Catalan phonology

The Catalan phonology (or Valencian phonology) has a certain degree of dialectal variation. Although there are two standard varieties, one based on Central Eastern dialect and another one based on South-Western or Valencian, this article deals with features of all or most dialects, as well as regional pronunciation differences.

Catalan is characterized by final-obstruent devoicing, lenition, and voicing assimilation; a set of 7 to 8 phonemic vowels, vowel assimilations (including vowel harmony), many phonetic diphthongs, and vowel reduction, whose precise details differ between dialects.

Consonants

Main article: Consonants

Consonants of Catalan

		Labial	Dental/ Alveolar	Palatal	Velar	Uvular
Nasal		m	n3	ɲ6	(ŋ)
Plosive	voiceless	p	t1	k2
	voiced	b	d1	ɡ2
Affricate	voiceless		(t͡s)5	t͡ʃ7
	voiced		d͡z5	d͡ʒ7
Fricative	voiceless	f	s4	ʃ7
	voiced	(v)	z4	ʒ7		(ʁ)
Approximant	central			j	w
	lateral		l3	ʎ6
Trill			r4
Tap			ɾ3

Phonetic notes:

• ^1 /t/, /d/ are laminal denti-alveolar [t̪], [d̪]. After /s, z/, they are laminal alveolar [t̻], [d̻].
• ^2 /k/, /ɡ/ are velar but fronted to pre-velar position before front vowels. In some Majorcan dialects, the situation is reversed; the main realization is palatal [c], [ɟ], but before liquids and rounded back vowels they are velar [k], [ɡ].
• ^3 /n/, /l/, /ɾ/ are apical front alveolar [n̺], [l̺], [ɾ̺], but the first two are laminal denti-alveolar [n̪], [l̪] before /t/, /d/. In addition, /n/ is postalveolar [n̠] or alveolo-palatal [ɲ̟] before /ʃ/, /ʒ/, /t͡ʃ/, /d͡ʒ/, velar [ŋ] before /k/, /ɡ/ and labiodental [ɱ] before /f/, (/v/), where it merges with /m/. It also merges with /m/ (to [m]) before /p/, /b/.
• ^4 /s/, /z/, /r/ are apical back alveolar [s̺], [z̺], [r̺], also described as postalveolar.
• ^5 /t͡s/, /d͡z/ are apical alveolar [t͡s̺], [d͡z̺].< They may be somewhat fronted, so that the stop component is laminal denti-alveolar, while the fricative component is apical post-dental. /t͡s/ is rare and may not be phonemic (see below).
• ^6 /ʎ/, /ɲ/ are laminal "front alveolo-palatal" [ʎ̟], [ɲ̟].
• ^7 There is some confusion in the literature about the precise phonetic characteristics of /ʃ/, /ʒ/, /tʃ/, and /dʒ/; while Recasens, Fontdevila & Pallarès and Recasens & Espinosa describe them as "back alveolo-palatal", implying that the characters ⟨ɕ ʑ tɕ dʑ⟩ would be more accurate, they (and all literature on Catalan) use the characters for palato-alveolar affricates and fricatives while using ⟨ɕ ʑ⟩ for alveolo-palatal sounds in examples in other languages like Polish or Chinese. Otherwise, sources, like Carbonell Costa & Llisterri Boix (1992) generally describe them as "postalveolar".

Obstruents

Main article: Obstruents

Voiced obstruents undergo final-obstruent devoicing so that fred ('cold', m. s.) is pronounced with [t] ([ˈfɾɛt], [ˈfɾət], [ˈfɾet]) while fredes ('cold', f. pl.) is pronounced with [ð] ([ˈfɾɛðəs], [ˈfɾəðəs], [ˈfɾeðes]).

Plosives

Main article: Plosives

Voiced plosives (also called stops) become lenited to fricatives or approximants in syllable onsets, after continuants: /b/ → [β], /d/ → [ð], /ɡ/ → [ɣ].

• Exceptions include /d/ after lateral consonants and /b/ after /f/, e.g. bolígraf boníssim [buˈliɣɾəv‿buˈnisim] (E) / [boˈliɣɾav‿boˈnisim] (W) ('really good pen').
• In non-betacist dialects (those who do not merge /b/ with /v/), /b/ remains unlenited.
• In some dialects, e.g. many Valencian accents, initial (that is, in all environments except after a nasal) /ɡ/ can be lenited: gat [ˈɣat] ('cat').
  • In the coda position, these sounds are always realized as stops; except in some Valencian dialects, where they might be lenited.

In Catalan and Balearic (not in Valencian), /b/ and /ɡ/ may be geminated in certain environments (e.g. poble [ˈpɔbːlə] 'village, people', regla [ˈreɡlːə] 'rule').

In Majorcan varieties, /k/ and /ɡ/ become [c] and [ɟ] word-finally and before front vowels, in some of these dialects, this has extended to all environments except before liquids and back vowels; e.g. sang [ˈsaɲc] ('blood').

• The dorso-palatal [ʝ] may occur in complementary distribution with [ɟ], only in Majorcan varieties that have dorso-palatals rather than the velars found in most dialects: guerra [ˈɟɛrə] ('war') vs. sa guerra [sə ˈʝɛrə] ('the war').

In the Valencian dialects final voiceless plosives (/p, t, k/) may be lenited before a vowel: tot açò [ˈtoð‿aˈsɔ] ('all this').

Affricates

Main article: Affricates

The phonemic status of affricates is dubious; after other consonants, affricates are in free variation with fricatives, e.g. clenxa [ˈklɛnʃə] ~ [ˈklɛɲt͡ʃə] (E) / [ˈklɛɲt͡ʃa] (W) ('hair parting') and may be analyzed as either single phonemes or clusters of a stop and a fricative.

• Alveolar affricates, [t͡s] and [d͡z], occur the least of all affricates.
  • [d͡z] only occurs intervocalically: metzines [məˈd͡zinəs] (E) / [meˈd͡zines] (W) ('toxic substances').
  • Instances of [t͡s] arise mostly from compounding; the few lexical instances arise from historical compounding. For instance, potser [putˈt͡se] (E) / [potˈt͡seɾ] (W) ('maybe') comes from pot ('may') + ser ('be' inf). As such, [t͡s] does not occur word-initially; other than some rare words of foreign origin (e.g. tsar 'tsar', tsuga 'tsuga'), but it may occur word-finally and quite often in cases of heteromorphemic (i.e. across a morpheme boundary) plural endings: tots [ˈtot͡s] ('everybody'). Several linguists claim [t͡s] is not a phoneme on its own, but a simple combination of [t] and [s], in the same way that the [ts] English 'cats' is not phonemic.
• The distribution of alveolo-palatal affricates, [t͡ʃ] and [d͡ʒ], depends on dialect:
  • In most of Valencian and southern Catalonia, most occurrences of [d͡ʒ] correspond to the voiced fricative [ʒ] in Standard Eastern Catalan: gel [ˈd͡ʒɛl] ('ice').
  • In Standard Eastern Catalan, word-initial [t͡ʃ] is found only in a few words of foreign origin (e.g. txec 'Czech', Txaikovski 'Tchaikovsky') while being found freely intervocalically (e.g. fletxa 'arrow') and word-finally: despatx [dəsˈpat͡ʃ] (E) / [desˈpat͡ʃ] (W) ('office').
  • Standard Eastern Catalan also only allows [d͡ʒ] in intervocalic position (e.g. metge 'medic'). Phonemic analyses show word-final occurrences of /d͡ʒ/ (e.g. raig esbiaixat [ˈrad͡ʒ‿əzβiəˈʃat] (E) / [ˈrad͡ʒ‿ezbiajˈʃat] (W) 'skew ray'), but final devoicing eliminates this from the surface: raig [ˈrat͡ʃ] ('ray').
  • In various other dialects (as well as in emphatic speech), [tʃ] occurs word-initially and after another consonant to the exclusion of [ʃ]. These instances of word-initial [t͡ʃ] seem to correspond to [ʃ] in other dialects, including the standard (on which the orthography is based): xinxa ('bedbug'), pronounced [ˈʃiɲʃə] in the standard, is [ˈt͡ʃiɲt͡ʃa] in these varieties.

There is dialectal variation in regards to affricate length, with long affricates occurring in both Eastern and Western dialects such as in Majorca and few areas in Southern Valencia. Also, intervocalic affricates are predominantly long, especially those that are voiced or occurring immediately after a stressed syllable (e.g. metge [ˈmed͡ːʒə] (E) / [ˈmed͡ːʒe] (W) 'medic'). In Modern Valencian [d͡ʒ] and [d͡ːʒ] have merged into /d͡ʒ/, except in some parts of Southern Valencian.

Fricatives

Main article: Fricatives

/v/ occurs in Balearic, as well as in Alguerese, Standard Valencian and some areas in southern Catalonia. Everywhere else, it has merged with historic /β/ so that [b] and [β] occur in complementary distribution.

• In Majorcan, [v] and [w] are in complementary distribution, with [v] occurring before vowels (e.g. blava [ˈblavə] 'blue' f. vs. blau [ˈblaw] 'blue' m.).
• In other varieties that have both sounds, they are in contrast before vowels, with neutralization in favor of [w] before consonants.

In Majorcan and Minorcan, /f/ undergoes total assimilation to a following consonant (just as stops do): buf gros [ˈbuɡ‿ˈɡɾɔs] ('large puff').

Sonorants

Main article: Sonorants

See also: Assimilations

While "dark (velarized) l", [ɫ], may be a positional allophone of /l/ in most dialects (such as in the syllable coda; e.g. sòl [ˈsɔɫ] 'ground'), /l/ is dark irrespective of position in Eastern dialects like Majorcan and standard Eastern Catalan (e.g. tela [ˈtɛɫə]). For simplicity dark l is not transcribed in this article.

• In Aragonese Catalan (including Ribagorçan), /l/ is palatalized to [ʎ] in consonant clusters; e.g. plou [ˈpʎɔw] 'it rains'.

In Alguerese and Ribagorçan word-final /ʎ/ and /ɲ/ are depalatized to [l] and [n], respectively; e.g. gall [ˈɡal] ('rooster'), any [ˈan] ('year').

In careful speech, /n/, /m/, and /l/ may be geminated (e.g. innecessari [inːəsəˈsaɾi] (E) / [inːeseˈsaɾi] (W) 'unnecessary'; emmagatzemar [əmːəɣəd͡zəˈma] (E) / [emːaɣa(d͡)zeˈma(ɾ)] (W) 'to store'; il·lusió [ilːuziˈo] 'illusion'). A geminated /ʎː/ may also occur (e.g. ratlla [ˈraʎːə] (E) / [ˈraʎːa] (W) 'line'). Wheeler analyzes intervocalic [r] as the result of gemination of a single rhotic phoneme: serra /ˈsɛɾɾə/ → [ˈsɛrə] (E) / /ˈsɛɾɾa/ → [ˈsɛra] (W) 'saw, mountains' (this is similar to the common analysis of Spanish and Portuguese rhotics).

The distribution of the two rhotics /r/ and /ɾ/ closely parallels that of Spanish.

• Between vowels, the two contrast (e.g. mirra [ˈmirə] (E) / [ˈmira] (W) 'myrrh' vs. mira [ˈmiɾə] (E) / [ˈmiɾa] (W) 'look'), but they are otherwise in complementary distribution. [ɾ] appears in the onset, except in word-initial position (ruc), after /l/, /n/, and /s/ (folre 'lining', honra 'honour', Israel 'Israel'), and in compounds (infraroig 'infrared'), where [r] is used.
• Different dialects vary in regards to rhotics in the coda, with Western Catalan generally featuring [ɾ] and Central Catalan dialects like those of Barcelona or Girona featuring a weakly trilled [r] unless it precedes a vowel-initial word in the same prosodic unit, in which case [ɾ] appears (per [peɾ] (W), [pər] (E) 'for').
• There is free variation in /r/ word-initially, after /l/, /n/, and /s/, and in compounds (if /r/ is preceded by consonant), wherein /r/ is pronounced [r] or [ɹ], the latter being similar to English red: ruc [ˈruk] ~ [ˈɹuk] ('donkey').

In Northern Catalonia and in some accents of Majorcan, a uvular trill [ʀ] or approximant [ʁ] can be heard instead of the alveolar trill; e.g. córrer [ˈkoʀə] ~ [ˈkoʁə] ('to run').

Vowels

Main article: Vowels

Vowels of Catalan

	Front	Central	Back
Close	i   (y)		u
Close-mid	e   (ø)	(ə)	o
Open-mid	ɛ   (œ)		ɔ
Open	a (ɑ)

Phonetic notes:

• The vowel /a/ is further back and open than the Castilian counterpart in North-Western and Central Catalan (i.e. it approaches [ɑ̈] in isolation or in a neutral environment), it is slightly fronted and closed in Valencian and Ribagorçan ([ä ~ ɐ]), and further fronted and closed ([a ~ æ]) in Majorcan.
  • Stressed /a/ can be further retracted to [ɑ] in contact with velar consonants (including the velarised [ɫ]), and fronted to [a] in contact with palatals. This is not transcribed in the article.
    • The palatal pronunciation of /a/ may merge with /ɛ/ by some speakers.
• The central vowel /ə/ in stressed position is found in Majorcan and part of Minorcan, in the Balearic Islands.
  • The realization of the reduced vowel /ə/ varies from mid [ə] to near-open [ɐ], with the latter variant being the most usual in the Barcelona metropolitan area, where the distinction between /ə/ and /a/ is less pronounced than in other varieties that maintain the distinction.
• The open-mid /ɛ/ and /ɔ/ are lower [æ, ɒ] in Majorcan, Minorcan and Valencian.
  • /ɛ/ is slightly more open and centralised before liquids /l, ɾ, r/ and in monosyllabics.
  • /ɔ/ is most often a back vowel. In some dialects (like Majorcan and Southern Valencian) /ɔ/ can be unrounded.
• /e/ and /o/ can be realised as mid vowels [e̞, o̞] in some cases. This occurs more often with /o/.
  • In Northern Catalan, Modern Alguerese and some places bordering the Spanish-speaking areas, open-mid and close-mid vowels may merge into mid vowels; [e̞] and [o̞].
• The close vowels /i, u/ are more open than in Castilian. Unstressed /i, u/ are centralized.
  • In Valencian and most Balearic dialects /i, u/ are further open and centralized, especially in unstressed position [ɪ, ʊ].
• Northern Catalan sometimes adds two loan rounded vowels, [y] and [ø], from French and Occitan (e.g. but [ˈbyt] 'aim', fulles [ˈføjəs] 'leaves').
  • Similarly French /y/ and /œ/ (and /ø/) are mostly adapted with [u ~ i] (e.g. déjà vu) and [e] (amateur), respectively .
• Phonetic nasalization occurs for vowels occurring between nasal consonants or when preceding a syllable-final nasal; e.g. diumenge [diwˈmẽɲʒə] (E) / [diwˈmẽɲd͡ʒe] (W) ('Sunday').
• Vowels can be lengthened in some contexts.

Stressed vowels

Vowels of Standard Eastern Catalan

Vowels of Valencian

Most varieties of Catalan contrast seven stressed vowel phonemes. However, some Balearic dialects have an additional stressed vowel phoneme (/ə/); e.g. sec /ˈsək/ ('dry, I sit'). The stressed schwa of these dialects corresponds to /ɛ/ in Central Catalan and /e/ in Western Catalan varieties (that is, Central and Western Catalan dialects differ in their incidence of /e/ and /ɛ/, with /e/ appearing more frequently in Western Catalan; e.g. Central Catalan sec /ˈsɛk/ vs. Western Catalan sec /ˈsek/ ('dry, I sit').

Contrasting series of the main Catalan dialects:

Central Catalan
[Eastern Catalan]

LS	IPA	Gloss
sac	a	'bag'
sec	ɛ	'dry', 'I sit'
	e	'fold'
sic	i	'sic'
soc	ɔ	'clog'
	o	'I am'
suc	u	'juice'
Other contrast
LS	IPA	Gloss
*set	ɛ	'seven'
		'thirst'

Balearic
[Eastern Catalan]

LS	IPA	Gloss
sac	a	'bag'
sec	ə	'dry', 'I sit'
	e	'fold'
sic	i	'sic'
soc	ɔ	'clog'
	o	'I am'
suc	u	'juice'
Other contrast
LS	IPA	Gloss
*set	ɛ	'seven'
	ə	'thirst'

Northern Catalan &
Mod. Alguerese
[Eastern Catalan]

LS	IPA	Gloss
sac	a	'bag'
sec	e	'dry', 'I sit'
		'fold'
sic	i	'sic'
soc	ɔ	'clog'
	u	'I am'
suc		'juice'
Other contrast
LS	IPA	Gloss
*set	e	'seven'
		'thirst'

Western Catalan &
Alguerese [Eastern]

LS	IPA	Gloss
sac	a	'bag'
sec	e	'dry', 'I sit'
		'fold'
sic	i	'sic'
soc	ɔ	'clog'
	o	'I am'
suc	u	'juice'
Other contrast
LS	IPA	Gloss
set	ɛ	'seven'
	e	'thirst'

Reduced vowels

Main article: Reduced vowels

In Eastern Catalan, vowels in unstressed position reduce to three : /a/, /e/, /ɛ/ → [ə] (phonetically [ɐ] in Barcelona); /o/, /ɔ/, /u/ → [u]; /i/ remains unchanged. However there are some dialectal differences: Alguerese merges /a/, /e/ and /ɛ/ with /a/; and in most areas of Majorca, [o] can appear in unstressed position (that is, /o/ and /ɔ/ are usually reduced to [o]).

In Western Catalan, vowels in unstressed position reduce to five: /e/, /ɛ/ → [e]; /o/, /ɔ/ → [o]; /a/, /u/, /i/ remain unchanged. However, in some Western dialects reduced vowels tend to merge into different realizations in some cases:

• Unstressed /e/ may merge with /a/ before a nasal or sibilant consonant (e.g. enclusa [aŋˈkluza] 'anvil', eixam [ajˈʃam] 'swarm'), in some environments before any consonant (e.g. terròs [taˈrɔs] 'earthy'), and in monosyllabic clitics. This sounds almost the same as the Barcelonian open schwa [ɐ]. Likewise, unstressed /e/ may merge into /i/ when in contact with palatal consonants (e.g. senyor [siˈɲo(ɾ)] 'lord').
• Unstressed /o/ may merge with /u/ before a bilabial consonant (e.g. cobert [kuˈβɛɾt] 'covered'), before a stressed syllable with a high vowel (e.g. conill [kuˈniʎ] 'rabbit'), in contact with palatal consonants (e.g. Josep [d͡ʒuˈzɛp] 'Joseph'), and in monosyllabic clitics.

General
Eastern Catalan

Term	IPA	Gloss
parla	ə	'speech'
rere		'back'
lliri	i	'lily'
ferro	u	'iron'
mutu		'mutual'

Majorcan Balearic
[Eastern Catalan]

Term	IPA	Gloss
parla	ə	'speech'
rere		'back'
lliri	i	'lily'
ferro	o	'iron'
mutu	u	'mutual'

Western
Catalan

Term	IPA	Gloss
parla	a	'speech'
rere	e	'back'
lliri	i	'lily'
ferro	o	'iron'
mutu	u	'mutual'

Vowel harmony

Main article: Vowel harmony

Final unstressed /a/ (phonetically [ɐ]) is subject to assimilation of /ɔ/ and/or /ɛ/ in many Valencian dialects (although in some varieties this has been extended to all final instances of unstressed /a/); this process is mostly progressive (i.e. preceding vowels affect those pronounced afterwards) over the last unstressed vowel of a word; e.g. hora /ˈɔɾa/ → [ˈɔɾɔ]; however, there are cases where regressive metaphony occurs over pretonic vowels; e.g. tovallola /tovaˈʎɔla/ → [tɔvɔˈʎɔlɔ] ('towel'), afecta /aˈfɛkta/ → [ɛˈfɛktɛ] ('affects').

Diphthongs and triphthongs

Main articles: Diphthong and triphthong

There are also a number of phonetic diphthongs and triphthongs, all of which begin and/or end in [j] or [w].

Falling diphthongs
IPA	word	gloss	IPA	word	gloss
[aj]	aigua	'water'	[aw]	taula	'table'
[əj] (E) / [aj] (W)	mainada	'children'	[əw] (E) / [aw] (W)	caurem	'we will fall'
[ɛj] (E) / [ej] (W)	remei	'remedy'	[ɛw]	peu	'foot'
[ej]	rei	'king'	[ew]	seu	'his/her'
[əj] (E) / [ej] (W)	Eivissa	'Ibiza'	[əw] (E) / [ew] (W)	eufemisme	'eufemism'
			[iw]	niu	'nest'
[ɔj]	heroi	'hero'	[ɔw]	nou	'new'
[uj] (E) / [oj] (W)	Moisès	'Moses'	[ow]	pou	'well'
[uj]	cuit	'cooked'	[uw]	duu	's/he carries'
Rising diphthongs
IPA	word	gloss	IPA	word	gloss
[ja]	iaio	'grandpa'	[wa]	guant	'glove'
[jə] (E) / [ja] (W)	feia	's/he was doing'	[wə] (E) / [wa] (W)	aquarel·la	'watercolour'
[jɛ]	Aielo	'Aielo'	[wɛ]	seqüència	'sequence'
[je]	seient	'seat'	[we]	ungüent	'ointment'
[jə] (E) / [je] (W)	laietans	'Laietani'	[wə] (E) / [we] (W)	qüestió	'question'
			[wi]	pingüí	'penguin'
[jɔ]	iode	'iodine'	[wɔ]	quota	'payment'
[ju] (E) / [jo] (W)	iogurt	'yoghurt'	[wo]	seuós	'greasy'
[ju]	iugoslau	'Yugoslav'
Triphthongs
IPA	word	gloss	IPA	word	gloss
[jaj]	iai	'old person'
			[waj]	Alguaire	'Alguaire'
[jəw] (E) /[jew] (W)	dèieu	'you were saying'	[wɛw] (E) /[wew] (W)	adeqüeu	'you adequate'

In Standard Eastern Catalan, rising diphthongs (that is, those starting with [j] or [w]) are only possible in the following contexts:

• [j] in word-initial position, e.g. iogurt [juˈɣur] ('yoghurt').
• The semivowel ([j] or [w]) occurs between vowels as in feia [ˈfɛjə] ('s/he was doing') or diuen [ˈdiwən] ('they say').
• In the sequences [ɡw] or [kw] plus vowel, e.g. guant ('glove'), quota ('quota'), qüestió ('question'), pingüí ('penguin'); these exceptional cases even lead some scholars to hypothesize the existence of rare labiovelar phonemes /ɡʷ/ and /kʷ/.

Processes

There are certain instances of compensatory diphthongization in Majorcan so that troncs /ˈtɾoncs/ ('logs') (in addition to deleting the palatal stop) develops a compensating palatal glide and surfaces as [ˈtɾojns] (and contrasts with the unpluralized [ˈtɾoɲc]). Diphthongization compensates for the loss of the palatal stop (segment loss compensation). There are other cases where diphthongization compensates for the loss of point of articulation features (property loss compensation) as in [ˈaɲ] ('year') vs. [ˈajns] ('years').

The dialectal distribution of compensatory diphthongization is almost entirely dependent on the dorsal stop (/k~c/) and the extent of consonant assimilation (whether or not it is extended to palatals).

Voiced affricates are devoiced after stressed vowels in dialects like Eastern Catalan where there may be a correlation between devoicing and lengthening (gemination) of voiced affricates: metge /ˈmed͡ːʒə/ → [ˈmet͡ːʃə] ('medic'). In Barcelona, voiced stops may be fortified (geminated and devoiced); e.g. poble [ˈpɔpːlə] 'village, people').

Assimilations

Main article: Assimilations (phonology)

Nasal			Lateral
IPA	word	gloss	IPA	word	gloss
[ɱ]	ínfim	'lowest'
[n̪]	anterior	'previous'	[l̪]	altes	'tall' (f. pl.)
[ɲ]	engegar	'to start (up)'	[ʎ]	àlgid	'decisive'
[ŋ]	angle	'angle'
[ŋn]	sagna	's/he bleeds'
[mː]	setmana	'week'
[nː]	cotna	'rind'
			[ʎː] / [lː]	ametlla / ametla	'almond'

Catalan denti-alveolar stops can fully assimilate to the following consonant, producing gemination; this is particularly evident before nasal and lateral consonants: e.g. setmana ('week'), cotna ('rind'), ametlla/ametla ('almond'). Learned words can alternate between featuring and not featuring such assimilation (e.g. atles [ˈadləs] ~ [ˈalːəs] (E) / [ˈadlas] ~ [ˈalːas] (W) 'atlas', sotmetre [sudˈmɛtɾə] ~ [suˈmːɛtɾə] (E) / [sodˈmetɾe] ~ [soˈmːetɾe] (W) 'to submit', ètnic [ˈɛdnik] ~ [ˈɛnːik] 'ethnic').

Central Valencian features simple elision in many of these cases (e.g cotna [ˈkona], setmana [seˈmana]) though learned words don't exhibit either assimilation or elision: atles [ˈadles] and administrar [adminisˈtɾaɾ].

Prosody

Stress

Main article: Stress (linguistics)

Stress most often occurs on any of the last three syllables of a word (e.g. brúixola [ˈbɾuʃulə] (E) / [ˈbɾujʃola] (W) 'compass', càstig [ˈkastik] 'punishment', pallús [pəˈʎus] (E) / [paˈʎus] (W) 'fool').

Compound words and adverbs formed with /ˈment/ may have a syllable with secondary stress (e.g. bonament [ˌbɔnəˈmen] (E) [ˌbɔnaˈmen(t)] (W) 'willingly'; parallamps [ˌpaɾəˈʎams] (E) [ˌpaɾaˈʎamps] (W) 'lightning conductor') but every lexical word has just one syllable with main stress.

Phonotactics

Any consonant, as well as [j] and [w] may be an onset. Clusters may consist of a consonant plus a semivowel (C[j], C[w]) or an obstruent plus a liquid. Some speakers may have one of these obstruent-plus-liquid clusters preceding a semivowel, e.g. síndria [ˈsin.dɾjə] ('watermelon'); for other speakers, this is pronounced [ˈsin.dɾi.ə] (i.e. the semivowel must be syllabic in this context).

Word-medial codas are restricted to one consonant + [s] (extra [ˈɛks.tɾə] (E) / [ˈɛks.tɾa] (W)). In the coda position, voice contrasts among obstruents are neutralized. Although there are exceptions (such as futur [fuˈtuɾ] 'future'), syllable-final rhotics are often lost before a word boundary or before the plural morpheme of most words: color [kuˈlo] (E) / [koˈlo(ɾ)] (W) ('color') vs. coloraina [kuluˈɾajnə] (E) / [koloˈɾajna] (W) ('bright color').

In Central Eastern (and North-Western Catalan), obstruents fail to surface word-finally when preceded by a homorganic consonant (e.g. /nt/ → [n̪]). Complex codas simplify only if the loss of the segment doesn't result in the loss of place specification.

Suffixation examples in Central Eastern and North-Western Catalan varieties

	Final		gloss	Internal		gloss
no cluster	camp	[ˈkam]	'field'	camperol	[kəmpəˈɾɔl] (EC) [kampeˈɾɔl] (NW)	'peasant'
	punt	[ˈpun]	'point'	punta	[ˈpuntə] (EC) [ˈpunta] (NW)	'tip'
	banc	[ˈbaŋ]	'bank'	banca	[ˈbaŋkə] (EC) [ˈbaŋka] (NW)	'banking'
	malalt	[məˈlal̪] (EC) [maˈlal̪] (NW)	'ill'	malaltia	[mələl̪ˈti.ə] (EC) [malal̪ˈti.a] (NW)	'illness'
	hort	[ˈɔr]	'orchard'	hortalissa	[uɾtəˈlisə](EC) [oɾtaˈlisa] (NW)	'vegetable'
	gust	[ˈɡus]	'taste'	gustar	[ɡusˈta]	'to taste'
cluster	serp	[ˈserp]	'snake'	serpentí	[səɾpənˈti] (EC) [seɾpenˈti] (NW)	'snake-like'
	disc	[ˈdisk]	'disk'	disquet	[disˈkɛt] (EC) [disˈket] (NW)	'diskette'
	remolc	[rəˈmɔlk] (EC) [reˈmɔlk] (NW)	'trailer'	remolcar	[rəˈmulka] (NE) [reˈmolka(ɾ)] (NW)	'to tow'

When the suffix -erol [əˈɾɔl] is added to camp [ˈkam] it makes [kəmpəˈɾɔl], indicating that the underlying representation is /ˈkamp/ (with subsequent cluster simplification), however when the copula [ˈes] is added it makes [ˈkam ˈes]. The resulting generalization is that this underlying /p/ will only surface in a morphologically complex word. Despite this, word-final codas are not usually simplified in most of Balearic and Valencian (e.g. camp [ˈkamp]).

Word-initial clusters from Graeco-Latin learned words tend to drop the first phoneme: pneumàtic [nəwˈmatik] (E) / [newˈmatik] (W) ('pneumatic'), pseudònim [səwˈðɔnim] (E) / [sewˈðɔnim] (W) ('pseudonym'), pterodàctil [təɾuˈðaktil] (E) / [teɾoˈðaktil] (W) ('pterodactylus'), gnom [ˈnom] ('gnome').

Word-final obstruents are devoiced; however, they assimilate voicing of the following consonant, e.g. cuc de seda [ˈkuɡ‿də ˈsɛðə] (E) / [ˈkuɡ‿de ˈsɛða] (W) ('silkworm'). In regular and fast speech, stops often assimilate the place of articulation of the following consonant producing phonetic gemination: tot bé [ˈtod‿ˈbe] → [ˈtob‿ˈbe] ('all good').

Word-final fricatives (except /f/) are voiced before a following vowel; e.g. bus enorme [ˈbuz‿əˈnormə] (E) / [ˈbuz‿eˈnorme] (W) ('huge bus').

Dialectal variation

Dialectal Map of Catalan
Eastern dialects:

  Northern Catalan

  Central Catalan

  Balearic and Alguerese

Western dialects:

  North-Western Catalan

  Valencian

The differences in the vocalic systems outlined above are the main criteria used to differentiate between the major dialects: Wheeler distinguishes two major dialect groups, western and eastern dialects; the latter of which only allow [i], [ə], and [u] to appear in unstressed syllables and include Northern Catalan, Central Catalan, Balearic, and Alguerese. Western dialects, which allow any vowel in unstressed syllables, include Valencian and North-Western Catalan.

Regarding consonants, betacism and fricative–affricate alternations are the most prominent differences between dialects.

Other dialectal features are:

Vowels

• In a number of dialects unstressed /i/ can merge with /ə/ (Eastern dialects) or /e, a/ (Western dialects) according to the previous or following vowel (i.e. through assimilation when these vowels are high or dissimilation when they are mid or low). This merger is especially common in words with the prefix in- or im-.
• In Southern Valencian subvarieties, especially in Alicante Valencian, the diphthong /ɔw/ (phonetically [ɒw] in Valencian) has become [ɑw]: bous [ˈbɑws] ('bulls').
• In regular speech in both Eastern and Western Catalan dialects, word-initial unstressed /o/ –[u] or [o]– may be diphthongized to [əw] (Eastern Catalan) or [aw] (Western Catalan): ofegar [əwfəˈɣa]~[awfeˈɣa(ɾ)] ('to drown, suffocate').

Consonants

• Varying degrees of L-velarization among dialects: /l/ is dark irrespective of position in Balearic and Central Catalan and might tend to vocalization in some cases. In Western varieties like Valencian, this dark l contrasts with a clear l in intervocalic and word-initial position; while in other dialects, like Alguerese or Northern Catalan, /l/ is never velarized in any instance.
• Iodització (also known as iesme històric "historic yeísmo"): in regular speech in most of Majorcan, Northern Catalan and in the historic comarca of Vallès (Barcelona), Latin-derived words that had intervocalic /l/ + yod (-LI-, -LE-) or velar + /l/ (-CVL-, -GVL-) developed [j] (e.g. palla [ˈpajə] ('straw') from Latin PALEA), rather than /ʎ/ as in the majority of other regions. Accents with traditional ieisme use /ʎ/ only in words where this sound developed from Latin initial L- (as in lluna [ˈʎunə] 'moon') or intervocalic -LL- (as in ella [ˈeʎə] 'she').
• In northern and transitional Valencian, word-initial and postconsonantal /d͡ʒ/ (Eastern Catalan /ʒ/ and /d͡ʒ/) alternates with [jʒ] intervocalically; e.g. joc [ˈd͡ʒɔk] 'game', but pitjor [piˈʒo] 'worse', boja [ˈbɔjʒa] 'crazy' (Standard Valencian /ˈd͡ʒɔk/, /piˈd͡ʒoɾ/; /ˈbɔd͡ʒa/; Standard Catalan /ˈʒɔk/, /piˈd͡ʒo/ and /ˈbɔʒə/).<
• In northern Valencia and southern Catalonia /s/ has merged with realizations of /ʃ/ after a high front vocoid; e.g. terrissa [teˈriʃa] ('pottery'), insistisc [insiʃˈtiʃk] ('I insist') vs. pixar [piˈʃa ~ piˈʃaɾ] ('to pee'), deixar [deˈʃa ~ dejˈʃaɾ] ('to leave'). In these varieties /ʃ/ is not found after other voiced consonants, and merges with /t͡ʃ/ after consonants; e.g. punxa [ˈpuɲt͡ʃa] ('thorn').
• Intervocalic /d/ dropping (particularly participles) in regular speech in Valencian, with compensatory lengthening of vowel /a/; e.g. vesprada [vesˈpɾaː] ('evening').
• In some Valencian dialects (e.g. Northern Valencian), /s/ and /ʃ/ are auditorily similar such that neutralization may occur in the future. That is the case of Northern Valencian where /ʃ/ is depalatalized to [js̠ ~ jsʲ] as in caixa ('box'). Central Valencian words like mig ('half') and lleig ('ugly') have been transcribed with [t͡s] rather than the expected [t͡ʃ], and Southern Valencian /t͡ʃ/ "has been reported to undergo depalatalization without merging with [t͡s]". as in passets ('small steps') versus passeig ('promenade')
• In Aragon and Central Valencian (the so called apitxat), voiced fricatives and affricates are missing (i.e. /z/ has merged with /s/, /d͡ʒ/ has merged with /t͡ʃ/, with only voiceless realizations occurring) and /v/ has merged with the [b ~ β] set.

Historical development

Main article: Phonological history of Catalan

Catalan shares features with neighboring Romance languages (Occitan, Italian, Sardinian, French, Spanish).

• Marked contrast of the vowel pairs /ɛ/ ~ /e/ and /ɔ/ ~ /o/, as in other Western Romance languages, except Spanish and Sardinian.
• Lenition of voiced stops [b] → [β], [d] → [ð], [ɡ] → [ɣ] as in Galician and Spanish.
• Lack of diphthongization of Latin short ĕ, ŏ, as in Galician, Sardinian and Portuguese, and unlike French, Spanish and Italian.
• Abundance of diphthongs containing /w/, as in Galician and Portuguese.
• Abundance of /ʎ/ and /ɲ/ occurring at the end of words, as for instance moll ("wet") and any ("year"), unlike Spanish, Portuguese or Italian.

In contrast with other Romance languages, Catalan has many monosyllabic words; and those ending in a wide variety of consonants and some consonant clusters. Also, Catalan has final obstruent devoicing, thus featuring many couplets like amic ('male friend') vs. amiga ('female friend').

Phonological sample

Universal Declaration of Human Rights, Article 1

Original	Tots els éssers humans neixen/naixen lliures i iguals en dignitat i en drets. Són dotats de raó i de consciència, i han de comportar-se fraternalment els uns amb els altres.
Old Catalan (around the 13th century) IPA	[ˈtodz̺‿əlz̺‿ˈes̺əɾz̺‿uˈmanz̺ ˈnəʃən ˈʎiwɾəz̺‿iːˈɣwalz̺‿ən digniˈtat‿j‿ən ˈdɾəts̺ s̺on dotats̺ ðə raˈo i ðə konˈs̺s̻jɛns̻ja, j‿an də kompoɾˈtaɾs̺ə fɾatəɾnalˈment‿əlz̺‿ˈunz̺‿am‿əlz̺‿altɾəs̺]
Balearic Catalan IPA	[ˈtodz‿əlz‿ˈesərz‿uˈmanz ˈnəʃən ˈʎiwɾəz‿iːˈɣwalz‿ən diŋniˈdat‿j‿ən ˈdɾəts son dotats ðə rəˈo i ðə konˈsjɛnsjə, j‿an də kompoɾˈtaɾsːə fɾətəɾnalˈment‿əlz‿ˈunz‿əm‿əlz‿altɾəs]
Eastern Central Catalan IPA	[ˈtodz‿əlz‿ˈesərz‿uˈmanz ˈnɛʃən ˈʎiwɾəz‿iːˈɣwalz‿ən diŋniˈtat‿j‿ən ˈdɾɛts son dutats ðə rəˈo i ðə kunˈsjɛnsjə, j‿an də kumpurˈtaɾsə fɾətərnalˈmen‿əlz‿ˈunz‿əm‿əlz‿altɾəs]
Northern Catalan IPA	[ˈtudz‿əlz‿ˈe̞sərz‿uˈmanz ˈne̞ʃən ˈʎiwɾəz‿iːˈgwalz‿ən diŋniˈtat‿j‿ən ˈdɾe̞ts sun dutats də rəˈu i də kunˈsjensjə, j‿an də kumpurˈtaɾsə fɾətərnalˈme̞n‿əlz‿ˈunz‿əm‿əlz‿altɾəs]
North-Western Catalan IPA	[ˈtodz‿elz‿ˈeseɾz‿uˈmanz ˈnajʃen ˈʎiwɾez‿iːˈɣwalz‿en diŋniˈtat‿j‿en ˈdɾets son dotats ðe raˈo‿j ðe konˈsjɛnsja, j‿an de kompoɾˈtaɾse fɾateɾnalˈmen‿elz‿ˈunz‿am‿elz‿altɾes]
Valencian IPA	[ˈtodz‿elz‿ˈeseɾz‿uˈmanz ˈnajʃen ˈʎiwɾez‿iːˈɣwalz‿en diŋniˈtat‿j‿en ˈdɾets son dotats ðe raˈo‿j ðe konˈsjɛnsja, j‿an de kompoɾˈtaɾse fɾateɾnalˈment‿elz‿ˈunz‿am‿elz‿atɾes]

See also

• Catalan dialects and varieties
  • Alguerese#Phonology
  • Balearic#Phonology
  • Valencian#Phonology
• Index of phonetics articles
• Occitan phonology

Bibliography

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External links

• A proposal for Catalan SAMPA
• Els sons del català (in Catalan)
• Gramàtica de la llengua catalana (in Catalan)
• L'estàndard oral valencià (in Valencian)