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Ma. Cristina B. Tolentino Foundations of Language

Maed-English 1A Dr. Fernandina Otchengco

Japanese Phonolgy

The phonology of Japanese features about 15 consonant phonemes, the cross-

linguistically typical five-vowel system of /a, i, u, e, o/, and a relatively simple phonotactic
distribution of phonemes allowing few consonant clusters. It is traditionally described as
having a mora as the unit of timing, with each mora taking up about the same length of time,
so that the disyllabic [ɲip.poɴ] ("Japan") may be analyzed as /niQpoN/ and dissected into four
moras, /ni/, /Q/, /po/, and /N/.
Standard Japanese is a pitch-accent language, wherein the position or absence of a
pitch drop may determine the meaning of a word: /haꜜsiɡa/ "chopsticks", /hasiꜜɡa/ "bridge",
/hasiɡa/ "edge" (see Japanese pitch accent).

Consonants
Alveolo-
Alveolar Palatal Velar Uvular Glottal
Bilabial palatal

Nasal m n (ɲ) (ŋ) (ɴ)

Stop p  b t  d k  ɡ

Affricate (t͡s)  (d͡z) (t͡ɕ)  (d͡ʑ)

Fricative (ɸ) s  z (ɕ)  (ʑ) (ç) h

Liquid r

Semivowel j w

Special moras /N/, /Q/

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 Voiceless stops /p, t, k/ are slightly aspirated: less aspirated than English stops, but
more so than Spanish.
 /p/, a remnant of Old Japanese, now occurs almost always medially in compounds,
typically as a result of gemination (as in 切符 kippu, 切腹 seppuku or 北方 hoppō) or
after /N/ (as in 音符 onpu), and in a few older compounds as a result of the contractions
of pronunciations over time (as in 河童 kappa). It occurs initially or medially in
onomatopoeia. Some few non-onomatopoeic exceptions where it occurs initially
include 風太郎 pūtarō, although as a personal name it's still pronounced Fūtarō. As
gairaigo, loanwords of non-Middle-Chinese origin (non-Middle-Chinese Chinese
borrowings such as パオズ paozu, ペテン peten as well as borrowings from non-
Chinese languages such as パーティ pāti, etc.), enter the language, /p/ is increasingly
used in transcription, initially or medially.
 /t, d, n/ are laminal denti-alveolar (that is, the blade of the tongue contacts the back of
the upper teeth and the front part of the alveolar ridge) and /s, z/ are laminal
alveolar. /w/ is the semivocalic equivalent of /u/, [ɰ], with little to no rounding.
 Consonants inside parentheses are allophones of other phonemes, at least in native
words. In loanwords, /ɸ, ɕ, ʑ, ͡ts, d͡z, ͡ tɕ, d͡ʑ/ sometimes occur phonemically, outside of
the allophonic variation described below.
 /s, t/ before /i/ and /sj, tj/ are alveolo-palatal [ɕ, ͡ tɕ]. /t/ before /u/ is [t͡s]. /z,
d/ before /i/ and /zj, dj/ are [ʑ, d͡ʑ], but in most dialects they are neutralized as free
variation between the two realizations; /d/ before /u/ is [d͡z], but /zu, du/ are also
neutralized in most dialects (see below). Traditionally, it is described that, in
neutralizing varieties, [d͡z, d͡ʑ] occur when word-initial or preceded by /N/, and [z,
ʑ] otherwise. However, a 2010 corpus study found that both variants were found in all
positions, and that the time it takes to produce the consonant or consonant cluster (to
which /N/, /Q/, and pauses contribute) was the most reliable predictor for affricate
realization.
 /h/ is [ç] before /i/ and /j/ ( listen), and [ɸ] before /u/ ( listen),[4] coarticulated with the
labial compression of that vowel. Historical /hh/ in native words has now become /pp/,
so geminate /h/ is now only found in recent loanwords (e.g. Gohho ゴッホ '(van)
Gogh', Bahha バッハ 'Bach') and rarely in Sino-Japanese or mixed compounds
(e.g. juhhari 十針 'ten stiches', zeffuchō 絶不調 'terrible slump'), realized as [hh], [χχ],
or [ɸɸ].
 /N/ is a syllable-final moraic nasal with variable pronunciation depending on what
follows. It may be considered an allophone of /n, m/ in syllable-final position or a
distinct phoneme.
 Realization of the liquid phoneme /r/ varies greatly depending on environment and
dialect. The prototypical and most common pronunciation is an apical tap, either

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alveolar [ɾ] or postalveolar [ɾ̠ ]. Utterance-initially and after /N/, the tap is typically
articulated in such a way that the tip of the tongue is at first momentarily in light contact
with the alveolar ridge before being released rapidly by airflow. This sound is described
variably as a tap, a "variant of [ɾ]", "a kind of weak plosive", and "an affricate with short
friction, [d̠ɹ̝ ̆ ]”. The apical alveolar or postalveolar lateral approximant [l] is a common
variant in all conditions, [4] particularly utterance-initially and before /i, j/. According to
Akamatsu (1997), utterance-initially and intervocalic ally (that is, except after /N/), the
lateral variant is better described as a tap [ɺ] rather than an approximant. The retroflex
lateral approximant [ɭ] is also found before /i, j/. In Tokyo's Shitamachi dialect, the
alveolar trill [r] is a variant marked with vulgarity. Other reported variants include the
alveolar approximant [ɹ], the alveolar stop [d], the retroflex flap [ɽ], the lateral fricative
[ɮ], and the retroflex stop [ɖ].

Thai Consonant Clusters

Consonant Clusters

This page presents condensed reference-style information on Thai consonant clusters.

In her indispensable layperson's text Reading and Writing Thai, Marie-Hélène Brown
characterizes any instance of a Thai consonant cluster ( อักษรควบ   /akL saawnR khuaapF/) as
belonging to one of three types:

I. True clusters กล ้อง 

(sound as a
ก ล - /gl-/
พรวน    /phruaanM/
merged phoneme) พ ร - /phr-/ ตรวจ    /dtruaatL/
ตร- /dtr-/

II. False clusters ทราบ   

(sound as a
ท ร - /s-/ /saapF/
โทร    /tho:hM/
single consonant) ท ร - /t-/ สมุทร    /saL mootL/
-ท ร  /-t/ เสร็จ    /setL/
ส ร - /s-/
จริง    /jingM/

จร- /j-/

III. 'Leading consonant'

clusters

a. syllables with

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หอ นำ  or ห  + sonorant หนู    /nuuR/

ออ นำ อยู ่   /yuuL/
อ + sonorant

b. "non-conforming" clusters [any other initial/ กบ    /gohpL/

final consonant นคร    /naH khaawnM/
pair]
ขนม    /khaL nohmR/
แขนง    /khaL naaengR/

Brown's treatment derives from a native Thai approach to grammar which seems to
recognize the same essential classification. 2 Each type will be discussed in more detail below. But
first, some general observations on tones and orthography.

Tone determination

In general, for all clusters, the tone of the syllable is calculated based on the consonant
class of the first consonant in the cluster; the tone marker (if any) is nevertheless placed above
the second consonant in the group.

ปลูก    /bpluukL/   -   Low tone determined by mid-class consonant ป

กล ้อง    /glaawngF/   -   Falling tone determined by ก, yet tone mark appears above ล

In fact, this very rule neatly accounts for the operation of the อักษรนำ   /akL saawnR namM/,
or “silent” leading consonants, ออ นำ   /aawM namM/ and หอ นำ   /haawR namM/.

Examples of หอ นำ   /haawR namM/

หมา    /maaR/, หลอด    /laawtL/, บุหรี ่   /booL reeL/, หน่วง    /nuaangL/, หนวก   

/nuaakL/, หญิง    /yingR/, หน่อย    /naawyL/, หนู    /nuuR/, หมด    /mohtL/, หมวก   
/muaakL/, ไหม  /maiR/, ไหม ้   /maiF/, เหงา  /ngaoR/, etc.

Examples of ออ นำ   /aawM namM/

อยู ่   /yuuL/, อย่า    /yaaL/, อย่าง    /yaangL/, and อยาก    /yaakL/

Most Type III(b) "non-conforming" clusters (clusters which internally invoke inherent sub-
syllable /-a/) use a sonorant second consonant and thus will follow the general rule as stated.
However, the rule does not apply when the second consonant in the cluster is not a sonorant. The
completely stated rule is as follows:

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Clustered Consonant Tone Rule (full version):

In syllables with initial consonant clusters, the overall lexical tone is determined by the consonant

class of:
• the first consonant in the cluster, if the second consonant is a sonorant;
• the second consonant in the cluster, if the second consonant is not a sonorant.

Here are some examples. In the preferred view, all of these represent a single orthographic
syllable whose initial consonant cluster contains a half-pronounced sub-syllable.

With a sonorant second consonant, we observe tone carry-forward from first consonant:
สนุก    /saL nookL/   -   Second consonant of cluster is sonorant, so the Low tone of this syllable
determined by high-class consonant ส

With non-sonorant second consonat, there is no tone carry-forward and the second
consonant prevails:
แสดง    /sa  daaeng /   -   Second consonant of cluster is non-sonorant (mid-class)
L M

เกษี ยณ    /gaL siianR/   -   Second consonant of cluster is non-sonrant (high-class)

เฉพาะ    /chaL phawH/   -   Second consonant of cluster is non-sonorant (low-class)

Inherent /-aaw/ probably shouldn't be considered a cluster. This inherent syllable is

significant enough that its initial consonant does not bleed over, affecting subsequent tone
calculations.

Clusters which invoke inherent /-a/ or /-aaw/ can never use a tone mark.

ไฉน  /chaL naiR/
แขนง    /khaL naaengR/

Orthography

With all types of consonant clusters, preposed vowels are placed before the entire cluster,
and superscripted and subscripted vowels are placed with respect to the second consonant in the
cluster. As mentioned above, where a tone mark is permitted, it, if any, is also placed above the
second consonant in the cluster.

โปรด    /bpro:htL/ Preposed vowel is placed before the cluster

เปล่า    /bplaaoL/ Cluster with preposed vowel and tone mark

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พริม
้     /phrimH/ Tone mark and superscripted vowel placed above the
second consonant

เสมอ    /saL muuhrR/ Preposed vowel placed before the cluster even in Type III;
tone is carried forward also

Sometimes the พินทุ    /phinM thooH/ symbol, a small dot below a consonant which

carries no vowel sound, is used in dictionaries and other language-specific materials. For more
information on the "Phinthu" character, please refer to the section on special symbols, where you'll
also find usage examples.

Type I - True Clusters

Thai grammar identifies as true clusters, or อักษรควบแท ้   /akL saawnR khuaapF thaaeH/,

those cluster permutations where the first consonant is one of { ก, ข, ค, ต, ป, ผ, พ } and the
second consonant is one of the three sonorants { ร, ล, ว }. Both consonants contribute equally to
the pronounced sound of the cluster.

ว as the second consonant deserves special mention since it most often functions as a diphthong.
A discussion of the diphthong usage of ว can be found on the vowels page. In this section we'll
focus on its rarer usage as a true cluster, and we therefore dispense with Brown's possibly
inadvertent inclusion of ปว-, ผว-, and พว-. I am also not able to find any instances of ผร-.

กร - กล - กว เกรง    /graehngM/, เกล็น    /glenM/, กว่า    /gwaaL/

-

ขร - ขล - ขว ขรึม    /khreumR/, ขลุย

่     /khluyL/, ขวัญ    /khwanR/
-

คร- คล- คว เครือ
่ ง    /khreuuangF/, คลอง    /khlaawngM/, ความ   
/khwaam /
M
-

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ตร- ตระกูล    /dtraL guunM/

ปร- ปล- เปรียบ    /bpriiapL/, ปลา    /bplaaM/

     ผล- ผลัด    /phlatL/

พร- พล- พระ    /phraH/, พลอย    /phlaawyM/

The special ligature ฤ  can also act as the second consonant of a true cluster.

In addition to these cases, I have identified loanword usage which seems to imply additional

clusters. One may argue that Thais do not pronounce the following words as shown, but the
intention of the Thai spellings—and their de facto usage—are not in doubt. Consequently, our
dictionary entry for each of these takes care to note that our transcription may possibly be rogue.
It's also possible that some Thais, perhaps those who have greater experience with the loanword
languages, may pronounce such words differently than those without such experience.

บ ร -   -   เบรค    /braehk /, บรั่นดี  /bran  dee /, บราซลิ  

L L M
/braaM sinM/
บ ล -   -   บลูเบอร์ร ี่   /bluu  buuhr  ree /, เบลซ   
M M F
/blaehsL/
ดร-   -   ดรากอน  /draa  gaawn /, ไฮโดรเจน  /hai  dro:h  jaehn /
M M M M M

Type II - False Clusters

Cononant clusters where the second consonant is a silent ร  are called false clusters, or อักษร
ควบไม่แท ้   /akL saawnR khuaapF maiF thaaeH/.

/s-/ ทราบ 
ทร-   /saapF/

/t-/ โทร 
ทร-   /tho:hM/

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/-t/ สมุทร 
-ทร   /saL mootL/

/s-/ สร ้าง 
สร-   /saangF/

/s-/ ไซร ้
ซร-   /saiH/

/j-/ จริง 
จร-   /jingM/

Type III - 'Leading Consonant' Clusters

a. Tone-Shifting 'Leading Consonant' Clusters

หอ นำ  and ออ นำ  refer to methods of accessing the rising and low tones which
are not normally available with a sonorant initial by prepending a silent high-class consonant 
ห or อ, respectively so that the high-class tone rules are activated.

/ng-/ หง่อย 
หง- /ngaawyL/
 

/n-/ หนู 
หน-   /nuuR/

/m-/ หมา 
หม-   /maaR/

/y-/ หยุด 
หย-   /yootL/

/r-/ หรือ 
หร-   /reuuR/

/l-/ หลับ 
หล-   /lapL/

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/w-/ หวัง 
หว-   /wangR/

/y-/ อยู ่
อย   /yuuL/

b. Non-conforming 'Leading Consonant' Clusters

If the two consonants in a cluster cannot be formed into a true consonant cluster, then they do not
conform. The cluster will be called "non-conforming." They cluster is spoken only by the insertion
of a sub-syllable /-a/ which does not affect the overall tone calculation for the orthographic
syallable3. No tone mark may be used.

ขนม    /khaL nohmR/
มรกต    /maawM raH gohtL/   -   ก ร , ท ร , ธ ร , ม ร , and ห ร  sometimes yield /-aaw/
สนุก    /saL nookL/
แขนง    /khaL naaengR/   -   note preposed vowel positioning

c. Inherent /-oh-/ Doesn't Belong in this Discussion

Brown includes inherent /-oh-/ in her discussion of clusters but I feel that it doesn't belong here. It
is a full-fledged vowel which links an initial consonant or consonant cluster to a final consonant or
consonant cluster. There may be some technical basis for its inclusion according to the strictest
definition of a cluster as "any two consonants written without a vowel," (Kumchai) but it seems
more important to draw a distinction between it and sub-syllable /-a/.

In any case, here is a nutshell presentation: If the two consonants in the cluster belong to the
same syllable, then inherent /-oh-/ is invoked.
กบ    /gohpL/
รส    /rohtH/
ผล    /phohnR/
สง่     /sohngL/   -   Tone mark may be used.
etc.

Modern Greek Phonology

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Consonant phonemes

Labial Dental Alveolar Velar

Nasal /m/ μ /n/ ν
Plosive voiceless /p/ π /t/ τ /k/ κ
voiced /b/ μπ /d/ ντ /ɡ/ γκ
Fricative voiceless /f/ φ /θ/ θ /s/ σ, ς/x/ χ
voiced /v/ β /ð/ δ /z/ ζ /ɣ/ γ
Tap /ɾ/ ρ
Lateral /l/ λ

The alveolar nasal /n/ is assimilated to following obstruents; it can be labiodental (e.g.
αμφιβολία [aɱfivoˈlia] 'doubt'), dental (e.g. άνθος [ˈan̪θos] 'flower'), retracted alveolar (e.g.
πένσα [ˈpen̠sa] 'pliers'), alveolo-palatal (e.g. συγχύζω [siɲˈçizo] 'to annoy'), or velar (e.g.
άγχος [ˈaŋхos] 'stress').

Voiceless stops are unaspirated and with a very short voice onset time.They may be lightly
voiced in rapid speech, especially when intervocalic.[3] /t/'s exact place of articulation
ranges from alveolar to denti-alveolar, to dental.[4] It may be fricated [θ̠ ~ θ] in rapid
speech, and very rarely, in function words, it is deleted.[5] /p/ and /k/ are reduced to lesser
degrees in rapid speech.

Voiced stops are prenasalised (which is reflected in the orthography) to varying extents,
and sometimes not at all. The nasal component—when present—does not increase the
duration of the stop's closure; as such, prenasalised voiced stops would be most
accurately transcribed [ᵐb ⁿd ᵑɡ] or [m͡b, n͡d, ŋ͡ɡ], depending on the length of the nasal
component. Word-initially and after /r/ or /l/, they are very rarely, if ever, prenasalised. In
rapid and casual speech, prenasalisation is generally rarer, and voiced stops may be
lenited to fricatives.This also accounts for Greeks having trouble disambiguating voiced
stops, nasalised voiced stops, and nasalised voiceless stops in borrowings and names
from foreign languages; for example, d, nd, and nt, which are all written ντ in Greek.

/s/ and /z/ are somewhat retracted ([s̠, z̠]); they are produced in between English
alveolars /s, z/ and postalveolars /ʃ, ʒ/. /s/ is variably fronted or further retracted depending
on environment, and, in some cases, it may be better described as an advanced

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postalveolar ([ʃ˖]). The only Greek rhotic /r/ is prototypically an alveolar tap [ɾ], often
retracted ([ɾ̠]). It may be an alveolar approximant [ɹ] intervocalically, and is usually a trill [r]
in clusters, with two or three short cycles. [8]

Greek has palatals [c, ɟ, ç, ʝ] that contrast with velars [k, ɡ, x, ɣ] before /a, o, u/, but in
complementary distribution with velars before front vowels /e, i/.[ʎ] and [ɲ] occur as
allophones of /l/ and /n/, respectively, in CJV (consonant–glide–vowel) clusters, in
analyses that posit an archiphoneme-like glide /J/ that contrasts with the vowel /i/.[10] All
palatals may be analysed in the same way. The palatal stops and fricatives are somewhat
retracted, and [ʎ] and [ɲ] are somewhat fronted. [ʎ] is best described as a postalveolar,
and [ɲ] as alveolo-palatal.

Finally, Greek has two phonetically affricate clusters, [t͡ s] and [d͡z]. Arvaniti (2007) is
reluctant to treat these as phonemes on the grounds of inconclusive research into their
phonological behavior.

Consonant
phones

Labio
Retracte Post- Alveolo Retracte
Bilabia - Denta Alveola
d alveola - d Velar
l denta l r
alveolar r palatal palatal
l

ɲ
Nasal m ɱ n̪ n n̠ ŋ
̟

Stop p b t d c̠ ɟ˗ k ɡ

Affricate ͡ ts d͡z

Fricative f v θ ð s̠ z̠ ç˗ ʝ˗ x ɣ

Approximan
ɹ̠
t

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Flap or tap ɾ̠

Trill r̠

Lateral l ʎ

Some assimilatory processes mentioned above also occur across word boundaries. In
particular, this goes for a number of grammatical words ending in /n/, most notably the
negation particles δεν and μην and the accusative forms of the personal pronoun and
definite article τον and την. If these words are followed by a voiceless stop, /n/ either
assimilates for place of articulation to the stop, or is altogether deleted, and the stop
becomes voiced. This results in pronunciations such as τον πατέρα [to(m)baˈtera] ('the
father' ACC) or δεν πειράζει [ðe(m)biˈrazi] ('it doesn't matter'), instead of *[ton paˈtera] and
*[ðen piˈrazi]. The precise extent of assimilation may vary according to dialect, speed and
formality of speech.This may be compared with pervasive sandhi phenomena in Celtic
languages, particularly nasalisation in Irish and in certain dialects of Scottish Gaelic.