Konkani Phonemes (Standard Konkani)[]
The phonemes of Konkani are given below:
Vowels[]
The vowels are called svara (svara-sound).
The long (vhoḍ) vowels are about twice as long as the short (sān) vowels. The diphthongs are usually pronounced about one and a half times as long as the short vowels, though most grammatical texts place them with the long vowels.
The number of vowels in Konkani is a subject of debate. Sources argue for anywhere from 8 distinct vowels to 16 distinct vowels, not including an equal number of long vowels and nasal vowels. The following table shows one interpretation of the vowels found in the Konkani language, while the IPA Chart below the table shows another interpretation.
| Front | Central | Back | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| long | short | long | short | long | short | |
| Close | iː | ɪ | uː | u | ||
| Mid | eː | e | ə | oː | o | |
| Open | ɛ | aː | æ | |||
Further complicating a consensus of the inventory of Konkani vowels is the varied use of vocabulary and phonemic change as a result of different dialects based on geographic or religious affiliation. Further research needs to be performed for satisfactory treatment of the subject, and the several dictionaries in existence must be concatenated to reach a standardization.
Konkani also has several Diphthongs, including the two that are standard to a large number of widely spoken Indian languages, aj and aw.
Consonants[]
| Stop | Nasal | Approximant | Fricative | Affricate | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Voicing → | Unvoiced | Voiced | Unvoiced | Voiced | Unvoiced | Voiced | ||||
| Aspiration → | Unaspirated | Aspirated | Unaspirated | Aspirated | Unaspirated | Aspirated | Unaspirated | Aspirated | ||
| Guttural | /k/ | /kʰ/ | /ɡ/ | /ɡʱ/ | /ŋ/ | /ɦ/ | ||||
| Palatal | /c/ | /cʰ/ | /ɟ/ | /ɟʱ/ | /ɲ/ | /j/ | /ɕ, ʃ/ | |||
| Retroflex | /ʈ/ | /ʈʰ/ | /ɖ/ | /ɖʱ/ | /ɳ / | /ɽ/, / /[1] | /ʂ/ | |||
| Dental | /t̪/ | /t̪ʰ/ | /d̪/ | /d̪ʱ/ | /n/ | /l/ | /s/ | |||
| Labial | /p/ | /pʰ/ | /b/ | /bʱ/ | /m/ | /ʋ/ | ||||
| Alveolar | /t͡ʃ/ | /d͡ʒ/ | ||||||||
| Labiodental | /f/ | |||||||||
Vowel Rounding in Christian Dialects[]
In the Christian dialects (Bardes Christian and Saxtti Christian), there are fewer vowel phonemes as the vowel a has merged with o. See table below:
| Bardes Christian | Sashti Christian | Standard Konkani | Glossary |
|---|---|---|---|
| dhor | dhor | dhar | Hold |
| koḷo | koḷo | kaḷo | Bud |
References[]
- ↑ Masica (1991:97)