Phonological Variation
Labial | Dental/ Alveolar |
Postalveolar /Palatal |
Velar | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Nasal | m | n | ɲ | ||
Plosive | p | t | c | k | |
b | d | ɟ | ɡ | ||
Affricate | ts̺ ts̻ | tʃ | |||
Fricative | f | s̺ s̻ | ʃ | x | |
Trill | r | ||||
Tap | ɾ | ||||
Lateral | l | ʎ |
Front | Central | Back | |
---|---|---|---|
Close | i | u | |
Mid | e | o | |
Open | a |
Basque dialects diverge from this standard inventory to a larger or lesser extent. The grapheme j (historically /j/) displays by far the most extreme divergence, followed by the fricatives and affricates. Hualde (1991) describes the following:
- Baztan, an Eastern Navarrese dialect: lack of /x/
- Arbizu, a dialect in a mixed Gipuzkoan/Western Navarrese dialect area: geminate vowels /i/~/ii/, /e/~/ee/, /a/~/aa/, /o/~/oo/, /u/~/uu/
- Gernika, a Biscayan dialect: merger of /s̻/ with /s̺/ and /ts̻/ with /ts̺/. Additional phonemes: /ʒ/. Lack of /c/ and /ɟ/.
- Ondarroa, a Biscayan dialect: merger of /s̻/ with /s̺/ and /ts̻/ with /ts̺/. Additional phonemes: /dz/. Lack of /c/ and /ɟ/.
Read more about this topic: Basque Dialects