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.
Labial |
Dental/ Alveolar |
Palatal | Velar | Uvular | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Nasal | m | n 3 | ɲ 6 | ( ŋ) | ||
Plosive | voiceless | p | t 1 | k 2 | ||
voiced | b | d 1 | ɡ 2 | |||
Affricate | voiceless | ( t͡s) 5 | t͡ʃ 7 | |||
voiced | d͡z 5 | d͡ʒ 7 | ||||
Fricative | voiceless | f | s 4 | ʃ 7 | ||
voiced | ( v) | z 4 | ʒ 7 | ( ʁ) | ||
Approximant | central | j | w | |||
lateral | l 3 | ʎ 6 | ||||
Trill | r 4 | |||||
Tap | ɾ 3 |
Phonetic notes:
Voiced obstruents undergo final-obstruent devoicing so that fred ('cold', m. s.) is pronounced with [t], while fredes ('cold', f. pl.) is pronounced with [ð]. [18]
Voiced stops become lenited to fricatives or approximants in syllable onsets, after continuants: [8] /b/ → [ β], /d/ → [ ð], /ɡ/ → [ ɣ].
In Catalan (not in Valencian), /b/ and /ɡ/ may be geminated in certain environments (e.g. poble [ˈpɔbːɫə] 'village', regla [ˈreɡːɫə] 'rule'). [21] [22]
The phonemic status of affricates is dubious; after other consonants, affricates are in free variation with fricatives, e.g. clenxa [ˈkɫɛnʃə] ~ [ˈkɫɛɲt͡ʃə] (E) / [ˈklɛɲt͡ʃa] (W) ('hair parting') [23] and may be analyzed as either single phonemes or clusters of a stop and a fricative.
There is dialectal variation in regards to affricate length, with long affricates occurring in both Eastern and Western dialects such as in Majorca and few areas in Southern Valencia. [31] Also, intervocalic affricates are predominantly long, especially those that are voiced or occurring immediately after a stressed syllable (e.g. metge [ˈmed͡ːʒə] (E) / [ˈmed͡ːʒe] (W) 'medic'). [32] In modern Valencian [d͡ʒ] and [d͡ːʒ] have merged into /d͡ʒ/.
/v/ occurs in Balearic, [17] as well as in Alguerese, Standard Valencian and some areas in southern Catalonia. [33] Everywhere else, it has merged with historic /β/ so that [b] and [β] occur in complementary distribution. [34]
While "dark ( velarized) l", [ ɫ], may be a positional allophone of /l/ in most dialects (such as in the syllable coda; e.g. sòl [ˈsɔɫ] 'ground'), [36] /l/ is dark irrespective of position in Eastern dialects like Majorcan [37] and standard Eastern Catalan (e.g. tela [ˈtɛɫə]).
The distribution of the two rhotics /r/ and /ɾ/ closely parallels that of Spanish.
In careful speech, /n/, /m/, and /l/ may be geminated (e.g. innecessari [inːəsəˈsaɾi] (E) / [inːeseˈsaɾi] (W) 'unnecessary'; emmagatzemar [əmːəɣəd͡zəˈma] (E) / [emːaɣad͡zeˈma(ɾ)] (W) 'to store'; il·lusió [ilːuziˈo] 'illusion'). A geminated /ʎː/ may also occur (e.g. ratlla [ˈraʎːə] (E) / [ˈraʎːa] (W) 'line'). [17] Wheeler analyzes intervocalic [r] as the result of gemination of a single rhotic phoneme: [39] serra /ˈsɛɾɾə/ → [ˈsɛrə] (E) / /ˈsɛɾɾa/ → [ˈsɛra] (W) 'saw, mountains' (this is similar to the common analysis of Spanish and Portuguese rhotics). [40]
Phonetic notes:
Most varieties of Catalan contrast seven stressed vowel phonemes. [50] However, some Balearic dialects have an additional stressed vowel phoneme (/ ə/); e.g. sec /ˈsək/ ('dry, I sit'). [51] [20] The stressed schwa of these dialects corresponds to /ɛ/ in Central Catalan and /e/ in Western Catalan varieties (that is, Central and Western Catalan dialects differ in their incidence of /e/ and /ɛ/, with /e/ appearing more frequently in Western Catalan; e.g. Central Catalan sec /ˈsɛk/ vs. Western Catalan sec /ˈsek/ ('dry, I sit'). [50]
Contrasting series of the main Catalan dialects:
LS | IPA | Gloss |
---|---|---|
sac | a | 'bag' |
sec | ə [51] | 'dry'/'I sit' |
séc | e | 'fold' |
sic | i | 'sic' |
soc | ɔ | 'clog' |
sóc | o | 'I am' |
suc | u | 'juice' |
Other contrast | ||
LS | IPA | Gloss |
*set | ɛ | 'seven' |
ə | 'thirst' |
LS | IPA | Gloss |
---|---|---|
sac | a | 'bag' |
sec | e | 'dry'/'I sit' |
séc | 'fold' | |
sic | i | 'sic' |
soc | ɔ | 'clog' |
sóc | u | 'I am' |
suc | 'juice' | |
Other contrast | ||
LS | IPA | Gloss |
*set | e | 'seven' |
'thirst' |
LS | IPA | Gloss |
---|---|---|
sac | a | 'bag' |
sec | e | 'dry'/'I sit' |
séc | 'fold' | |
sic | i | 'sic' |
soc | ɔ | 'clog' |
sóc | o | 'I am' |
suc | u | 'juice' |
Other contrast | ||
LS | IPA | Gloss |
*set | ɛ | 'seven' |
e | 'thirst' |
In Eastern Catalan, vowels in unstressed position reduce to three : /a/, /e/, /ɛ/ → [ə] (phonetically [ɐ] in Barcelona); /o/, /ɔ/, /u/ → [u]; /i/ remains unchanged. However there are some dialectal differences: Alguerese merges /a/, /e/ and /ɛ/ with /a/; and in most areas of Majorca, [o] can appear in unstressed position (that is, /o/ and /ɔ/ are usually reduced to [o]). [54]
In Western Catalan, vowels in unstressed position reduce to five: /e/, /ɛ/ → [e]; /o/, /ɔ/ → [o]; /a/, /u/, /i/ remain unchanged. [55] However, in some Western dialects reduced vowels tend to merge into different realizations in some cases:
Term | IPA | Gloss |
---|---|---|
parla | ə | 'speech' |
rere | 'back' | |
lliri | i | 'lily' |
ferro | o | 'iron' |
mutu | u | 'mutual' |
Term | IPA | Gloss |
---|---|---|
parla | a | 'speech' |
rere | e | 'back' |
lliri | i | 'lily' |
ferro | o | 'iron' |
mutu | u | 'mutual' |
There are also a number of phonetic diphthongs and triphthongs, all of which begin and/or end in [ j] or [ w]. [59]
Falling diphthongs | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
IPA | word | gloss | IPA | word | gloss |
[aj] | aigua | 'water' | [aw] | taula | 'table' |
[əj] (E) [aj] (W) |
mainada | 'children' | [əw] (E) [aw] (W) |
caurem | 'we will fall' |
[ɛj] | remei | 'remedy' | [ɛw] | peu | 'foot' |
[ej] | rei | 'king' | [ew] | seu | 'his/her' |
[əj] (E) [ej] (W) |
Eivissa | ' Ibiza' | [əw] (E) [ew] (W) |
eufemisme | 'eufemism' |
[iw] | niu | 'nest' | |||
[ɔj] | noi | 'boy' | [ɔw] | nou | 'new' |
[uj] (E) [oj] (W) |
Moisès | 'Moses' | [ow] | pou | 'well' |
[uj] | avui | 'today' | [uw] | duu | 's/he is carrying' |
Rising diphthongs | |||||
IPA | word | gloss | IPA | word | gloss |
[ja] | iaia | 'grandma' | [wa] | guant | 'glove' |
[jə] (E) [ja] (W) |
feia | 's/he was doing' | [wə] (E) [wa] (W) |
aquarel·la | 'watercolour painting' |
[jɛ] | veiem | 'we see' | [wɛ] | seqüència | 'sequence' |
[je] | seient | 'seat' | [we] | ungüent | 'ointment' |
[jə] (E) [je] (W) |
gràcies | 'thank you' | [wə] (E) [we] (W) |
qüestió, diuen | 'question', 'they say' |
[wi] | pingüí | 'penguin' | |||
[jɔ] | iode | 'iodine' | [wɔ] | quota | 'payment' |
[ju] (E) [jo] (W) |
iogurt | 'yoghurt' | [wo] | seuós | 'greasy' |
[ju] | iugoslau | 'Yugoslav' |
In Standard Eastern Catalan, rising diphthongs (that is, those starting with [j] or [w]) are only possible in the following contexts: [60]
There are certain instances of compensatory diphthongization in Majorcan so that troncs /ˈtɾoncs/ ('logs') (in addition to deleting the palatal stop) develops a compensating palatal glide and surfaces as [ˈtɾojns] (and contrasts with the unpluralized [ˈtɾoɲc]). Diphthongization compensates for the loss of the palatal stop (segment loss compensation). There are other cases where diphthongization compensates for the loss of point of articulation features (property loss compensation) as in [ˈaɲ] ('year') vs. [ˈajns] ('years'). [63]
The dialectal distribution of compensatory diphthongization is almost entirely dependent on the dorsal stop (/k~c/) and the extent of consonant assimilation (whether or not it is extended to palatals). [64]
Voiced affricates are devoiced after stressed vowels in dialects like Eastern Catalan where there may be a correlation between devoicing and lengthening ( gemination) of voiced affricates: metge /ˈmed͡ːʒə/ → [ˈmet͡ːʃə] ('medic'). [14] In Barcelona, voiced stops may be fortified (geminated and devoiced); e.g. poble [ˈpɔpːɫə] 'village'). [17]
Nasal | Lateral | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
word | IPA | gloss | word | IPA | gloss |
ínfim | [ˈiɱfim] | 'lowest' | |||
anterior | [ən̪təɾiˈo] (E) [an̪teɾiˈoɾ] (W) |
'previous' | altes | [ˈaɫ̪təs] (E) [ˈaɫ̪tes] (W) |
'tall' ( f. pl.) |
engegar | [əɲʒəˈɣa] (E) [eɲd͡ʒeˈɣa(ɾ)] (W) |
'to start (up)' | àlgid | [ˈaʎʒit] (E) [ˈaʎd͡ʒit] (W) |
'decisive' |
sang | [saŋ] (E) [saŋ(k)] (W) |
'blood' | |||
sagna | [ˈsaŋnə] ~ [ˈsaɡnə] (E) [ˈsaŋna] ~ [ˈsaɡna] (W) |
'he bleeds' | |||
cotna | [ˈkonːə] (E) [ˈkonːa] (W) |
'rind' | atles | [ˈaɫːəs] ~ [ˈadɫəs] (E) [ˈaɫːes] ~ [ˈadɫes] (W) |
'atlas' |
sotmetent | [sumːəˈten] (E) [somːeˈten(t)] (W) |
'submitting' | ratllar | [rəˈʎːa] (E) [raˈʎ(ː)a(ɾ)] (W) |
'to grate' |
Catalan denti-alveolar stops can fully assimilate to the following consonant, producing gemination; this is particularly evident before nasal and lateral consonants: e.g. cotna ('rind'), motlle/motle ('spring'), and setmana ('week'). Learned words can alternate between featuring and not featuring such assimilation (e.g. atles [ˈadɫəs] ~ [ˈaɫːəs] (E) / [ˈadɫas] ~ [ˈaɫːas] (W) 'atlas', administrar [ədminisˈtɾa] ~ [əmːinisˈtɾa] (E) / [adminisˈtɾa(ɾ)] ~ [amːinisˈtɾa(ɾ)] (W) 'to administer'). [65] [66]
Central Valencian features simple elision in many of these cases (e.g cotna [ˈkona], setmana [seˈmana]) though learned words don't exhibit either assimilation or elision: atles [ˈadles] and administrar [adminisˈtɾaɾ]. [67]
Stress most often occurs on any of the last three syllables of a word (e.g. brúixola [ˈbɾuʃuɫə] (E) / [ˈbɾujʃola] (W) 'compass', càstig [ˈkastik] 'punishment', pallús [pəˈʎus] (E) / [paˈʎus] (W) 'fool').
Compound words and adverbs formed with /ˈment/ may have a syllable with secondary stress (e.g. bonament [ˌbɔnəˈmen] (E) [ˌbɔnaˈmen(t)] (W) 'willingly'; parallamps [ˌpaɾəˈʎams] (E) [ˌpaɾaˈʎamps] (W) 'lightning conductor') but every lexical word has just one syllable with main stress. [68]
Any consonant, as well as [j] and [w] may be an onset. Clusters may consist of a consonant plus a semivowel (C[j], C[w]) or an obstruent plus a liquid. Some speakers may have one of these obstruent-plus-liquid clusters preceding a semivowel, e.g. síndria [ˈsin.dɾjə] ('watermelon'); for other speakers, this is pronounced [ˈsin.dɾi.ə] (i.e. the semivowel must be syllabic in this context). [69]
Word-medial codas are restricted to one consonant + [s] (extra [ˈɛks.tɾə] (E) / [ˈɛks.tɾa] (W)). [70] In the coda position, voice contrasts among obstruents are neutralized. [71] Although there are exceptions (such as futur [fuˈtuɾ] 'future'), syllable-final rhotics are often lost before a word boundary or before the plural morpheme of most words: color [kuˈɫo] (E) / [koˈɫo(ɾ)] (W) ('color') vs. coloraina [kuɫuˈɾajnə] (E) / [koɫoˈɾajna] (W) ('bright color'). [17]
In Central Eastern (and North-Western Catalan), obstruents fail to surface word-finally when preceded by a homorganic consonant (e.g. /nt/ → [n̪]). Complex codas simplify only if the loss of the segment doesn't result in the loss of place specification. [72]
Final | gloss | Internal | gloss | |||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
no cluster | camp | [ˈkam] | 'field' | camperol | [kəmpəˈɾɔɫ] (CE) [kampeˈɾɔɫ] (NW) |
'peasant' |
punt | [ˈpun] | 'point' | punta | [ˈpuntə] (CE) [ˈpunta] (NW) |
'tip' | |
banc | [ˈbaŋ] | 'bank' | banca | [ˈbaŋkə] (CE) [ˈbaŋka] (NW) |
'banking' | |
malalt | [məˈɫaɫ̪] (CE) [maˈlaɫ̪] (NW) |
'ill' | malaltia | [məɫəɫˈti.ə] (CE) [malaɫˈti.a] (NW) |
'illness' | |
hort | [ˈɔr] | 'orchard' | hortalissa | [urtəˈɫisə](CE) [ortaˈlisa] (NW) |
'vegetable' | |
gust | [ˈɡus] | 'taste' | gustar | [ɡusˈta] | 'to taste' | |
cluster | serp | [ˈserp] | 'snake' | serpentí | [sərpənˈti] (CE) [serpenˈti] (NW) |
'snake-like' |
disc | [ˈdisk] | 'disk' | disquet | [disˈkɛt] (CE) [disˈket] (NW) |
'diskette' | |
remolc | [rəˈmɔɫk] (CE) [reˈmɔɫk] (NW) |
'trailer' | remolcar | [rəmuɫˈka] (CE) [remoɫˈka] (NW) |
'to tow' |
When the suffix -erol [əˈɾɔɫ] is added to camp [ˈkam] it makes [kəmpəˈɾɔɫ], indicating that the underlying representation is /ˈkamp/ (with subsequent cluster simplification), however when the copula [ˈes] is added it makes [ˈkam ˈes]. The resulting generalization is that this underlying /p/ will only surface in a morphologically complex word. [73] Despite this, word-final codas are not usually simplified in most of Balearic and Valencian (e.g. camp [ˈkamp]). [74]
Word-initial clusters from Graeco-Latin learned words tend to drop the first phoneme: pneumàtic [nəwˈmatik] (E) / [newˈmatik] (W) ('pneumatic'), pseudònim [səwˈðɔnim] (E) / [sewˈðɔnim] (W) ('pseudonym'), pterodàctil [təɾuˈðaktiɫ] (E) / [teɾoˈðaktil] (W) ('pterodactylus'), gnom [ˈnom] ('gnome'). [75]
Word-final obstruents are devoiced; however, they assimilate voicing of the following consonant, e.g. cuc de seda [ˈkuɡ‿də ˈsɛðə] (E) / [ˈkuɡ‿de ˈsɛða] (W) ('silkworm'). In regular and fast speech, stops often assimilate the place of articulation of the following consonant producing phonetic gemination: tot bé [ˈtod‿ˈbe] → [ˈtob‿ˈbe] ('all good'). [76]
Word-final fricatives (except /f/) are voiced before a following vowel; e.g. bus enorme [ˈbuz‿əˈnormə] (E) / [ˈbuz‿eˈnorme] (W) ('huge bus'). [77]
The differences in the vocalic systems outlined above are the main criteria used to differentiate between the major dialects: Wheeler distinguishes two major dialect groups, western and eastern dialects; the latter of which only allow [ i], [ ə], and [ u] to appear in unstressed syllables and include Northern Catalan, Central Catalan, Balearic, and Alguerese. Western dialects, which allow any vowel in unstressed syllables, include Valencian and North-Western Catalan. [79]
Regarding consonants, betacism and fricative–affricate alternations are the most prominent differences between dialects.
Other dialectal features are:
Catalan shares features with neighboring Romance languages ( Occitan, Italian, Sardinian, French, Spanish). [99]
In contrast with other Romance languages, Catalan has many monosyllabic words; and those ending in a wide variety of consonants and some consonant clusters. [100] Also, Catalan has final obstruent devoicing, thus featuring many couplets like amic ('male friend') vs. amiga ('female friend'). [100]
Original | Tots els éssers humans neixen/naixen lliures i iguals en dignitat i en drets. Són dotats de raó i de consciència, i han de comportar-se fraternalment els uns amb els altres. |
---|---|
Old Catalan (Around the 13th century) IPA | [ˈtodz̺‿əlz̺‿ˈes̺əɾz̺‿uˈmanz̺ ˈnəʃən ˈʎiwɾəz̺‿iːˈɣwalz̺‿ən digniˈtat‿j‿ən ˈdɾəts̺ s̺on dotats̺ ðə raˈo i ðə konˈs̺s̻jɛns̻ja, j‿an də kompoɾˈtaɾs̺ə fɾatəɾnalˈment‿əlz̺‿ˈunz̺‿amb‿əlz̺‿altɾəs̺] |
Balearic Catalan IPA | [ˈtodz‿əlz‿ˈesəz‿uˈmanz ˈnəʃən ˈʎiwɾəz‿iːˈɣwalz‿ən diŋniˈdat‿j‿ən ˈdɾəts son dotats ðə rəˈo i ðə konˈsjɛnsjə, j‿an də kompoɾˈtasːə fɾətəɾnalˈment‿əlz‿ˈunz‿əmb‿əlz‿altɾəs] |
Eastern Central Catalan IPA | [ˈtodz‿əlz‿ˈesəz‿uˈmanz ˈnɛʃən ˈʎiwɾəz‿iːˈɣwalz‿ən diŋniˈtat‿j‿ən ˈdɾɛts son dutats ðə rəˈo i ðə kunˈsjɛnsjə, j‿an də kumpurˈtasə fɾətərnalˈmen‿əlz‿ˈunz‿əmb‿əlz‿altɾəs] |
Northern Catalan IPA | [ˈtudz‿əlz‿ˈe̞səz‿uˈmanz ˈne̞ʃən ˈʎiwɾəz‿iːˈgwalz‿ən diŋniˈtat‿j‿ən ˈdɾe̞ts sun dutats də rəˈu i də kunˈsjensjə, j‿an də kumpurˈtasə fɾətərnalˈme̞n‿əlz‿ˈunz‿əmb‿əlz‿altɾəs] |
North-Western Catalan IPA | [ˈtodz‿elz‿ˈesez‿uˈmanz ˈnajʃen ˈʎiwɾez‿iːˈɣwalz‿en diŋniˈtat‿j‿en ˈdɾets son dotats ðe raˈo‿j ðe konˈsjɛnsja, j‿an de kompoɾˈtase fɾateɾnalˈmen‿elz‿ˈunz‿amb‿elz‿altɾes] |
Valencian IPA | [ˈtodz‿elz‿ˈeseɾz‿uˈmanz ˈnajʃen ˈʎiwɾez‿iːˈɣwalz‿en diŋniˈtat‿j‿en ˈdɾets son dotats ðe raˈo‿j ðe konˈsjɛnsja, j‿an de kompoɾˈtaɾse fɾateɾnalˈment‿elz‿ˈunz‿amb‿elz‿atɾes] |
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link)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.
Labial |
Dental/ Alveolar |
Palatal | Velar | Uvular | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Nasal | m | n 3 | ɲ 6 | ( ŋ) | ||
Plosive | voiceless | p | t 1 | k 2 | ||
voiced | b | d 1 | ɡ 2 | |||
Affricate | voiceless | ( t͡s) 5 | t͡ʃ 7 | |||
voiced | d͡z 5 | d͡ʒ 7 | ||||
Fricative | voiceless | f | s 4 | ʃ 7 | ||
voiced | ( v) | z 4 | ʒ 7 | ( ʁ) | ||
Approximant | central | j | w | |||
lateral | l 3 | ʎ 6 | ||||
Trill | r 4 | |||||
Tap | ɾ 3 |
Phonetic notes:
Voiced obstruents undergo final-obstruent devoicing so that fred ('cold', m. s.) is pronounced with [t], while fredes ('cold', f. pl.) is pronounced with [ð]. [18]
Voiced stops become lenited to fricatives or approximants in syllable onsets, after continuants: [8] /b/ → [ β], /d/ → [ ð], /ɡ/ → [ ɣ].
In Catalan (not in Valencian), /b/ and /ɡ/ may be geminated in certain environments (e.g. poble [ˈpɔbːɫə] 'village', regla [ˈreɡːɫə] 'rule'). [21] [22]
The phonemic status of affricates is dubious; after other consonants, affricates are in free variation with fricatives, e.g. clenxa [ˈkɫɛnʃə] ~ [ˈkɫɛɲt͡ʃə] (E) / [ˈklɛɲt͡ʃa] (W) ('hair parting') [23] and may be analyzed as either single phonemes or clusters of a stop and a fricative.
There is dialectal variation in regards to affricate length, with long affricates occurring in both Eastern and Western dialects such as in Majorca and few areas in Southern Valencia. [31] Also, intervocalic affricates are predominantly long, especially those that are voiced or occurring immediately after a stressed syllable (e.g. metge [ˈmed͡ːʒə] (E) / [ˈmed͡ːʒe] (W) 'medic'). [32] In modern Valencian [d͡ʒ] and [d͡ːʒ] have merged into /d͡ʒ/.
/v/ occurs in Balearic, [17] as well as in Alguerese, Standard Valencian and some areas in southern Catalonia. [33] Everywhere else, it has merged with historic /β/ so that [b] and [β] occur in complementary distribution. [34]
While "dark ( velarized) l", [ ɫ], may be a positional allophone of /l/ in most dialects (such as in the syllable coda; e.g. sòl [ˈsɔɫ] 'ground'), [36] /l/ is dark irrespective of position in Eastern dialects like Majorcan [37] and standard Eastern Catalan (e.g. tela [ˈtɛɫə]).
The distribution of the two rhotics /r/ and /ɾ/ closely parallels that of Spanish.
In careful speech, /n/, /m/, and /l/ may be geminated (e.g. innecessari [inːəsəˈsaɾi] (E) / [inːeseˈsaɾi] (W) 'unnecessary'; emmagatzemar [əmːəɣəd͡zəˈma] (E) / [emːaɣad͡zeˈma(ɾ)] (W) 'to store'; il·lusió [ilːuziˈo] 'illusion'). A geminated /ʎː/ may also occur (e.g. ratlla [ˈraʎːə] (E) / [ˈraʎːa] (W) 'line'). [17] Wheeler analyzes intervocalic [r] as the result of gemination of a single rhotic phoneme: [39] serra /ˈsɛɾɾə/ → [ˈsɛrə] (E) / /ˈsɛɾɾa/ → [ˈsɛra] (W) 'saw, mountains' (this is similar to the common analysis of Spanish and Portuguese rhotics). [40]
Phonetic notes:
Most varieties of Catalan contrast seven stressed vowel phonemes. [50] However, some Balearic dialects have an additional stressed vowel phoneme (/ ə/); e.g. sec /ˈsək/ ('dry, I sit'). [51] [20] The stressed schwa of these dialects corresponds to /ɛ/ in Central Catalan and /e/ in Western Catalan varieties (that is, Central and Western Catalan dialects differ in their incidence of /e/ and /ɛ/, with /e/ appearing more frequently in Western Catalan; e.g. Central Catalan sec /ˈsɛk/ vs. Western Catalan sec /ˈsek/ ('dry, I sit'). [50]
Contrasting series of the main Catalan dialects:
LS | IPA | Gloss |
---|---|---|
sac | a | 'bag' |
sec | ə [51] | 'dry'/'I sit' |
séc | e | 'fold' |
sic | i | 'sic' |
soc | ɔ | 'clog' |
sóc | o | 'I am' |
suc | u | 'juice' |
Other contrast | ||
LS | IPA | Gloss |
*set | ɛ | 'seven' |
ə | 'thirst' |
LS | IPA | Gloss |
---|---|---|
sac | a | 'bag' |
sec | e | 'dry'/'I sit' |
séc | 'fold' | |
sic | i | 'sic' |
soc | ɔ | 'clog' |
sóc | u | 'I am' |
suc | 'juice' | |
Other contrast | ||
LS | IPA | Gloss |
*set | e | 'seven' |
'thirst' |
LS | IPA | Gloss |
---|---|---|
sac | a | 'bag' |
sec | e | 'dry'/'I sit' |
séc | 'fold' | |
sic | i | 'sic' |
soc | ɔ | 'clog' |
sóc | o | 'I am' |
suc | u | 'juice' |
Other contrast | ||
LS | IPA | Gloss |
*set | ɛ | 'seven' |
e | 'thirst' |
In Eastern Catalan, vowels in unstressed position reduce to three : /a/, /e/, /ɛ/ → [ə] (phonetically [ɐ] in Barcelona); /o/, /ɔ/, /u/ → [u]; /i/ remains unchanged. However there are some dialectal differences: Alguerese merges /a/, /e/ and /ɛ/ with /a/; and in most areas of Majorca, [o] can appear in unstressed position (that is, /o/ and /ɔ/ are usually reduced to [o]). [54]
In Western Catalan, vowels in unstressed position reduce to five: /e/, /ɛ/ → [e]; /o/, /ɔ/ → [o]; /a/, /u/, /i/ remain unchanged. [55] However, in some Western dialects reduced vowels tend to merge into different realizations in some cases:
Term | IPA | Gloss |
---|---|---|
parla | ə | 'speech' |
rere | 'back' | |
lliri | i | 'lily' |
ferro | o | 'iron' |
mutu | u | 'mutual' |
Term | IPA | Gloss |
---|---|---|
parla | a | 'speech' |
rere | e | 'back' |
lliri | i | 'lily' |
ferro | o | 'iron' |
mutu | u | 'mutual' |
There are also a number of phonetic diphthongs and triphthongs, all of which begin and/or end in [ j] or [ w]. [59]
Falling diphthongs | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
IPA | word | gloss | IPA | word | gloss |
[aj] | aigua | 'water' | [aw] | taula | 'table' |
[əj] (E) [aj] (W) |
mainada | 'children' | [əw] (E) [aw] (W) |
caurem | 'we will fall' |
[ɛj] | remei | 'remedy' | [ɛw] | peu | 'foot' |
[ej] | rei | 'king' | [ew] | seu | 'his/her' |
[əj] (E) [ej] (W) |
Eivissa | ' Ibiza' | [əw] (E) [ew] (W) |
eufemisme | 'eufemism' |
[iw] | niu | 'nest' | |||
[ɔj] | noi | 'boy' | [ɔw] | nou | 'new' |
[uj] (E) [oj] (W) |
Moisès | 'Moses' | [ow] | pou | 'well' |
[uj] | avui | 'today' | [uw] | duu | 's/he is carrying' |
Rising diphthongs | |||||
IPA | word | gloss | IPA | word | gloss |
[ja] | iaia | 'grandma' | [wa] | guant | 'glove' |
[jə] (E) [ja] (W) |
feia | 's/he was doing' | [wə] (E) [wa] (W) |
aquarel·la | 'watercolour painting' |
[jɛ] | veiem | 'we see' | [wɛ] | seqüència | 'sequence' |
[je] | seient | 'seat' | [we] | ungüent | 'ointment' |
[jə] (E) [je] (W) |
gràcies | 'thank you' | [wə] (E) [we] (W) |
qüestió, diuen | 'question', 'they say' |
[wi] | pingüí | 'penguin' | |||
[jɔ] | iode | 'iodine' | [wɔ] | quota | 'payment' |
[ju] (E) [jo] (W) |
iogurt | 'yoghurt' | [wo] | seuós | 'greasy' |
[ju] | iugoslau | 'Yugoslav' |
In Standard Eastern Catalan, rising diphthongs (that is, those starting with [j] or [w]) are only possible in the following contexts: [60]
There are certain instances of compensatory diphthongization in Majorcan so that troncs /ˈtɾoncs/ ('logs') (in addition to deleting the palatal stop) develops a compensating palatal glide and surfaces as [ˈtɾojns] (and contrasts with the unpluralized [ˈtɾoɲc]). Diphthongization compensates for the loss of the palatal stop (segment loss compensation). There are other cases where diphthongization compensates for the loss of point of articulation features (property loss compensation) as in [ˈaɲ] ('year') vs. [ˈajns] ('years'). [63]
The dialectal distribution of compensatory diphthongization is almost entirely dependent on the dorsal stop (/k~c/) and the extent of consonant assimilation (whether or not it is extended to palatals). [64]
Voiced affricates are devoiced after stressed vowels in dialects like Eastern Catalan where there may be a correlation between devoicing and lengthening ( gemination) of voiced affricates: metge /ˈmed͡ːʒə/ → [ˈmet͡ːʃə] ('medic'). [14] In Barcelona, voiced stops may be fortified (geminated and devoiced); e.g. poble [ˈpɔpːɫə] 'village'). [17]
Nasal | Lateral | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
word | IPA | gloss | word | IPA | gloss |
ínfim | [ˈiɱfim] | 'lowest' | |||
anterior | [ən̪təɾiˈo] (E) [an̪teɾiˈoɾ] (W) |
'previous' | altes | [ˈaɫ̪təs] (E) [ˈaɫ̪tes] (W) |
'tall' ( f. pl.) |
engegar | [əɲʒəˈɣa] (E) [eɲd͡ʒeˈɣa(ɾ)] (W) |
'to start (up)' | àlgid | [ˈaʎʒit] (E) [ˈaʎd͡ʒit] (W) |
'decisive' |
sang | [saŋ] (E) [saŋ(k)] (W) |
'blood' | |||
sagna | [ˈsaŋnə] ~ [ˈsaɡnə] (E) [ˈsaŋna] ~ [ˈsaɡna] (W) |
'he bleeds' | |||
cotna | [ˈkonːə] (E) [ˈkonːa] (W) |
'rind' | atles | [ˈaɫːəs] ~ [ˈadɫəs] (E) [ˈaɫːes] ~ [ˈadɫes] (W) |
'atlas' |
sotmetent | [sumːəˈten] (E) [somːeˈten(t)] (W) |
'submitting' | ratllar | [rəˈʎːa] (E) [raˈʎ(ː)a(ɾ)] (W) |
'to grate' |
Catalan denti-alveolar stops can fully assimilate to the following consonant, producing gemination; this is particularly evident before nasal and lateral consonants: e.g. cotna ('rind'), motlle/motle ('spring'), and setmana ('week'). Learned words can alternate between featuring and not featuring such assimilation (e.g. atles [ˈadɫəs] ~ [ˈaɫːəs] (E) / [ˈadɫas] ~ [ˈaɫːas] (W) 'atlas', administrar [ədminisˈtɾa] ~ [əmːinisˈtɾa] (E) / [adminisˈtɾa(ɾ)] ~ [amːinisˈtɾa(ɾ)] (W) 'to administer'). [65] [66]
Central Valencian features simple elision in many of these cases (e.g cotna [ˈkona], setmana [seˈmana]) though learned words don't exhibit either assimilation or elision: atles [ˈadles] and administrar [adminisˈtɾaɾ]. [67]
Stress most often occurs on any of the last three syllables of a word (e.g. brúixola [ˈbɾuʃuɫə] (E) / [ˈbɾujʃola] (W) 'compass', càstig [ˈkastik] 'punishment', pallús [pəˈʎus] (E) / [paˈʎus] (W) 'fool').
Compound words and adverbs formed with /ˈment/ may have a syllable with secondary stress (e.g. bonament [ˌbɔnəˈmen] (E) [ˌbɔnaˈmen(t)] (W) 'willingly'; parallamps [ˌpaɾəˈʎams] (E) [ˌpaɾaˈʎamps] (W) 'lightning conductor') but every lexical word has just one syllable with main stress. [68]
Any consonant, as well as [j] and [w] may be an onset. Clusters may consist of a consonant plus a semivowel (C[j], C[w]) or an obstruent plus a liquid. Some speakers may have one of these obstruent-plus-liquid clusters preceding a semivowel, e.g. síndria [ˈsin.dɾjə] ('watermelon'); for other speakers, this is pronounced [ˈsin.dɾi.ə] (i.e. the semivowel must be syllabic in this context). [69]
Word-medial codas are restricted to one consonant + [s] (extra [ˈɛks.tɾə] (E) / [ˈɛks.tɾa] (W)). [70] In the coda position, voice contrasts among obstruents are neutralized. [71] Although there are exceptions (such as futur [fuˈtuɾ] 'future'), syllable-final rhotics are often lost before a word boundary or before the plural morpheme of most words: color [kuˈɫo] (E) / [koˈɫo(ɾ)] (W) ('color') vs. coloraina [kuɫuˈɾajnə] (E) / [koɫoˈɾajna] (W) ('bright color'). [17]
In Central Eastern (and North-Western Catalan), obstruents fail to surface word-finally when preceded by a homorganic consonant (e.g. /nt/ → [n̪]). Complex codas simplify only if the loss of the segment doesn't result in the loss of place specification. [72]
Final | gloss | Internal | gloss | |||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
no cluster | camp | [ˈkam] | 'field' | camperol | [kəmpəˈɾɔɫ] (CE) [kampeˈɾɔɫ] (NW) |
'peasant' |
punt | [ˈpun] | 'point' | punta | [ˈpuntə] (CE) [ˈpunta] (NW) |
'tip' | |
banc | [ˈbaŋ] | 'bank' | banca | [ˈbaŋkə] (CE) [ˈbaŋka] (NW) |
'banking' | |
malalt | [məˈɫaɫ̪] (CE) [maˈlaɫ̪] (NW) |
'ill' | malaltia | [məɫəɫˈti.ə] (CE) [malaɫˈti.a] (NW) |
'illness' | |
hort | [ˈɔr] | 'orchard' | hortalissa | [urtəˈɫisə](CE) [ortaˈlisa] (NW) |
'vegetable' | |
gust | [ˈɡus] | 'taste' | gustar | [ɡusˈta] | 'to taste' | |
cluster | serp | [ˈserp] | 'snake' | serpentí | [sərpənˈti] (CE) [serpenˈti] (NW) |
'snake-like' |
disc | [ˈdisk] | 'disk' | disquet | [disˈkɛt] (CE) [disˈket] (NW) |
'diskette' | |
remolc | [rəˈmɔɫk] (CE) [reˈmɔɫk] (NW) |
'trailer' | remolcar | [rəmuɫˈka] (CE) [remoɫˈka] (NW) |
'to tow' |
When the suffix -erol [əˈɾɔɫ] is added to camp [ˈkam] it makes [kəmpəˈɾɔɫ], indicating that the underlying representation is /ˈkamp/ (with subsequent cluster simplification), however when the copula [ˈes] is added it makes [ˈkam ˈes]. The resulting generalization is that this underlying /p/ will only surface in a morphologically complex word. [73] Despite this, word-final codas are not usually simplified in most of Balearic and Valencian (e.g. camp [ˈkamp]). [74]
Word-initial clusters from Graeco-Latin learned words tend to drop the first phoneme: pneumàtic [nəwˈmatik] (E) / [newˈmatik] (W) ('pneumatic'), pseudònim [səwˈðɔnim] (E) / [sewˈðɔnim] (W) ('pseudonym'), pterodàctil [təɾuˈðaktiɫ] (E) / [teɾoˈðaktil] (W) ('pterodactylus'), gnom [ˈnom] ('gnome'). [75]
Word-final obstruents are devoiced; however, they assimilate voicing of the following consonant, e.g. cuc de seda [ˈkuɡ‿də ˈsɛðə] (E) / [ˈkuɡ‿de ˈsɛða] (W) ('silkworm'). In regular and fast speech, stops often assimilate the place of articulation of the following consonant producing phonetic gemination: tot bé [ˈtod‿ˈbe] → [ˈtob‿ˈbe] ('all good'). [76]
Word-final fricatives (except /f/) are voiced before a following vowel; e.g. bus enorme [ˈbuz‿əˈnormə] (E) / [ˈbuz‿eˈnorme] (W) ('huge bus'). [77]
The differences in the vocalic systems outlined above are the main criteria used to differentiate between the major dialects: Wheeler distinguishes two major dialect groups, western and eastern dialects; the latter of which only allow [ i], [ ə], and [ u] to appear in unstressed syllables and include Northern Catalan, Central Catalan, Balearic, and Alguerese. Western dialects, which allow any vowel in unstressed syllables, include Valencian and North-Western Catalan. [79]
Regarding consonants, betacism and fricative–affricate alternations are the most prominent differences between dialects.
Other dialectal features are:
Catalan shares features with neighboring Romance languages ( Occitan, Italian, Sardinian, French, Spanish). [99]
In contrast with other Romance languages, Catalan has many monosyllabic words; and those ending in a wide variety of consonants and some consonant clusters. [100] Also, Catalan has final obstruent devoicing, thus featuring many couplets like amic ('male friend') vs. amiga ('female friend'). [100]
Original | Tots els éssers humans neixen/naixen lliures i iguals en dignitat i en drets. Són dotats de raó i de consciència, i han de comportar-se fraternalment els uns amb els altres. |
---|---|
Old Catalan (Around the 13th century) IPA | [ˈtodz̺‿əlz̺‿ˈes̺əɾz̺‿uˈmanz̺ ˈnəʃən ˈʎiwɾəz̺‿iːˈɣwalz̺‿ən digniˈtat‿j‿ən ˈdɾəts̺ s̺on dotats̺ ðə raˈo i ðə konˈs̺s̻jɛns̻ja, j‿an də kompoɾˈtaɾs̺ə fɾatəɾnalˈment‿əlz̺‿ˈunz̺‿amb‿əlz̺‿altɾəs̺] |
Balearic Catalan IPA | [ˈtodz‿əlz‿ˈesəz‿uˈmanz ˈnəʃən ˈʎiwɾəz‿iːˈɣwalz‿ən diŋniˈdat‿j‿ən ˈdɾəts son dotats ðə rəˈo i ðə konˈsjɛnsjə, j‿an də kompoɾˈtasːə fɾətəɾnalˈment‿əlz‿ˈunz‿əmb‿əlz‿altɾəs] |
Eastern Central Catalan IPA | [ˈtodz‿əlz‿ˈesəz‿uˈmanz ˈnɛʃən ˈʎiwɾəz‿iːˈɣwalz‿ən diŋniˈtat‿j‿ən ˈdɾɛts son dutats ðə rəˈo i ðə kunˈsjɛnsjə, j‿an də kumpurˈtasə fɾətərnalˈmen‿əlz‿ˈunz‿əmb‿əlz‿altɾəs] |
Northern Catalan IPA | [ˈtudz‿əlz‿ˈe̞səz‿uˈmanz ˈne̞ʃən ˈʎiwɾəz‿iːˈgwalz‿ən diŋniˈtat‿j‿ən ˈdɾe̞ts sun dutats də rəˈu i də kunˈsjensjə, j‿an də kumpurˈtasə fɾətərnalˈme̞n‿əlz‿ˈunz‿əmb‿əlz‿altɾəs] |
North-Western Catalan IPA | [ˈtodz‿elz‿ˈesez‿uˈmanz ˈnajʃen ˈʎiwɾez‿iːˈɣwalz‿en diŋniˈtat‿j‿en ˈdɾets son dotats ðe raˈo‿j ðe konˈsjɛnsja, j‿an de kompoɾˈtase fɾateɾnalˈmen‿elz‿ˈunz‿amb‿elz‿altɾes] |
Valencian IPA | [ˈtodz‿elz‿ˈeseɾz‿uˈmanz ˈnajʃen ˈʎiwɾez‿iːˈɣwalz‿en diŋniˈtat‿j‿en ˈdɾets son dotats ðe raˈo‿j ðe konˈsjɛnsja, j‿an de kompoɾˈtaɾse fɾateɾnalˈment‿elz‿ˈunz‿amb‿elz‿atɾes] |
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