logical language - Developers

1.3 PHONOLOGICAL PROCESSES AND RULES
Besides the actual inventory of consonant and vowels, all languages have phonological processes which affect how those
consonants or vowels are combined and phonetically articulated. Through these phonological processes, the possible number
of word-forming syllables in the language is expanded. Ithkuil productively utilizes consonantal gemination, shifts in syllabic
stress, and tone (pitch intonation) to achieve these ends.
1.3.1 Gemination
Gemination refers to the audible “doubling” in length of a particular sound, usually in reference to consonants. While
gemination does not occur in English on true phonological grounds, it does occur on morpho-phonological grounds, as seen in
the difference in pronunciation of the phrase ‘a natural’ versus ‘unnatural.’ There are many languages, however, where
phonologically-based gemination is an intrinsic component of the phonology (e.g., Italian, Japanese, Finnish).
In Ithkuil, most consonants can be geminated. Also noteworthy is that gemination of certain consonants is allowed in both
word-initial and word-final position. The following are the specific rules for consonant gemination:
1.3.1.1 Intervocalic Gemination. All consonants are capable of intervocalic gemination (i.e., when between two vowels)
except for y, w and the glottal stop ’.
1.3.1.2 Word-Initial and Word-Final Gemination. The following consonants, in addition to being capable of intervocalic
gemination, are also capable of being geminated in both word-initial and word-final position: c, ç, č, j, l, m, n, ň, r, ř, s, š, z, ż
and ž.
1.3.1.3 Pronunciation of Geminated Consonants. Consonants which are continuants (i.e., able to be sounded for an
indefinite duration), specifically ç, dh, f, l, m, n, r, ř, s, š, ţ, v, x, z, and ž, are simply pronounced for twice as long in
duration when geminated. Geminated r is pronounced as a rapid apico-alveolar trill like rr in Spanish or Italian.
The non-aspirated plosive consonants b, d, g, k, p, q and t, when geminated, are momentarily held, then released, much like
the two d-sounds in the English phrase bad dog when spoken rapidly. For their aspirated or ejective counterparts, the
aspiration or ejectivization occurs upon release.
The pronunciation of affricates (c, č, j, and ż) when geminated depends on whether or not they are intervocalic (between two
vowels) versus word-initial or word-final position. If intervocalic, they are pronounced by momentarily holding the initial stop
(plosive) component of the affricate before releasing it into the fricative or sibilant portion, e.g., čč is pronounced as [ttš]. For
their aspirated or ejective counterparts, the aspiration or ejectivization occurs upon release into the fricative portion of the
affricate. When in word-initial or word-final position, geminated pronunciation is achieved by simply lengthening the sibilant
continuant portion of the affricate (i.e., the second sound of each affricate). Thus, čč in word-initial or word-final position is
pronounced as [tšš].
1.3.1.4 Romanized Orthography of Geminates. Consonants written as single characters are simply written double when
geminated, e.g., bb, čč, dd, nn, šš. Aspirates and ejectives indicate the following superscript-h or apostrophe diacritics only
after the second character, e.g., čč’, tt h . The two digraphs dh and xh are written ddh and xxh when geminated.
1.3.2 Tone
Ithkuil is a tone language like Chinese, Vietnamese, and other Southeast Asian languages as well as most of the sub-Saharan
African languages and some American Indian languages. This means that tone of voice is used to convey grammatical
information, unlike Western languages which use tone and pitch changes “supra-segmentally” to mark various morphosemantic
features. For example, in English rising intonation of the voice signals a question, while other specific pitch contours
signify emphasis, disgust, irony, and other attitudes. Ithkuil marks such features morphologically, i.e., within the words
themselves (such as with affixes or variances in mood categories).
There are seven tones used in Ithkuil, one of which, mid tone, is considered to be morpho-phonologically neutral. The other