Zompist Bboard Again

Retroactively raised an instance of /ɒw/ that didn't merge with /ɔw/. Obstruents at the end of a word are dropped unless it would cause the word to elide entirely. In that case: the schwa is reintroduced before a word starting with a consonant, and before a word starting with a vowel, it remains a ...

Nasal monophthongs become long. Phonemic nasalization is subsequently lost, though it remains allophonically and now occurs any time a nasal consonant immediately follows the vowel in the same word. /ɑw/ merges with resulting /ɒw/. /aɛ̆/ widens and slightly raises to /æj/. The monophthongal low vow...

Coda [h] undergoes the same change that coda [ʁ] did in the previous post. Final /p t k/ cease to have an audible release when enchainement does not occur. Most instances of plural marking are lost in the spelling when they are homophonous with their singular counterparts. Verbs are unaffected in t...

After we've decided this has run its course, someone else can do a new phrase; I've already come up with the last two (although one of Otto's was originally done instead of this one). Ah, screw it, I want to revive this game. Here's one from French: Votre âme est un paysage choisi Que vont charmant...

Is it attested for a language to lose only some of its ejective consonants (say losing ejection in /pʼ tʼ/ but keeping it in /t͡sʼ t͡ʃʼ kʼ/)?

Or we can take a third option, since there was a comment that the trigraphs were fine: Labial Central alveolar Lateral alveolar Central retroflex Lateral retroflex Palatal Velar Nasal m /m/ n /n/ ṇ /ɳ/ ń /ɲ/ ñ /ŋ/ Tenuis stop p /p/ t /t/ ṭ /ʈ/ k /k/ Prenasalized stop mb /ᵐb/ nd /ⁿd/ ṇḍ /ᶯɖ/ ñg /ᵑɡ/ ...

Actually, which do you people prefer for /ᶮd͡ʑ/: ńj or ńź?

I think I like this a little better. Avoids trigraphs and makes the relationship between the tenuis central affricates and the tenuis central fricatives clearer. Labial Central alveolar Lateral alveolar Central retroflex Lateral retroflex Palatal Velar Nasal m /m/ n /n/ ṇ /ɳ/ ń /ɲ/ ñ /ŋ/ Tenuis stop...

One other thing ─ I would call the "preaspirated" consonants prenasalized myself, and would note that I honestly have never heard of preaspirated consonants (which are practically universally voiceless) turning into voiced prenasalized consonants. Good catch—I meant prenasalized, not prea...

Travis B. wrote: ↑Fri Jan 30, 2026 7:57 pm I should say, though, that this has an unusually rich inventory of lateral consonants.

It does. I agree.

Maybe this for the transliteration of the consonants instead, to avoid trigraphs? Labial Central alveolar Lateral alveolar Central retroflex Lateral retroflex Palatal Velar Nasal m /m/ n /n/ ṇ /ɳ/ ñ /ɲ/ g̃ /ŋ/ Tenuis stop p /p/ t /t/ ṭ /ʈ/ k /k/ Prenasalized stop mb /ᵐb/ nd /ⁿd/ ṇḍ /ᶯɖ/ g̃g /ᵑɡ/ Ten...

Let's bring this back. Here's a phonology with a transcription system that I think could use a second pair of eyes: Consonants Labial Central alveolar Lateral alveolar Central retroflex Lateral retroflex Palatal Velar Nasal m /m/ n /n/ ṇ /ɳ/ ñ /ɲ/ g̃ /ŋ/ Tenuis stop p /p/ t /t/ ṭ /ʈ/ k /k/ Prenasali...

I have a conlang that merges tautosyllabic /pl tl kl/ into /t͡ɬ/. Is it plausible for tautosyllabic /tl/ to thereafter be reintroduced via borrowing and maintain a stable contrast with /t͡ɬ/?

How plausible is something like /ɥ/ → /ʝʷ/ → /ʒʷ/ → /d͡ʒʷ/ → /d͡ʒ/ word-initially and after sonorant consonants and /ɥ/ → /ʝʷ/ → /ʒʷ/ → /ʒ/ elsewhere? I'd expect /j/ to go along with it but you could probably get away without it if you want. Yeah, I was thinking of something to accompany /j/ → /ʝ/ ...

How plausible is something like /ɥ/ → /ʝʷ/ → /ʒʷ/ → /d͡ʒʷ/ → /d͡ʒ/ word-initially and after sonorant consonants and /ɥ/ → /ʝʷ/ → /ʒʷ/ → /ʒ/ elsewhere?

Does anybody else pronounce abaci with the C pronounced /k/ but abacist with the C pronounced /s/? I think I'm doing the former by analogy with abacus but the latter by analogy with other words that end in –cist (physicist in particular seems like a good example to mention).

At least conditional /r/ > /ʐ/ is attested, and the rest I find plausible (the last one especially with /ʍ/ as an intermediate step).

All other parameters being the same, is it attested to unambiguously contrast the perfective and imperfective aspects and have a three-way tense contrast among past, present, and future in the imperfective aspect but only a two-way contrast between one of past/nonpast or future/nonfuture in the perf...

/hl/ > /ɬ/; /hɹ hj hw/ would become /ɹ̥ ç ʍ/ were they in the sample. Consonants degeminate, with compensatory lengthening in preceding short stressed vowels (as in both cases here). Final voiceless stops cease to have an audible release. Ão lehuar da Mãija, de cuy' nõumre ne quier' varcrarme, nua ...

[θ] shifts to [f]. Syllable-final [ɾ] is lost, with compensatory lengthening of the previous vowel (if there is one in the same syllable and it's not already long). Vowels which have become silent are deleted from the spelling; acordarme also loses its d . Retroactively applied some other spelling ...