Alphabet & Phonology
Glotoid has 20 basic letters that are mostly* pronounced according their IPA values.
VOWELS | Front & Unrounded | Back & Rounded |
---|---|---|
Close | i | u |
Mid | e | o |
Open | a |
CONSONANTS | Bilabial | Labiodental | Alveolar | Velar | Glottal |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Plosive | b, p | d, t | g, k | ||
Nasal | m | n | (n) | ||
Trill/Flap/Tap | r | ||||
Fricative | v, f | z, s | (h) | h | |
Lateral Approximant | l |
Leniency
For brevity in speech and poetry, speakers may freely choose to reduce the pronunciation of these vowels.
- ⟨i⟩ can be pronounced as the semivowel [j] anywhere.
- ⟨u⟩ can be pronounced as the semivowel [w] anywhere.
- ⟨a⟩ can be pronounced as schwa [ə] or even omitted entirely at the end of word.
For ease of pronunciation, speakers may modify the realization of these consonants.
- ⟨n⟩ can be pronounced as [ŋ] before ⟨g⟩ and ⟨k⟩.
- ⟨h⟩ can be pronounced as [x].
- ⟨z⟩ can be pronounced as [ʒ] or [dʒ].
- ⟨r⟩ can be pronounced as [ɾ:] or [əd̆] for people with difficulties in pronouncing "trilled r".
For clarity, speakers may aspirate or lengthen unvoiced consonants to further distinguish them from their voiced counterpart.
- ⟨p⟩ can be pronounced as [pʰ].
- ⟨t⟩ can be pronounced as [tʰ].
- ⟨k⟩ can be pronounced as [kʰ].
- ⟨s⟩ can be pronounced as [sʰ] or [s:].
- ⟨f⟩ can be pronounced as [fʰ] or [f:].
Consonant Clusters
This table lists all possible consonant pairs that can occur in between vowels, e.g. "ks" in "taksa". Pairs that are marked with an asterisk (*) are "initial clusters", which can be used both in the middle or the begining of a word, e.g. "kr" in "krania" and "sukrosa". Clusters of 3 or more consonants can occur if a consonant is followed by an initial cluster, e.g. "mb" + "*br" = "mbr" in "Kambria"
bm | bv | bf | bd | bt | bn | bz | bs | *br | *bl | bg | bk | |||
pm | pv | pf | pd | pt | pn | pz | ps | *pr | *pl | pg | pk | |||
mb | mp | mv | mf | md | mt | mn | mz | ms | mr | ml | bg | mk | ||
vb | vp | vm | vd | vt | vn | vz | vs | *vr | *vl | vg | vk | |||
fb | fp | fm | fd | ft | fn | fz | fs | *fr | *fl | fg | fk | |||
db | dp | dm | dv | df | dn | dz | ds | *dr | *dl | dg | dk | |||
tb | tp | tm | tv | tf | tn | tz | ts | *tr | *tl | tg | tk | |||
nb | np | nm | nv | nf | nd | nt | nz | ns | nr | nl | ng | nk | ||
zb | zp | zm | zv | zf | zd | zt | zn | zr | zl | zg | zk | |||
sb | *sp | sm | sv | *sf | sd | *st | sn | *sr | *sl | sg | *sk | |||
rb | rp | rm | rv | rf | rd | rt | rn | rz | rs | rl | rg | rk | ||
lb | lp | lm | lv | lf | ld | lt | ln | lz | ls | lr | lg | lk | ||
gb | gp | gm | gv | gf | gd | gt | gn | gz | gs | *gr | *gl | |||
kb | kp | km | kv | kf | kd | kt | kn | kz | ks | *kr | *kl | |||
hb | hp | hm | hv | hf | hd | ht | hn | hz | hs | hr | hl | hk | hg | ___ |
Speakers with difficulties in pronuncing consonant clusters may insert a schwa /ə/ or a short /a/ between consonants, e.g. "Kambria" may be pronounced as /kam.bri.a/ > /kam.bə.ri.a/ > /ka.mə.bə.ri.a/ > /ka.mă.bă.ri.a/.