Hrmitt reference grammar

2.1. Phonetic Inventory

2.1.1. Consonants

2.1.1.1. Consonant Phonemes

The currently-attested consonant phonemes are:

2.1.1.2. Consonant Phones

The consonant phonemes are variously realized, depending on their surrounding context. The phonetic inventory is as follows:

Specific rules of which phonemes map to which phones are described in section 2.3.2.

As described in the Preface, [ʀ̥] is the closest human approximation to the native speakers' far-back trill, which is made with the flexible back portion of their tongue. The human tongue has no such flexibility, and hence the actual sound is impossible for us, but [ʀ̥] is close enough in sound, and for all our intents and purposes, serves as an adequate substitute. Some human speakers also pre-fricativise /ʀ̥/ as [xʀ̥], as an attempt to more closely approximate the guttural quality of the native pronunciation.

Since the two trill phonemes contrast both in point-of-articulation and voicing, it is also possible to substitute /ʀ̥/ with [r̥] instead, and thus still retain the voicing contrast in the native speakers' speech.

2.1.2. Vowels

2.1.2.1. Vowel Phonemes

There are 5 vowel phonemes currently attested:

Currently-attested vowel glides include: /ai/, /ei/, /au/, /ia/.

2.1.2.2. Vowel Phones

The vowel phonemes are realized in a variety of ways, depending on context. As a result, there are significantly more vowel phones than phonemes:

Specific rules of how phonemes map to phones are described in section 2.3.1.