Module:tzm-IPA/documentation

This module generates the IPA phonological and phonetic transcription of Central Atlas Tamazight entries. It runs Template:tzm-IPA. If no parameter is provided, it will use the page title, else it is looked upon as a respelling. The testcases are here.

This module generates the phonology, which is the same for all Central Atlas Tamazight dialects (broad), and the phonetics, which is particular for each dialect (narrow). Currently it displays only the phonetic pronunciation for the Ayt Ndhir dialect according to Penchoen (1973).

For Central Atlas Tamazight, the pronunciation is more relevant than the Tifinagh orthography because it is mainly an oral language, rarely written, whence the necessity of this module.

Below you shall find the functioning of this module.

Tifinagh and transcription
Here are the correspondences. An alternative pronunciation (a rarely used one) is next to the regular one, and in yellow if borrowed from Arabic phonology.

¹ only if relevant to distinguish with normal non-emphatic [r]

Phonotactics
The module gets the transcription of the entry name, then it generates the phonological transcription using columns 2 and 3 above. In order to generate the phonetic transcription from the phonological one, these sound laws are used.

Ayt Ndhir dialect
Here are the rules for the Ayt Ndhir dialect, spoken in Central Morocco.

Consonants

 * 1) [{ʝ, ɣʷ, ʁ}] > [{jj, ww ʁʁ}] \ #(Cː)(C)V_V(C)# (medial in bisyllabic words, 2 p7)
 * 2) /{d, t, z, r, s}/ > /{d, t, z, r, s}ˤ/ \ Cˤ(V)_ or _Cˤ (emphatic spread, a p7)
 * 3) [{voicing¹}] > [{voicing²}] \ _{voicing²} (voicing regressive assimilation, b p7)
 * 4) /{lax, articulation pt¹, (ˤ)}{lax, articulation point¹, voicing², (ˤ)}/ > /{(‿)CC, articulation pt¹, voicing², (ˤ)}/ (assimilation. C¹&C², lax, same articulation pt > tense (geminated for 1st lecture), same articulation point. Voicing of C². ˤ if C¹ or C² is ˤ. c p8)
 * 5) /{t, d}/ > [{t̪, d̪}] \  _{s, z, sˤ, zˤ, ʃ, ʒ} (t, d as stops before these fricatives, voicing is done by rule 3. d p8)
 * 6) /n/ > /{r, l}/ \  {r, l}_ (assimilation /ln/>[ll], /rn/>[rr], e p8)
 * 7) /n/ > /{l, r}/ \  _{{l, ll}, {r, rr}} (regressive assimilation /nl/>[ll], /nr/>[rr], /nll/, [ll], /nrr/>[rr], f p8)
 * 8) /{{jj}, {jw}, {ww}}/ > [{{ɟɟ}, {ɡʷɡʷ}, {ww}}] (glide assimilation /jj/>[ɟɟ], /jw/>[ɡʷɡʷ], /ww/>[ww], g p8)
 * 9) /{j, w}/ > [{i, u}] \ #_C excepted for /{jj, ww}/ > tense (word initial glide conditioning, h p9)
 * 10) [ə{t̪ːu, sː, mː, t̪ː}] > [{t̪u, s, m, t̪}] \  #_ (grammatical tense consonants detensing, will see when in morphology section, otherwise this law is useless, i p9)
 * 11) [C¹ː] > [C¹(ː)] \  _# (word final tense consonants detensing in rapid speech but not in deliberate speech, j p9)

Vowels

 * 1) /{æ, i, u}/ > [{ɑ, ɪ̙, ʊ̙}] \ {ħ, ʕ, Cˤ, x, q, ɣ}_ or _{same consonants} (vocalic lowering and retracting (ie. pharyngeal) by contact of pharyngeal, pharyngealized (ie. emphatic) and uvular consonants, a p9)
 * 2) [{æ, i, u, ɑ, ɪ̙, ʊ̙}] > [{æ̝, i̞, u̞, ɑ̝, ɪ̙̞, ʊ̙̞}] \  _{tense(Cː), CC, C#} (vocalic medialization before tense consonants, true (ə-less) consonant clusters and final consonant, b p10)
 * 3) /a/ > [ɑ] \  _# (word final /a/ coloration, c p10)
 * 4) /∅/ > /ə/ \ {C, #}_{C¹C¹(C), CC, C#} (schwa phonological insertion: if there's no vowel before a tense consonant, or a cluster of a tense consonant and another consonant, or a two-consonant cluster or a final consonant, place a schwa there, d p10)
 * 5) [ə{m, n̪, l, r}] > [{m̩, n̪̩, l̩, r̩}] (schwa phonetic articulation: sonorants syllabification (and "consonant release"), d p10)
 * 6) /{əj, əɡ, əw}/ > /{i(j), i(ɡ), u(w)}/ (glides syllabification to diphthong then in rapid speech reduction to pure vowel, e p10)
 * 7) /{{a, i, u}i, {i, u}a, iV, aa}/ > [{{ɑ, i, u}, {i, u}ja, (ij)V, (ɑj)a}] \  _C(C)(C)(V)# (elision and hiatus rupture when the second vowel is part of a suffix : 2nd /i/ elided, /j/ before /a/ or after /i/, with possible elision if /aa/ or iV/, f p10)
 * 8) /a / > /‿/ \ #(C)CC_a (elision between an a-final verb and an a-initial noun, f p10)
 * 9) /{a, u, i} {a, u, i}/ > /{a, u, i}‿j{a, u, ∅}/ (hiatus rupture : /j/ before vowels, and /i/ elided, f p10)