeping with the developing norms, such aspobo forpoŭpo,vato forŭato, andmaĉo formatĉo. On the other hand,jida[note 9] ('Yiddish') was also sometimes criticized on phonotactical grounds, but was used by Zamenhof after its introduction in thePlena Vortaro as a replacement fornovjuda andjudgermana and is well established.