Concept
Catalan phonology
The phonology of Catalan, a Romance language, has a certain degree of dialectal variation. Although there are two standard varieties, one based on Central Eastern dialect and another one based on South-Western or Valencian dialect, this article deals with features of all or most dialects, as well as regional pronunciation differences. Catalan is characterized by final-obstruent devoicing, lenition, and voicing assimilation; a set of 7 to 8 phonemic vowels, vowel assimilations (including vowel harmony), many phonetic diphthongs, and vowel reduction, whose precise details differ between dialects. {| class="wikitable" style="text-align: center;" |+ Consonants of Catalan ! colspan="2" | ! Labial ! Dental/Alveolar ! Palatal ! Velar
| ! Uvular |
|---|
| ! colspan="2" |
| m |
| n |
| ɲ |
| (ŋ) |
| - |
| ! rowspan="2" |
| ! voiceless |
| p |
| t̪ |
| colspan="2" |
| - |
| ! voiced |
| b |
| d̪ |
| colspan="2" |
| - |
| ! rowspan="2" |
| ! voiceless |
| t͡s |
| t͡ɕ |
| - |
| ! voiced |
| d͡z |
| d͡ʑ |
| - |
| ! rowspan="2" |
| ! voiceless |
| f |
| s |
| ɕ |
| - |
| ! voiced |
| (v) |
| z |
| ʑ |
| rowspan="2" |
| - |
| ! rowspan="2" |
| ! central |
| j |
| w |
| - |
| ! lateral |
| l |
| ʎ |
| - |
| ! colspan="2" |
| r |
| - |
| ! colspan="2" |
| ɾ |
| } |
| Phonetic notes: |
| /t/, /d/ are laminal denti-alveolar t̪, d̪. After /s z/, they are laminal alveolar t, d. |
| /k/, /ɡ/ are velar but fronted to pre-velar position before front vowels. In some Majorcan dialects, the situation is reversed; the main realization is palatal c, ɟ, but before liquids and rounded back vowels they are velar k, ɡ. |
| /n/, /l/, /ɾ/ are apical front alveolar n, l, ɾ, but the first two are laminal denti-alveolar n̪, l̪ before /t/, /d/. In addition, /n/ is postalveolar n̠ or alveolo-palatal ɲ̟ before /ʃ/, /ʒ/, /t͡ʃ/, /d͡ʒ/, velar ŋ before /k/, /ɡ/ and labiodental ɱ before /f/, (/v/), where it merges with /m/. It also merges with /m/ (to m) before /p/, /b/. |
| /s/, /z/, /r/ are apical back alveolar s̺, z̺, r, also described as postalveolar. |
| /t͡s/, /d͡z/ are apical alveolar [t͡s̺], [d͡z̺]. |
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