West Frisian phonology

This article is about the phonology and phonetics of the West Frisian language.

Vowels

The vowel inventory of West Frisian is very rich.

Monophthongs

Standard West Frisian monophthongs[1][2][3]
Front Central Back
unrounded rounded unrounded rounded
short long short long short long short long
Close i y u
Close-mid ɪ ø øː ə o
Open-mid ɛ ɛː ɔ ɔː
Open a

Close and mid vowels

Open vowels

Diphthongs

Standard West Frisian diphthongs[2][15]
Starting point Ending point
Front Central Back
Close unrounded (jɪ jø jɛ) iu
rounded ui yə uə (wa) (wo)
Close-mid unrounded ɪə
rounded oi oːi øə oə
Open-mid unrounded ɛi
rounded øy ɔu
Open unrounded ai aːi

Breaking

Some falling diphthongs alternate with the rising ones:[2]

Falling Rising
Diphthong Orthography IPA Translation Diphthong Orthography IPA Translation
/iə/ stien /ˈstiən/ 'stone' /jɪ/ stiennen /ˈstjɪnən/ 'stones'
/ɪə/ beam /ˈbɪəm/ 'tree' /jɛ/ beamke /ˈbjɛmkə/ 'little tree'
/uə/ foet /ˈfuət/ 'foot' /wo/ fuotten /ˈfwotən/ 'feet'
/oə/ doas /ˈdoəs/ 'box' /wa/ doaske /ˈdwaskə/ 'little box'
/yə/ sluere /ˈslyərə/ 'to meander' /jø/ slurkje /ˈsljørkjə/ 'to meander softly'

Consonants

Standard West Frisian consonants[25][26]
Labial Alveolar Dorsal Glottal
Nasal m n ŋ
Plosive voiceless p t k
voiced b d
Fricative voiceless f s x h
voiced v z ɣ
Trill r
Approximant l j

Final devoicing

Word-final /b, d/ are realized as voiceless [p, t] in all dialects except Amelansk.[38] Note, however, that final /b/ is rare,[39] and that in loanwords from Standard Dutch, final /ɣ/ can also appear, and is also devoiced to [x].

References

Bibliography

  • Booij, Geert (1989), "On the representation of diphthongs in Frisian", Journal of Linguistics, 25: 319–332, JSTOR 4176008 
  • de Haan, Germen J. (2010), Hoekstra, Jarich; Visser, Willem; Jensma, Goffe, eds., Studies in West Frisian Grammar: Selected Papers by Germen J. de Haan, Amsterdam: John Benjamins Publishing Company, ISBN 978-90-272-5544-0 
  • Hoekstra, Jarich (2001), "12. Standard West Frisian", in Munske, Horst Haider; Århammar, Hans, Handbook of Frisian studies, Tübingen: Max Niemeyer Verlag GmbH, pp. 83–98, ISBN 3-484-73048-X 
  • Hoekstra, Jarich (2003), "Frisian. Standardization in progress of a language in decay", Germanic Standardizations. Past to Present (PDF), 18, Amsterdam: John Benjamins Publishing Company, pp. 193–209, ISBN 978-90-272-1856-8 
  • Hoekstra, Jarich; Tiersma, Peter Meijes (2013) [First published 1994], "16 Frisian", in van der Auwera, Johan; König, Ekkehard, The Germanic Languages, Routledge, pp. 505–531, ISBN 0-415-05768-X 
  • Hof, Jan Jelles (1933), Friesche Dialectgeographie (PDF), The Hague: Martinus Nijhoff 
  • Keil, Benjamin (2003), Frisian phonology (PDF) 
  • Sipma, Pieter (1913), Phonology & grammar of modern West Frisian, London: Oxford University Press 
  • Tiersma, Peter Meijes (1999) [First published 1985 in Dordrecht by Foris Publications], Frisian Reference Grammar (2nd ed.), Ljouwert: Fryske Akademy, ISBN 90-6171-886-4 
  • van der Veen, Klaas F. (2001), "13. West Frisian Dialectology and Dialects", in Munske, Horst Haider; Århammar, Hans, Handbook of Frisian studies, Tübingen: Max Niemeyer Verlag GmbH, pp. 98–116, ISBN 3-484-73048-X 
  • Visser, Willem (1997), The Syllable in Frisian (PDF), Leiden: Holland Institute of Generative Linguistics, ISBN 90-5569-030-9 

Further reading

  • Fokkema, Klaas (1961), "Consonantgroepen in de Zuidwesthoek van Friesland", in Heeroma, Klaas Hanzen; Fokkema, Klaas, Structuurgeografie, Amsterdam: Noord-Hollandsche Uitg. Mij., pp. 16–26 
  • Heeringa, Wilbert (2005), "Dialect variation in and around Frisia: classification and relationships" (PDF), Us Wurk, tydskrift foar Frisistyk, 3–4: 125–167 
  • Tiersma, Peter Meijes (1983), "The nature of phonological representation: evidence from breaking in Frisian", Journal of Linguistics, 10: 59–78, JSTOR 4175665 
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