Home > Catalan phonology and orthography
1 Phonological Features
Several characteristic features of Catalan as a Romance language ( SAMPA phonetic scheme used):
- Like Occitan, losing of Latin final unstressed vowels, except -A; and then after some of the resulting consonantic groups a support vowel [ə] appears. eg. FAME > fam (hunger); BVCCA > boca (mouth); NOSTRV > nostre (ours, masc. sing.)
- Loss of final -n after the demise of final unstressed vowels. eg. MANV > *man > mà (hand)
- In Oriental dialects: Latin short E > closed [e], and Latin long E > neutral vowel [ə] and then later > open [E]; so the result of Latin short and long E is reversed in relation to other romances.
- Unlike Occitan and other galic romances, Catalan preserves the three degrees for rounded back vowels /O, o, u/, and /u/ is not centralised to /y/.
- Unlike Spanish and other Iberian Romance languages, betacism or loss of B/V distinction seems to be in Catalan an innovation since the modern era, although non-betacist dialects are still preserved in some areas.
- Like Asturian, palatalization of Latin word initial L-; e.g. LVNA > lluna (moon); LVPV > llop (wolf)
- Vocalization to [w] of final -d of diverse origins and the Latin verbal ending -TIS: PEDE > peu ['pEw] (foot); CREDIT > creu ['krEw] (he believes, present 3rd singular); MIRATIS > miratz > mirau > mireu [mi'rEw] (you watch, present 2nd plural)
- Consonantic palatalizations, similar to most romances:
- C+e,i,yod > *[ts] > [s]; e.g. CAELV > cel ['sEl] (sky, or heaven).
- G+e,i,yod > *[dZ] > [Z]; e.g GELV > gel ['ZEl] (ice).
- -Ly-,-LL-,-c'l-,-t'l- > ll [L]; e.g. MVLIERE > muller (wife); CABALLV > cavall (horse), but confer other cases like VILLA > vila (town) where the geminate has been simplified; AURICULA > *oric'la > orella (ear); VETVLVS > *vet'lu > vell (old man)
- -Ny-,-GN-,-NN- > ny [J]; e.g. LIGNA > llenya (wood)
- Consonantic lenition, similar to most of western romances:
- intervocalic voiced oclusives become fricatives ones or are lost. E.g. CABALLV > cavall (horse), VOLEBAT > volia (wanted, imperfect 3rd sing.), PAVORE > pahor > por (awe).
- intervocalic voiceless oclusives become voiced ones. E.g. VITA > vida (life).
- intervocalic geminated voiceless oclusives are simplified, but intervocalic geminated voiceless fricatives are preserved. E.g. BVCCA > BOCA (mouth), PASSARE > passar (pass).
See also specific articles on: Alguerese, Balearic, Ribagorçan, Valencian
2 Phoneme Inventory and Orthography
A summary of the phonemes of contemporary Catalan, their graphemes and sounds ( SAMPA phonetic scheme used):
2.1 Plosives
Plosives in final position become voiceless.
- /p/ 'p'
- /b/ 'b','v' (see /v/ below), articulated as fricative [B] between vowels or liquides; [p] in final position
- /t/ 't'
- /d/ 'd', articulated as fricative [D] between vowels or liquides; [t] in final position
- /k/ 'c' before 'a,o,u'; 'qu' before 'e,i', 'qu' for /kw/ before 'a,o,u'; 'qü' for /kw/ before 'e,i'
- /g/ 'g' before 'a,o,u'; 'gu' before 'e,i', 'gu' for /gw/ before 'a,o,u'; 'gü' for /gw/ before 'e,i', articulated as fricative [G] between vowels or liquides, [k] in final position
2.2 Affricates
Affricates in final position become voiceless.
Word final /ts,tS/ followed by a vowel become voiced ( liaison ).
- /ts/ 'ts' (not considered a separate phoneme but t+s, by most authors).
- /dz/ 'tz' (not considered a separate phoneme but t+z, by most authors). In Ribagorçan and Apitxat Valencian (comarques around Valencia city), /dz/ has merged with voiceless /ts/.
- /tS/ 'tx'; sometimes 'ig' in word final position; many exceptions.
- /dZ/ 'tj' before 'a,o,u'; 'tg' before 'e,i'; many exceptions. In Ribagorçan and Apitxat Valencian (comarques around Valencia city), /dZ/ has merged with voiceless /tS/.
2.3 Fricatives
Fricatives in final position become voiceless.
Word final /s,S/ followed by a vowel become voiced ( liaison ).
- /f/ 'f'
- /v/ 'v'. In most modern Catalan dialects /v/ has merged with bilabial plosive /b/ (a phenomenon called betacism ). /v/ is still a separate phoneme in Balearic, Alguerese, Valencian (except the comarques around Valencia city), and the comarques around Tarragona city.
- /s/ 's'; 'ss' between vowels; also 'c' before 'e,i' and 'ç' elsewhere.
- /z/ 'z'; 's' between vowels. In Ribagorçan and Apitxat Valencian (comarques around Valencia city), /z/ has merged with voiceless /s/.
- /S/ 'x'; 'ix' after vowel or in word final position. In Occidental variants (Lleida, Valencian), the written form -ix- is pronounced [jS] or [js]. In Barcelona city, /S/ in initial position or after nasals is pronounced as affricate [tS].
- /Z/ 'j' before 'a,o,u'; 'g' before 'e,i'; many exceptions. In Barcelona city, /Z/ in initial position or after nasals is pronounced as affricate [dZ]. Some 'j' from standard correspond to [j] in Pallarese or Ribagorçan, and then the rest of 'j' from standard correspond to [tS] in Ribagorçan. Most 'j' of standard correspond to [dZ] in Valencian, and then in Apitxat Valencian (comarques around Valencia city) /dZ/ has merged with voiceless /tS/.
