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Sounds/Phonology
edit| Bilabial | Interdental | Alveolar | Post Alveolar | Affricates | Palatal | Velar | Glottal | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Plosive | p | b | t | d | k | g | ||||||||
| Nasal | m | n | ɳ | ŋ | ||||||||||
| Trill | r | |||||||||||||
| Fricative | f | v | s | z | ʃ | ʒ | t͡s | d͡ʒ | h | |||||
| Approximant | j | |||||||||||||
| Lateral | l | |||||||||||||
Phonemes in the left column of each section are voiceless and phonemes in the right column are voiced.
| Voiced palatal approximant | j |
| Voiced labial-velar approximant | w |
| Voiced labial-palatal approximant | ɥ |
Louisiana creole has a consonant inventory similar to French since it is a French creole. This is the reason for the existence of the voiced labial-palatal approximant /ɥ/. However it appears very rarely, the one documented case is /ɥit/ which is the word eight in Louisiana creole as well as standard French. [2] Another interesting difference to note is the presence of the phonemes /h/, /d͡ʒ/ and /t͡ʃ/ which are quite unusual in standard French. The trill also varies between being fully voiced (like the Spanish trill) at the beginning and middle of words. However, at the ends of words it is much weaker and less prominent. [1]
| Front | Back | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| unrounded | rounded | rounded | |
| high | i | [y] | u |
| high-mid | e | [ø] | o |
| low-mid | ɛ | [œ] | ɔ |
| low | a | [ɑ] | |
| nasal | ɛ̃ | ɔ̃ or ɑ̃ | |
The vowels in Louisiana Creole can be split distinctly into front and back vowels. All of these vowels are similar to those found in standard French, however, the difference between front unrounded and front rounded vowels is unstable and is not contrasted by every speaker, which is why the rounded vowels are in brackets in the table above. Words that can be pronounced using a front, rounded vowel, have also sometimes been observed being pronounced with front unrounded vowels as well.[2] For example, the word for 'sister' can be pronounced either /sœr/ or /sɛr/.[2] This instability in vowel rounding appears in other New-World francophone creoles as well.[2]
In regards to nasalized vowels, it appears that most speakers of Louisiana Creole have only two. The front vowel /ɛ̃/ as well as a back vowel that contrasts with it. This vowel is either /ɔ̃/ or /ɑ̃/.[[2]Sometimes nasalization occurs on low or mid vowels when they are before a nasal consonant. For example, the verb 'to know', /kone/, can be pronounced as [kɔne], [kone], [kɔ̃ne] or [kɔ̃nɛ̃] allophonically.[2]
- ^ a b c Dictionary of Louisiana Creole. Valdman, Albert. Bloomington, Ind.: Indiana University Press. 1998. ISBN 0253334519. OCLC 39147759.
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: others (link) - ^ a b c d e f g h French and Creole in Louisiana. Valdman, Albert. New York: Plenum Press. 1997. ISBN 0306454645. OCLC 37180996.
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: others (link)