Scellan/Accents

A major language of Verse:Tricin, Skellan has many accents. Some common accent features are

• "R-breaking": certain /rC/ clusters epenthesize to /rəC/. Most accents have this feature to some degree.
• long vowels for nasal vowels
• In lambdic accents: nasal vowel mergers so that the total number of nasal vowels is less than 10. The first victims tend to be the back nasal vowels /ũ õ ɔ̃/ (which often merge into two vowels) and the front rounded nasal vowels /ỹ ø̃ œ̃/ (which often merge into their unrounded counterparts /ĩ ẽ ɛ̃/).
• Some dialects such as older Eetøøm retain the conservative pronounciation of y as [ɨ] in some environments. Backed realizations of stressed y, such as [ʌ], [ɤ] or [ʊ], is a special feature of some accents.
• Pronouncing n before V as [l]
• hn hŋ being realized as [ʔn ʔŋ] when not word-initial and not before a stressed vowel
• Like in English, there are "nonstandard" pronunciations of /θ ð/. There are various strategies:
  • These may become stops, dental [t̪˭ d̪] or alveolar [t˭ d], in some environments. In Skellan eye dialect this may be transcribed by substituting d for þ.
  • /ð/ may become [z], and /θ/ might participate in a chain shift θ > t > d.
  • /θ ð/ may be realized as "slit fricatives" [θ̠ ð̠~ɹ]. In dialects that do this, /ð/ before a vowel tends to become [ʋ].
• /t/-glottalization
• Allophonic vowel length or tensing, especially in non-lambdic accents
  • Vowels may lengthen in open syllables, before voiced consonants, or before front fricatives /f v θ ð s z/.

TODO: Some accents might merge /œ/ and /ə/

Skellan accents

Eetøøm pronunciation

The so-called Eetøøm Skellan (eetøøm being an old word for 'standard') accent is the most well-known of the non-lambdic accents. Eetøøm pronunciation is based on the middle class accent of the capital Alcve after the industrial revolution. It is characterized by having a vowel length distinction instead of nasal vowels. It is the default accent used in newscasting in Skella.

TODO: merge some L-colored vowels with other vowels

• l is normatively pronounced [ɴ̆] before a vowel.
• Short vowels: /i y ə u ɛ œ a ɔ/ = [i y ə u e ø a o] (/y œ/ are more front than in General Fyxoomian)
• Lambdic vowels: /ĩ ỹ ũ ẽ ø̃ ə̃ õ ɛ̃ ã ɔ̃/ = [iɤ yɤ uɤ ɛjɤ œyɤ ɔwɤ æɤ aɤ oɤ]~[yː ʉ̠ː uː ɛu ɞː ɔu ɔu œː ɑː oː]
• Diphthongs: /ai ui au ɛu iu ɛɪ œy ɔu iə yə uə/ = [aə ui au ɛu iu ɛɪ œy ɔu iə yə uə]
• Unstressed /ə̃/ is traditionally pronounced [ɤ], however in Modern Eetøøm it merges with /ɔ/.
• In Conservative Eetøøm, y in unstressed syllables is pronounced [ɨ].
• In Advanced Eetøøm, /iə yə uə/ are pronounced [iː yː uː] (in line with Contemporary Alcvean).
• Linking L after [ɔ yː ʉ̠ː uː ɛu ɞː ɔu œː ɑː oː] (analogous to linking R in RP)
  • For example, gyl jew in 'out of the blue' is often pronounced /ko jɛu‿ʟ in/.
• Syllabic resonants and schwa + resonant sequences are not distinct in modern Eetøøm.
• R-breaking: Anywhere after a stressed vowel, /rC/ for voiced C undergoes epenthesis to [ɾəC].
  • arm 'to live' = [ˈaɾəm]
  • arn 'second (ordinal)' = [ˈaɾən]
  • serŋ 'new' = [ˈseɾəŋ]
  • derv 'to put up with' = [ˈteɾəv]
  • orð 'big' = [ˈoɾəð]
  • bwrl 'pine' = [ˈpuɾɤ]
• R-fortition: rC > r̥C for voiceless C.
  • nert 'spark' = [ner̥t]
  • arca 'skin' = [ˈar̥kʰə]

Contemporary Alcvean

The contemporary accent of Alcve, the capital of Skella.

• cl is pronounced as if it was cŋ.
• /ai au/ = [æː ɑʊ]
• /ĩ ỹ ũ ẽ ø̃ ə̃ õ ɛ̃ ã ɔ̃/ = [yː ʉ̠ː uː ɛu ɞ̠ː ou ou œː ɑː ɔː]
• /ɛi œy ɔu/ = [eɪ øʏ oʊ]
• /iə yə uə/ = [iː yː uː]
• Unstressed /ə̃/ and /ɔ/ are realized as [o].
• /ui/ = [oi] or even lower [oe] or [ɔe]
• Especially in working-class accents, /ð/ may become [z], and /θ/ may participate in a chain shift: /θ/ > [t] and /t/ > [d].
• For the 1st person pronoun naw, the form no is preferred in colloquial speech. Due to the L-linking rule (see above), this has led to the stereotype of Skellans saying nol for naw among non-Skellans.
• When not before a vowel, /r/ becomes [l].

Skellan accent #2

• /ĩ ỹ ũ ẽ ø̃ ə̃ õ ɛ̃ ã ɔ̃/ are realized as [eː øː oː ɛː œː oː oː ɛː ɑɔ~ɑː ɔː] (more conservatively, /ĩ ỹ ũ/ are [ɪː ʏː ʊː])
• ai wi aw ew iw ee øø oo = /aiː yiː auː ɛuː iuː ɛiː œyː ɔuː/

Skellan accent #3 (lambdic)

øø = /ɔy/

Skellan accent #4 (conservative)

• ee øø oo are all monophthongs: [e: ø: o:]
• /ç/ and /h/ before plosives = [x]
• /h/ after V and before a resonant = [ʔ]
• /ʟ/ = [ɫ~l]

Fyxoomian accents

General Fyxoomian Skellan

This is the de facto standard accent of Fyxoom.

• Monophthongs /i y ə u ɛ œ a ɔ/ are short in closed syllables and long in open syllables.
• /œ y/ are commonly centralized, closer to [ɞ ʉ].
• /ai ui au ɛu iu ɛɪ œy ɔu iə yə uə/ = [ai ui au eu iu ɛɪ ɞʉ ɔu iə yə uə]
• epenthesis in /rC/ clusters when C = nasal or /v/. For example, arm 'to live' is [ˈaɾəm].
• Nasal vowels are also consistently pharyngealized, resulting in mergers. The pharyngealization is stronger before nasals.
  • wl~ool~ol [õˁ~ɔ̃ˁ]
  • il~eel~ul [ẽˁ~ø̃ˁ]
  • el~øl~øøl [ɛ̃ˁ~œ̃ˁ]
  • al [ãˁ]

Lleeband

The Lleeband accent is becoming the new prestige accent, and General Fyxamian is creeping towards it.

• General Fyxoomian /ʉ ʉə ɵ/ are unrounded to [ɨ ɨə ɜ].
• stressed /ə/ is backed to [ʌ~ɑ]; /a/ is fully front [a].
• /ɔ/ is raised to [oə].
• /ai ui au ɛu iu ɛɪ œy ɔu iə yə uə/ = [ae oi ao ɛu iu əi əɨ ou iə ɨə uə]

High Cøøvean

Stereotypes (while it was current): cultured, highbrow intellectuals, affluent

High Cøøvean is an obsolete Fyxoomian accent. It was like a "Transatlantic" accent, in that it was a compromise between Fyxoomian and Skellan standard accents. It is the closest thing to a "posh" accent in Skellan culture.

L-colored vowels are realized as pharyngealized vowels (no nasalization)?

Monophthongs are long in open syllables and short in closed syllables.

Low Cøøvean

• L-colored vowels are realized as vowels with an [ɐ̯] offglide.
• /ɛi/ is pronounced [ɪi] when followed by a consonant and [ɛi] otherwise.

Flian

Notorious for its strange sounds, this is the accent of the Fyxoomian city of Flian (/fʟiən/ FLEE-uhn or [fʟiːn] FLEEN) and its environs.

• /ç/ is fronted to [ɕ] and triggers retraction of /ʃ tʃ/ to [ʂ tʂ].
• /χ/ is fronted to [x].
• A chain vowel shift ("Flian Vowel Shift") affects the following non-nasalized vowels.
  1. /ɛu, ui/ > [eo~eə~ɛː, oe~oə~oː]
  2. /au, ai/ > [æw, ɑɪ]
  3. /ou, øy, ei/ > [œw~œː, œi, æj]
  4. /u, y, i/ > [ʊ, ʏ, ɪ]
  5. /uə, yə, iə/ > [uː, yː, iː] before C
• Front nasal vowels are realized as rhotic nasal vowels: /ẽˁ~ø̃ˁ, ɛ̃ˁ~œ̃ˁ/ are realized as rhotic nasal vowels [ɚ̃, ʌ̃ɚ] or even rhotic oral vowels [ɚ, ʌɚ].
• /θ ð/ > [t̪˭ d̪] often occurs.
• t-glottalization like in Estuary English

Cnollta

Spoken in the Cnollta region in Fyxoom, this accent is often perceived as backwards and boorish.

Similar to General Fyxoomian, but:

• Especially in lower class accents, /θ/ > /t/ occurs after stressed syllables.
• /ð/ > [ɹ~ʋ] after vowels.
• Many monophthongs lengthen or diphthongize allophonically:
  • The Cnollta accent has a "trap-bath split", but its distribution is more like the Philly tense-a system. In words with ultimate stress, stressed /a/ is pronounced [ɑː] before /r f v s z θ ð/ and word-finally, and [æ] or fully front [a] otherwise. For example:
    • saþ /saθ/ 'salty' is pronounced [sɑːθ~sɑːf] or [sɑːt]; however, baþa 'gun' is pronounced [pæθə].
    • syvŋá 'art' is pronounced [səvŋɑː]
    • but glah 'will, intention' is pronounced [kʀæh]
  • /ɛ/ becomes [ɛə] or [eə] before voiced consonants /m n ŋ r v ð z/ or word-finally. /œ/ and /ə/ become [ɞː] and [ɘː] in the same environment.

Need more special features - do something with consonants maybe

Organically non-lambdic accent

• There is no linking L, unlike in Eetøøm-derived accents.
  • wl~ool~ol [õˁ~ɔ̃ˁ] > [oː]
  • il~eel~ul [ẽˁ~ø̃ˁ] > [eː]
  • el~øl~øøl [ɛ̃ˁ~œ̃ˁ] > [ɛː~ɜː]
  • al [ãˁ] > [ɑː]

Þrwhas

Non-lambdic like Eetøøm, but no linking L

r, rr = American r, sje?

• /ai au/ = [æː ɑʊ]
• /ĩ ỹ ũ ẽ ø̃ ə̃ õ ɛ̃ ã ɔ̃/ = [iy yʉ ʊu eø øo əo ɔo ɛœ aɑ ɑɔ]
• /ɛi œy ɔu/ = [eɪ øʏ oʊ]
• /iə yə uə/ = [iː yː uː]
• Unstressed /ə̃/ and /ɔ/ are realized as [o]
• /ui/ = [oi]

Early Modern Skellan

• The liquid l was always pronounced [lˠ]. Likewise, ll was [ɬˠ].
• The letter y was pronounced /ɨ/.
• The vowel a was never reduced, and was always pronounced [a~ɐ].
• The diphthongs /ɛɪ œʏ ɔʊ/ (written ee øø oo) were long monophthongs [eː øː oː].
• The consonant ç /ç/ was actually /x/, as in Clofabic languages at that time.
• In written diphthongs, the second element was longer unlike in most modern accents, i.e. ai wi aw ew iw ia ua wa = [ɐiˑ uiˑ ɐuˑ euˑ iuˑ iɜˑ yɜˑ uɜˑ]. Thus, for example, ai /ai/ [ɐiˑ] and aj /aj/ [aj] were phonemically distinct.