Phonology
Consonants
| Labial | Dental | Alveolar | Palatal | Velar | Glottal | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nasal | m | n | ɲ | ŋ | ||||
| Plosive / affricate |
voiceless | p | t | tʃ | k | |||
| voiced | b | d | dʒ | ɡ | ||||
| Fricative | voiceless | f | θ | s | ʃ | x | h | |
| voiced | v | ð | z | ʒ | ||||
| Approximant | median | voiced | r | j | w | |||
| voiceless | ʍ | |||||||
| lateral | l | ʎ | ||||||
- /n, t, d/ are realized as interdental [n̪, t̪, d̪] before /r/ and /ər/, as in try [t̪ɾɑe] 'try', cooter [ˈkʉt̪əɹ] 'coulter' and bederel [ˈbɛd̪əɾəl] 'bed-ridden invalid'. Before [t̪, d̪], /l/ also becomes interdental [l̪], as in helter [ˈhɛl̪t̪əɹ] 'halter'. As these allophones are fully predictable, the diacritic is omitted elsewhere in the article.
- /p, t, k/ in word-medial and word-final positions, may be pronounced with a simultaneous glottal stop [ʔ] among speakers.
- /tʃ, dʒ, ʃ, ʒ/ are phonetically alveolo-palatal sibilants articulated with spread lips [tɕ, dʑ, ɕ, ʑ].
- /x/ has two allophones:
- Normally, it is a voiceless post-velar fricative with a simultaneous voiceless uvular trill [x̠͡ʀ̥] (hereafter written with a plain ⟨x⟩), much like Northern Dutch ⟨g⟩ in the word geel ⓘ 'yellow'.
- After front vowels (such as /i/), it is realized as a voiceless post-palatal fricative [ç˗] (hereafter represented without the diacritic), similar to the German Ich-Laut, but slightly more back. This consonant also occurs as an allophone of the initial sequence /hj/, so that huge /hjʉdʒ/ 'huge' may be pronounced [çʉdʒ].
- /r/ is normally an approximant [ɹ]. After /t, d, θ/, it is realized as a tap [ɾ]. This is also the case in the sequence /CərV/ (where /C/ stands for any of /n, t, d, θ, ð, l/), as in footery [ˈfʉtəɾe] 'clumsy'. In initial clusters after consonants other than /t, d, θ/, Gregg describes a realization intermediate between an approximant [ɹ] and a tap [ɾ], i.e. a brief non-sibilant fricative [ɾ̞] (as in brush [bɾ̞ʌʃ] 'brush'). Elsewhere in the article, this allophone is written with a plain ⟨ɾ⟩.
- /l/ is clear [l]. The velarized [ɫ] found in many English dialects does not exist in Glenoe.
Vowels
| Front | Central | Back | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| unrounded | rounded | unrounded | rounded | |||
| Close | i | ɨ | ʉ | o | ||
| Close-mid | e | ə | ||||
| Open-mid | ɛ | ʌ | ɔ | |||
| Open | ɐ | ɑ | ||||
| Diphthongs | əi əʉ ɔe ɑe | |||||
- Vowel length is governed by the Scottish vowel length rule and is therefore non-phonemic. /ɨ, ɐ, ʌ/ and the unstressed-only /ə/ are always short, whereas /e, ɛ, a, ɔ, o/ are normally long but can be shortened due to the SVLR. Conversely, both /i/ and /ʉ/ are normally short, but can be lengthened due to the SVLR.
- /i, e, ɛ/ are slightly lower than the corresponding cardinal vowels, but the difference is not very big.
- /ɨ/, a phonologically central vowel, is further front and more open than cardinal [ɨ]: [ɨ̟˕]. Before /r/, it is lengthened and slightly lowered to [ɘ̟ː] (transcribed with ⟨ɨː⟩ in this article).
- /ʉ/, a phonologically central vowel, is further front than cardinal [ʉ] but not quite as front as the German /ʏ/ and /yː/. The long allophone is almost fully close [ʉ̟ː], but the short allophone is somewhat lower: [ʉ̟˕]. Before /r/, a long open [ʉ̟˕ː] is found to the exclusion of [ʉ̟ː]. For simplicity, both long allophones are written with ⟨ʉː⟩ in this article, whereas the short allophone is written with ⟨ʉ⟩.
- /o/ is more strongly rounded and closer than the cardinal [o]: [o̹˔]. It is similar in quality to Swedish and Norwegian /uː/.
- In certain fused verb forms, /e/ is realized as [ɪ]. An example of that is hae tae [ˈhɪtə] 'have to' (cf. hae [heː] 'have'). It also occurs as an allophone of /ɐ/ in unstressed syllables (in e.g. Pawlish [ˈpɔːlɪʃ] 'Polish'). Its phonetic quality is similar to that of /ɨ/ but more front. It is close to the KIT vowel (/ɪ/) in RP.
- /ə/ is close-mid [ɘ].
- /ʌ, ɔ/ are near-back [ʌ̟, ɔ̟].
- /ɐ/ is near-open near-front [ɐ̟]. It corresponds to English /ɪ/, which in most English dialects is much closer [ɪ]. However, a similar sound of an [ɐ̟] quality is used by some speakers of Ulster English.
- /ɑ/ is near-back: [ɑ̟], much like RP /ɑː/.