LAPSyD - Lyon-Albuquerque Phonological Systems Database

Home

Access languages

By classification

Last published inventories

Creative Commons License

submit Idea

Report Bug

Inventory from ian Public

Public

Language Information

info

Language name:	afr
Alternate name:
Classification:
Audio resources	Wissing, Daan P. 2020a. Illustrations of the IPA: Afrikaans. Journal of the International Phonetic Association 50: 127-140.
Source:	Wissing, Daan P. 2020a. Illustrations of the IPA: Afrikaans. Journal of the International Phonetic Association 50: 127-140. Wissing, Daan P. 2020b. The phonotactics of Afrikaans. Taalportaal on-line resource, available at https://taalportaal.org/taalportaal/topic/pid/topic-13998813314549800. Donaldson, Bruce C. 1993. A Grammar of Afrikaans. Mouton de Gruyter, Berlin. Coetzee, Anna M., Pam Beddor, Kerby Shedden & Daan Wissing. Plosive vocing in Afrikaans: Differential cue weighting and tonogenesis. Journal of Phonetics 66: 185-216
Coordinates:	Latitude:Longitude: Area:
Location:	Primarily in South Africa, particularly in Northern Cape and Western Cape provinces, but dispersed throughout the country and neighboring states.
	Last change:

Count Information

count

Inventories

inventory

Vowels			front				central		back
			unrounded		rounded		unrounded	rounded	unrounded	rounded
				long		long					long
high			i		y					u
higher mid				eː		øː					oː
lower mid			ɛ				ɜ	ɞ		ɔ
low									ɑ		ɒː

Diphthongs hide

hide

Diphthongs	count	fronting	backing	rising
ɜi	1	X		X
ɞu	1		X	X
ɞy	1	X		X

Consonants hide

hide

Consonants									bilabial	lab-den	alv	palatal	velar	glottal
									bilabial	lab-den	alv	palatal	velar	glottal
pulm	stop					-vless			p		t		k
	stop					-ved			b		d
	fric					-vless				f			x
						-ved				v		ʝ		ɦ
				sib		-vless					s
	nasal					-ved			m		n		ŋ
	trill					-ved					r
	appr	lat				-ved					l

Comments

complement

Consonant notes :	Wissing (2020a) labels coronals as alveolar; /r/ varies with [ʀ] in some regions. /v/ may be an approximant [ʋ] in onset clusters. Additional consonants /ɡ, tʃ, dʒ, ɲ, ʃ, z, ʒ/ occur in a small number of loan words. Wissing (2020a:131) notes that /ʝ/ "may be either a fricative or an approximant" with the fricative "common in onset position". Donaldson (1993) describes it as an approximant. Coetzee et al (2018) report that the voicing contrast is plosives is in process of being lost, with lower F0 onset replacing voicing.
Vowel notes :	Vowel transcription based on Wissing (2020a) with some modification following placement of symbols on the vowel plot and accompanying verbal descriptions; 'schwa' is noted as /ɜ/ since it is placed as lower mid, /ɞ/ is preferred to /œ/ in diphthongs as the start is central, /u/ is shown somewhat centralized, but still in the back area. The long low vowel is symbolized /ɒː/ as it is described as having some rounding. Donaldson (1993) gives a longer list of vowels and diphthongs.
Stresscat:
Stress :	Wissing (2020a: 137) reports stress usually falls on the final syllable of monomorphemic words, unless this contains a schwa. Donaldson (1993) lists more of the exceptions to regular patterns.
Syllcat:		Syllabic index :	ONC :
Syllabic index Numeric values are given for the maximal degree of elaboration of the Onset, Nucleus and Coda elements separately, and these are summed to give an overall Syllable Index. Onset value are 0 for maximal one-consonant onset (since CV syllable is taken to be universal), 1 for common CC onsets (such as CG, CL), 2 for less common 2-consonant onsets, and 3 for maximally 3 or more consonants in onset. Nucleus scores are 1 for single-mora nuclei as the maximum, and 2 for bimoraic (or longer) nuclei. Coda scores are 1 for maximally a single consonant, 2 for two consonants and 3 for 3 or more consonants permitted in coda. The summed Syllable Index thus ranges from 1 for a languages such as Yoruba with maximal CV syllables to 8 for a language such as English which permits elaborate onset and coda clusters.
Canonical Form :	(C)(C)(C)V(C)(C)(C)	Syllabic Restriction :	(*)(C)(C)V(C)(C)(C)
Syllabic notes :	(C)(C)(C)V(ː, (C)(C))(C). Maximum onsets are /s/ + voiceless stop + liquid, e.g. /spreːk/ "speak", /spraŋk/, maximal codas are most often mirrors of this pattern, but include some other patterns, e.g. /hɛrfs/ "autumn" plus many forms with a final /-s/ suffix. Long vowels do not precede coda clusters.
Tonecat:
Tone :	Coetzee et al (2018) suggest that Afrikaans may be undergoing a process of tonogenesis

Cite | Contact us | Feedback
Copyright © 2014-2024 DDL UNM