Elasin Phonology
Vowels & Consonants - Avu Aufalori Kefalori
Elasin has 5 vowel symbols:
e a i u o
The 17 Elasin consonsants are as follows:
p b t d k g f v m n l r s sh th h '(glottal stop)
Pronunciation of Vowels - Fathun aufaloram
Each vowel has two pronunciations or "phones"...
| Letter |
Strong |
Weak |
| a |
father |
about |
| e |
say |
bed |
| i |
see |
bit |
| o |
coat |
cot |
| u |
boot |
foot |
There are also 4 diphthongs:
ai = pronounced like eye
au = pronounced like cow
oe & oi = pronounced like boy
These 4 have ONLY one pronunciation (considered "strong").
One characteristic of i and u is as follows:
When preceding another vowel, i and u become glides (i.e. pronounced like y and w) so that -
uevaku is pronounced "way-vah-koo"
makiegi is pronounced "mah-kyay-gee"
Another way that Strong Vowels are indicated is by doubling: aa, ee, etc.
There a specific instances where the Strong and Weak pronunciations occur.
Strong Vowels are heard:
1) When the vowel stands alone in a syllable: the a in avute "everyone, all people."
2) When the vowel is the final sound in a syllable: the u and e in avute.
3) When the vowel is in a stressed syllable: the o in vesotham "language" in the Accusative case. NOTE that the basic form of the word vesoth would have a "weak o" since "ve-" is the stressed syllable in that case.
Weak Vowels are heard predominantly:
1) When the vowel is in an unstressed syllable between two consonants: the o in vesoth.
2) When the vowel occurs as the initial sound in an unstressed syllable: the -i- in Elasin (e-LAS-in), or as in the difference between shemuagi shay-mwah-gee "I see" and shemuagith shay-mwah-gith (same sound as "bit" in last syllable) "I see it."
Which brings us to the subject of STRESS.
Stress is normally placed on the penultimate, or next-to-last, syllable of a word. In two syllable words, the stress is then on the first syllable.
Syllables will be (C)V(l, r, m, n, f, v, th, sh, or s) which means a syllable can consist of any initial consonant, a mandatory vowel, and an optional final consonant. The final consonants are ONLY the ones listed. Stops, either voiced or unvoiced, cannot be the final phone in a syllable.
Pronunciation of Consonants - Fathun kefaloram
Consonant pronunciation is similar to that familiar to those who speak English, with the following exceptions:
The vowel glides (i and u) may be added before any vowel and after some consonants, but the following pronunciation changes will take place when the glide comes after t, s, or h:
ti+vowel is pronounced like the "ch"+vowel in church
si+vowel is pronounced like "sh"+vowel in ship
hi+vowel is pronounced like the German "ch"+vowel in Ich
ru-/ri+vowel and lw/ly+vowel do not occur as combinations. In a word like pelu "writing," the present tense pelua is actually syllablized as pel.ua whereas pelu is pe.lu.
The ti, hi and si combinations are seen predominantly in the past tense verb conjugations: sathitu = "building", sathituagith = "I am building it."; sathitiegith = "I was building it."
NOTE that the first two are pronounced "sah-THEE-too" "sah-thee-TWAH-gith," but the final one is "sah-thee-CHAY-gith."
The ti's "ch" sound is a carry-over from the older form of Elasin, Uhanish. In modern Elasin, most words that originally had the letter "ch" have changed to "sh."
One last sound in Elasin you will hear is known as a glottal stop. It shows up in transliterations as a '. This is the sound you hear in some English/Cockney accents in the word "bottle" as in "bo'le" or in English "uh-oh." The glottal stop is heard between two vowels that do not form a diphthong. For example:
avu duvo'i falatisa'i "father and child"
This would be pronounced like: AH-voo doo-VOH-ee fah-lah-tee-SAH-ee
NOTE the stress is on the penultimate syllable of the WORD/PHRASE, including the particle "i" which is part of the conjunction "avu...i....i."
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