Obrenje Grammar

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1.  Phonology

1.1.  Consonants

The palatized pronunciation occurs before the front (semi-)vowels |e|, |y|, |i| and |j|.  The palatized forms with an asterisk occur only before the high (semi-)vowels |i|, |y| and |j|.  The palatized forms with two asterisks only occur before the unrounded (semi-)vowels |i|, |e| and |j|.

Note:  Throughout this document, the linguistic notation will be used to represent Obrenje.  There is also a popular notation, which dresses the same words into a more aesthetic typographical pattern with a more direct correspondence of letters and sounds.  However, the popular notation is not unambiguous and hides the syllable structure and phoneme system of Obrenje, and should therefore not be used in a linguistic context.  This document uses X-SAMPA for phonemic representation, designated as such by /slashes/.  Linguistic transliteration of Obrenje is deliminated with |pipes|, while =equal signs= would be used for the popular notation.

For those readers who aren't familiar with X-SAMPA, here's a quick explanation of the used symbols:

The symbol /r/ is the alveolar tap or trill (Spanish R).  /S/, /Z/ are the alveolar fricatives in "ship" and "measure". /x/ is a voiceless velar approximant as in High German "ach" or Scottish "loch", /C/ is its palatized equivalent as in High German "ich".  /N/ is a velar nasal, as in "sing".  /j/ is like y in English "yes", not as in "John".  /"/ indicates that the following syllable is stressed.

The regular pronunciation of |c| comprises three sounds, which can not be used interchangeably.  The letter is realized as [h] at the beginning of a syllable but [x] at the end of a syllable.  In a syllable with a high vowel [x] palatizes to [C].  Examples: |con| [hOn] "two", |ducte| ["dMxt_h] "night", |ic| /iC/ "falls".

Historically, |c| and |x| used to be the fricative versions of k and g, with the phonetic values /x/ and /G/, in analogy to the other fricatives |f|, |v|, |s|, |z|.  Many of these fricatives were simplified or weakened in the linguistic evolution of Obrenje.  The /x/ of the letter |c| survived at syllable-ends, while the /G/ sound completely died out -- except in a somewhat archaic dialect of Obrenje, where it is pronounced as an uvular trill [R].

Similarly, |f| and |v| used to represent the bilabial fricatives /p\/ and /B/.  The bilabial /p\/ unrounded into [h] under the influence of palatizing vowels, while the remaining instances of bilabial fricatives shifted to the labiodental point of articulation to produce [f] and [v].

Typography:  In the vicinity of a stop, a nasal is always written as an m in the native Obrenje script.  This is unambiguous, since stops always assimilate nasals.  In Latin transcriptions, however, |mt| and |mk| are written as represented as |nt| and |nk| for the sake of the reader.

Furthermore, Obrenje has two diacritics that can be applied to a non-stop consonant: a miniaturized subscript |i| and |u|.  The former causes a consonant to be pronounced palatized although its environment would call for regular pronunciation.  The latter causes the exact opposite.  Since only one of these diacritics can occur in a given situation, they are both transcribed as a trailing h in ASCII notation.  Where available, the palatizer can also be written as a caron accent (inverted ^), while the regularizer is written as a dieresis (¨).  For instance, *|shon| would be pronounced /SOn/ rather than /sOn/, while *|chin| would be /hin/ rather than /sin/.
 
 

1.2.  Vowels

The long vowels /a: e: i: o: u:/ are the classical tense, pure vowels of Latin, pronounced markedly longer than a short vowel, but not denatured or diphthongized as in English.  Speakers of English unexperienced with foreign languages may approximate them with "ah ay ee oh oo", but should be aware that this pronunciation has "stranger" written all over it, and is considered somewhat crude and daft by native speakers.

As for short vowels, /a/ is the bright vowel in Italian, French or High German rather than the dark English "ah" /A/.  /E/ is a slightly lowered version of /e/, as in "bed".  Similarly, /O/ is a lowered version of /o/, as in British English "not", German "Gott" or French "porte".  /M/ is the unrounded version of /u/ found in English "put".  /@/ is a schwa, the unarticulated sound of the "a" in "about", usually slightly rounded as in French or High German.  /y/ is the rounded front vowel in German "Tür" and French "pur" -- it has no English equivalent, but can be easily produced even by Americans (!) by saying "ee" while having the lips rounded as if saying "oo".

In unstressed syllables, the vowels are pronounced as in the "Unstressed" column.  In stressed syllables, they are pronounced long if the syllable is open, and short if the syllable is closed.  A syllable is considered open if it ends on its vowel, and closed if there is a consonant following.

Exception: Syllables ending on |-ej| and |-ow| would be pronounced as /Ej/ and /Ow/ according to these rules, but the glides raise the vowels to produce /ej/ and /ow/.
 
 

1.3.  Stress

If the last syllable of a word is closed, then it is stressed.  Otherwise, the second-to-last syllable (the penult) is stressed.  There are no exceptions.
 
 

1.4.  Syllables

Each syllable is built around exactly one vowel.  There general syllable structure is (T)(S)V(C).  T stands for a stop, S for a non-stop consonant, V for a vowel, and C for any consonant.  There are two exceptions to this pattern:

• A word-initial syllable may also start out with two non-stop consonants, such as |fr-|, |mw-| and |cj-|.
• A syllable may not end on a stop if the next syllable starts with a different stop, or with two consonants. For example, the words *|atta| and *|atra| are allowed, but *|apta| and *|attra| aren't.

• If two vowels are separated by one consonant, draw the boundary before the consonant.
• If two vowels are separated by more than one consonant, draw the boundary after the first consonant.
• There is always a syllable boundary between two adjacent vowels.

• After a voiceless consonant, it becomes voiceless itself.  Thus, the word *|ante| sounds more like [ant_h] than [ant@].
• After a single consonant, as in *|ate| or *|ane|, the schwa is very weak or elided altogether; however, it is audible after consonant clusters such as in *|atre| or *|anje|.
• If it directly follows a vowel, the final |-e| is totally silent.