Lengryis

Setting
Lengryis is a mixed language (like Michif in Canada) spoken several centuries from now. It is a hybrid of English, Japanese and Thai.

Vowels
Lengryis has 5 vowels.

i - /i/ - Must be preceded by a glide, either /j/ or /w/.

u - /ɯ/ - Is rounded to [u] when preceded by /w/. It cannot be preceded by /j/.

e - /ɛ/ - Is raised to [e] when preceded by /j/.

o - /o/ - Some speakers centralise this to /ə/ when preceded by /j/.

a - /a/ - Cannot be preceded by /j/.

Diphthongs
There are 4 diphthongs.

ea - /əa/ - Has the allophone [ia] when preceded by /j/.

iu - /yu/ - Is unrounded to [iɯ] when preceded by /j/.

au - /au/

ai - /ai/ - In rapid speech, some speakers pronounce this as [ɛi] or [ei], especially when preceded by /j/. If it is preceded by /w/, some speakers pronounced it as [oi].

Vowel Length
Vowels and diphthongs are long in the final syllables of words, and short elsewhere. Vowel length used to be phonemic, but this is no longer the case in standard Lengryis because the long vowels either became diphthongs or glide + vowel sequences.

Tone
The final syllable of each word takes one of 5 contour tones. This is used for both lexical and grammatical purposes. These are described below in terms of numbers, 5 indicating the pitch at the top of a speaker's vocal range, and 1 indicating a pitch at the bottom of a speaker's vocal range.

a - High Level (44) - Some speakers pronounce this is a High Rising Tone (45).

â - High Falling (42)

à - Low Falling (21) - Some speakers pronounce this as a Low Level Tone (22) or (11).

á - Low Rising (15)

ä - Falling Rising (314)

Non final syllables of a word take one of 2 pitches, High or Low. These are not phonemic, however and can be predicted based on the tone of the final syllable of the word.

If the final syllable has High Level Tone, High Falling Tone or Falling Rising Tone, then any preceding syllables in the word will be pronounced with a High Pitch.

If the final syllable of the word has Low Falling Tone or Low Rising Tone, then any preceding syllables in the word will be pronounced with a Low Pitch.

In multisyllabic words, it is common for speakers to merge the High Falling and Low Falling Tones into a single Falling Tone (31). It is also common for the Low Rising and the Falling Rising Tone to merge into a single Rising Tone (24). Neither of these mergers create any new homophones, however because the non-final syllables of the word will still be pronounced with different pitches.

Consonants
Counting the number of consonant phonemes in Lengryis is difficult, because of the number of allophones and sandhi processes in the language. Lengryis speakers traditionally analyse their language as having 23 consonants, however word initially each consonant has a "Strong" and a "Weak" version. If the consonant is no longer word initial (e.g. if the word takes a prefix or is compounded), then the contrast between Strong and Weak is neutralised. Depending on the consonant, this can happen in one of 3 ways. The Strong consonant could take on the pronounciation of its Weak counterpart (whose pronunciation is unchanged), or the Weak consonant could take on the pronunciation of its Strong counterpart (whose pronunciation is likewise unchanged), or both consonants could take on a new pronunciation. Like tone, the Strong / Weak distinction is used for both grammatical purposes and also to distinguish pairs of unrelated words.

Complicating matters even further, Lengryis has many sounds that are not considered phonemes in themselves, but merely sequences of two underlying phonemes (the second one is almost always /j/ or /w/). For example a word initial [dz] is underlyingly a sequence of /nd/ and /j/.

The consonants of Lengryis are listed below in groups of 3. First the Strong variant is described, then its Weak counterpart, and finally the consonant that the Strong and Weak pairs merge into non-word initially. A consonant in bold can be a syllable coda.

ph - /ph/ - By themselves, bilabial stops and nasals are usually velarised, however the sequence /Bj/ (where B is a bilabial stop or nasal) is often pronounced as simply a palatalised consonant, without the /j/ being pronounced.

mp - /mph/

ph - /ph/ Non word initially, this consonant is lightly aspirated if at all. It is common to pronounce it as a tenuis stop [p].

p - /p/ - Word initially, some speakers give this a weakly ejective pronunciation.

b - /b/ - Word initially, this is pronounced with a slack voiced pronunciation about 50% of the time.

b - /b/ - In syllable codas, this is in free variation with [p].

bh - /ɓ/ - Strongly imploded, contrasts with /b/ in many words.

mb - /mb/ - This is sometimes heard with stiff voice, and occasionally even creaky voice.

bh - /ß/ - This is in free variation with /v/. The sequence /ßj/ is pronounced as [ɥ]. The sequence /ßw/ is usually pronounced simply as [w].

mh - /mʔ/

m - /m/

m - /m/

f - /f/ - The combination /fj/ is pronounced as [çw], and the combination /fw/ is pronounced as [ʍ].

j - /ɣ/ - Word initially, the combination /ɣj/ is pronounced as [v], and the combination /ɣw/ is pronounced as [w].

f - /f/ - The combination /fj/ is heard as [çw], and the combination /fw/ is heard as [ʍ]. In syllable codas, this is in free variation with [v].

t' - /t'/ - Unlike the other coronal stops which are usually dental, the ejective is usually alveolar.

t - /t/

t - /t/ - In a syllable coda, this is pronounced as [θ] or [ð].

th - /th/

nth - /nth/

th - /θ/

d - /d/

nd - /nd/ - The sequence /ndj/ is pronounced as [dz].

d - /z/

nh - /nʔ/

n - /n/

n - /n/

s' - /ts'/ - This is always an affricate.

s - /ts/

s - /ts/

'sv - /s/ - Word initially, the sequence /sj/, is pronounced as [ʈʂ].

v - /θ/ - Word initially, the sequence /θj/ is pronounced as [ʂ]

v - /ð/ - Non word initially, the sequence /ðj/ is pronounced as [s], and the sequence /ðw/ is pronounced as [sw].

z - /z/ - Word initially, the sequence /zj/ is pronounced as [ɮ].

y - /j/ - Word initially, the sound [ɭ] can be heard, but this is underlyingly /jj/. Word initially, the sequence /jw/ is pronounced as [ɥ]

z - /ɣ/ - Non word initially, the sequence /ɣj/ is pronounced as [ɮ]. In syllable codas this is voiceless [x], which is in free variation with [ç].

lh - /ɬ/

l - /l/ - This is in free variation with [ɫ]. The combination /ly/ is usually heard as [λ].

l - /l/ - This is in free variation with [ɫ]. The combination /ly/ is usually heard as [λ].