Old Adpihi

The Consonants of Adpihi
If languages are ranked by the sizes of their consonantal inventories into "small", "medium", and "large", then Adpihi has a medium-sized inventory of consonants. However, Adpihi's consonant inventory is almost as large as it can be and still be considered "medium" instead of "large".

Proto-Adpihi's Consonants
Proto-Adpihi apparently had 33 (thirty-three) consonants.

By place-of-articulation, Proto-Adpihi had
 * 7 alveolars; rr, s, n, t, l, d, z;
 * 6 velars; k, g, N, k_h, x, k_>;
 * 5 labials; m, p, b, p_h, w;
 * 4 dentals; t_d, n_d, d_d, T;
 * 3 palatals; j, J, c;
 * 2 post-alveolars; tS, dZ;
 * 2 labio-dentals; f, v;
 * 2 glottals; ?, h;
 * 1 retroflex; r`</tt>; and
 * 1 palato-alveolar; S</tt>;.

By manner-of-articulation, Proto-Adpihi had
 * 6 mute fricatives; S, f, s, x, T, h</tt>;
 * 6 mute stops; k, p, ?, t, t_d, c</tt>;
 * 5 nasals; m, N, J, n, n_d</tt>;
 * 4 voiced stops; b, g, d, d_d</tt>;
 * 2 voiced fricatives; v, z</tt>;
 * 2 mute aspirated plosives; p_h, k_h</tt>;
 * 2 voiced rhotics; rr, r`</tt>;
 * 2 semi-vowels; j, w</tt>;
 * 1 mute affricate; tS</tt>;
 * 1 voiced affricate; dZ</tt>;
 * 1 mute ejective stop; k_></tt>; and
 * 1 lateral; l</tt>.

The following table presents the consonants of Proto-Adpihi in SAMPA.

In descending order by frequency of occurrence, the manners of articulation were;
 * Voiceless Stops
 * Nasals
 * Mute Fricatives
 * Voiced Stops
 * Voiced Fricatives
 * Mute Affricates
 * Laterals
 * Mute Apirated Plosives
 * Voiced Rhotics
 * Semi-vowels
 * Mute Ejective Stops
 * Voiced Affricates

In descending order by frequency of occurrence, the places of articulation were;
 * Labials
 * Velars
 * Alveolars
 * Dentals
 * Post-Alveolars
 * Palatals
 * Labio-Dentals
 * Palato-Alveolars
 * Retroflexes
 * Glottals

In descending order by frequency of occurrence, the consonant segments were; m, k, p, b, g, N, tS, S, rr, ?, f, j, s, J, n, t, l, dZ, p_h, k_h, r`, w, x, t_d, d, v, n_d, d_d, k_>, c, T, z, h </tt>

Adpihi's Consonants
By the time of Old Adpihi, five of these (tS, dZ, p_h, k_h</tt>, and <tt>k_></tt>) were lost. Old Adpihi has no affricates, no aspirated stops, and no ejective stops. So Old Adpihi has 28 (twenty-eight) consonant phonemes.

They are;

What Became of the "Lost" Consonants

 * 1) [<tt>tS</tt>] was re-analyzed, usually as [<tt>t</tt>][<tt>S</tt>] but sometimes as just [<tt>t</tt>] or [<tt>S</tt>].  Where it became [<tt>t</tt>][<tt>S</tt>], often an epenthetic vowel was introduced between the [<tt>t</tt>] and the [<tt>S</tt>].
 * 2) [<tt>dZ</tt>] was re-analyzed, usually as [<tt>d</tt>][<tt>S</tt>] but sometimes as just [<tt>d</tt>] or [<tt>S</tt>].  Where it became [<tt>d</tt>][<tt>S</tt>], often an epenthetic vowel was introduced between the [<tt>d</tt>] and the [<tt>S</tt>].
 * 3) [<tt>k_h</tt>] was re-analyzed, usually as [<tt>kh</tt>] but sometimes as just [<tt>k</tt>] or [<tt>h</tt>].  Where it became [<tt>kh</tt>], often an epenthetic vowel was introduced between the [<tt>k</tt>] and the [<tt>h</tt>].
 * 4) [<tt>p_h</tt>] was re-analyzed, usually as [<tt>ph</tt>] but sometimes as just [<tt>p</tt>] or [<tt>h</tt>].  Where it became [<tt>ph</tt>], often an epenthetic vowel was introduced between the [<tt>p</tt>] and the [<tt>h</tt>].
 * 5) [<tt>k_></tt>] was re-analyzed, usually as either [<tt>k?</tt>] or as [<tt>?k</tt>] but sometimes as just [<tt>k</tt>] or [<tt>?</tt>].  Where it became [<tt>k?</tt>] or [<tt>?k</tt>], often an epenthetic vowel was introduced between the [<tt>k</tt>] and the [<tt>?</tt>].

Alveolars and Dentals
The distinction between the alveolar place-of-articulation and the dental place-of-articulation is difficult for some foreigners to make. In Adpihi there are four pairs of consonants that differ just this way.

Rhotics
Adpihi is unusual in having two rhotics rather than only one.

The SIL definition of a "rhotic" is "any liquid that is not a lateral"; the SIL definition of a "liquid" is "any approximant that is not a semivowel". Neither of Adpihi's "rhotics" is an approximant, so this definition is inadequate to include them.

Very many uvular and/or retroflex consonants, as well as very many trills, taps, and flaps, are considered "rhotic" in the languages in which they occur, even when they aren't approximants. To a much smaller degree, many laterals that aren't approximants are considered "liquids" in the languages in which they occur.

Palatals
Usually if a language has a nasal at a particular point of articulation, it will have more than just a voiceless stop and an approximant at that same P.o.A.

The Vowels of Adpihi
If languages are ranked by the sizes of their vowel inventories into "small", "medium", and "large", then Adpihi has a medium-sized inventory of vowels. However, Adpihi's vowel inventory is almost as small as it can be and still be considered "medium" instead of "small".

Old Adpihi has or had five vowels; close front unrounded <tt>i</tt>, close back rounded <tt>u</tt>, mid front unrounded <tt>e_o</tt> or <tt>E_r</tt>, mid back rounded <tt>o_o</tt> or <tt>O_r</tt>, and open central unrounded <tt>6_o</tt> or <tt>a_"</tt> or <tt>A_"</tt>.

The Phonotactics of Adpihi
Adpihi does not allow gemination at all.

Adpihi does not allow two consecutive consonants at the same place of articulation, without an intervening vowel.

Adpihi also has a high-priority violable constraint against two consecutive consonants with the same manner of articulation; but notice that a difference in voicing counts as a different manner of articulation. So, for instance, a mute fricative and a voiced fricative count as different manners of articulation; and a mute stop and a voiced stop also count as different manners of articulation.

Adpihi's Syllable Structure
All Adpihi syllables fit the pattern: (C)(C)V(V)(C)(C)

Sonority
There is a sonority scale among Adpihi's consonants; 1. Stops and Plosives 2. Fricatives 3. Nasals 4. Rhotics and Laterals 5. Semivowels

If two consonants both occur in a syllable, then the one closer to the vowel(s) must be more sonorant than the one further away from the vowel(s). So onsets must have rising sonority, and codas must have falling sonority. It is possible for two consonants in a syllable to be equally close to, or equally far away from, the vowel(s); provided, that they are on opposite sides of the vowel(s), that is, that one is in the onset and the other is in the coda. If this happens, the one in the onset must be more sonorant than the one in the coda.

Most Common Syllable Types
Far and away the most common type of syllable in Adpihi is: Also quite common are: Syllables with diphthongal nuclei tended to diminish from Proto-Adpihi by the time of Old Adpihi; so, also, did syllable codas containing clusters of consonants. Many of the diphthongs were re-analyzed as vowel+semivowel or as semivowel+vowel; many of the diphthongs had an epenthetic semivowel or glottal inserted between the vowels. In some cases one of the vowels metathesized with a neighboring consonant. In some cases one of the vowels was simply dropped. And, of course, in some cases no sound change was made.
 * CV.
 * V
 * VC
 * CVC
 * CCV.

Many of the consonant clusters, especially the clusters in the codas, had an epenthetic vowel inserted between the consonants. In some cases one of the consonants metathesized with a neighboring vowel; sometimes this resulted in the cluster being in the onset instead of in the coda. In some cases one of the consonants was simply dropped from the cluster. And in some cases no sound change was made.