• Source: 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



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 Vives, Fontdevila & Pallarès Ramon (1995) and Recasens Vives & Espinosa (2007) 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

=
Obstruents assimilate to the voicing of the following consonant. 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]).
Table with minimal pairs:



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 (e.g. ull de bou [ˈuʎ də ˈβɔw] (E) / [ˈuʎ de ˈβɔw] (W) 'oeil-de-boeuf') and /b/ after labiodentals (/f/, [v]), 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 (ull de bou [ˈuʎ də ˈbɔw] (B) / [ˈuʎ de ˈbɔw] (V) 'oeil-de-boeuf').
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), labial /b/ and /p/, and velar stops /ɡ/ and /k/ may be geminated in intervocalic position before /l/ (e.g. poble [ˈpɔbːlə] 'village, people', regla [ˈreɡːlə] 'rule').
Intervocalic /d/ is dropped (particularly in participles) in regular speech in Valencian, with compensatory lengthening of vowel /a/; e.g. vesprada [vesˈpɾaː] ('afternoon').
In Majorcan varieties, velar stops /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

The phonemic status of affricates is dubious; after other consonants, affricates are in free variation with fricatives, e.g. clenxa [ˈklɛɲʃə] ~ [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').
In Valencian, many instances of [d͡z] (especially the -itzar suffix) are deaffricated to [z]: utilitzar [utiliˈzaɾ] ('to use').
Instances of [t͡s] arise mostly from compounding; the few lexical instances arise from historical compounding. For instance, potser [puˈt͡se] (E) / [poˈt͡se(ɾ)] (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] in 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‿ezβiajˈʃat] (W) 'skew ray'), but final devoicing eliminates this from the surface: raig [ˈrat͡ʃ] ('ray').
In various other dialects (as well as in emphatic speech), including Valencian and its standard variety, [tʃ] occurs word-initially and after another consonant to the exclusion of [ʃ] (although there are exceptions). These instances of word-initial [t͡ʃ] seem to correspond to [ʃ] in other dialects, including the standard (Eastern Catalan) on which the orthography is based: xinxa ('bedbug'), pronounced [ˈʃiɲʃə] in Standard Catalan, is [ˈt͡ʃiɲt͡ʃa] in these varieties (including Standard Valencian).
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.
In Aragonese Catalan (especially Ribagorçan) and Central Valencian (the so called apitxat accent), voiced fricatives and affricates are missing (i.e. /z/ has merged with /s/, /d͡ʒ/ has merged with /t͡ʃ/, with only voiceless realizations occurring).



Fricatives

The labiodental fricative (/v/) occurs in Balearic, as well as in Alguerese, Standard Valencian and some areas in southern Catalonia. Everywhere else (including parts of Valencian, like its central dialect), it has merged with historic /β/ so that [b] and [β] occur in complementary distribution.

In Valencian, /v/ is realised as an approximant [ʋ] after continuants: avanç [aˈʋans] ('advance').
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').
The dental fricative /θ/ only appears in Ribagorçan and Lower Aragon, in contrast with /s/. Spanish loanwords with this sound may be replaced by /s/ in both Catalan and Valencian.
The velar fricative /x/ is found in Spanish interferences, especially in Aragon and Southern Valencia.
The glottal fricative /h/ is found in loanwords and interjections, although /h/ is usually replaced by /x/ in loanwords.




= Sonorants

=



Laterals

Laterals assimilate the place of articulation of the following consonant (see "Assimilations" below). The lateral /l/ may be geminated in careful speech (e.g. iŀlusió [ilːuziˈo] 'illusion'). A geminated /ʎː/ may also occur (e.g. ratlla [ˈraʎːə] (E) / [ˈraʎːa] (W) 'line').

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/ is depalatized to [l]: gall [ˈɡal] ('rooster').



Nasals

Nasals assimilate the place of articulation of the following consonant (see "Assimilations" below). In careful speech, /n/ and /m/ may be geminated (e.g. innecessari [inːəsəˈsaɾi] (E) / [inːeseˈsaɾi] (W) 'unnecessary', emmagatzemar [əmːəɣəd͡zəˈma] (E) / [emːaɣa(d͡)zeˈma(ɾ)] (W) 'to store').

In Alguerese and Ribagorçan word-final /ɲ/ is depalatized to [n]: any [ˈan] ('year').



Rhotics

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

Between vowels, the two contrast (e.g. mirra [ˈmirə] (E) / [ˈmira] (W) 'myrrh' vs. mira [ˈmiɾə] (E) / [ˈmiɾa] (W) 'he or she looks'), but they are otherwise in complementary distribution. [ɾ] appears in the onset, except in word-initial position (ruc 'donkey'), after /l/, /n/, and /s/ (folre 'lining', honra 'honour', Israel 'Israel'), and in compounds (infraroig 'infrared'), where [r] is used.
Majorcan contrasts /r/ and /ɾ/ in word final position, e.g. xerr [ˈt͡ʃɛr] ('I speak') vs. mor [ˈmɔɾ] ('he or she dies').
In Majorcan final /ɾ/ + [n] can be assimilated to [nː] (e.g. carn [ˈcanː] 'meat').
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', but (E) per a tu [pəɾ‿ə ˈtu] 'for you').
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 (e.g. in the town of Sóller), a uvular trill [ʀ] or approximant [ʁ] can be heard instead of the alveolar trill; e.g. córrer [ˈkoʀə] ~ [ˈkoʁə] ('to run').




Vowels



Phonetic notes:

The vowel /a/ ([ä] in General Catalan) is further back and open than the Castilian counterpart in North-Western and Central Catalan (i.e. it approaches [ɑ] 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

=

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:




= 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 (which includes Valencian and North-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.
Besides vowel harmony or vowel assimilation (see below), unstressed [ɛ] and [ɔ] may be found sporadically in compounds like dèsset ('seventeen') and dènou (or dèneu) ('nineteen').



Vowel harmony

The harmony of Valencian is a clear example of harmony conditioned by a strong element: in some Valencian dialects, word-final post-tonic /a/ becomes [ɛ] and [ɔ] when the preceding syllable contains tonic open-mid (or near-open) vowels /ɛ/ and /ɔ/; that is, /ɛ/ and /ɔ/ propagate the palatal and labial features, respectively, to the final vowel /a/, as the examples. The articulatory features extend from a phonologically privileged position—the stressed syllable—to a weak position—an unstressed syllable—a perceptual asymmetry emphasized by the fact that the harmony trigger belongs to the radical while the assimilated segment is normally an inflectional affix.

In the most widespread system of harmony, both open-mid vowels cause assimilation; in other systems, distributed over the harmonic territory quite randomly, only one of the vowels triggers the change. For example, in Cullera only the front vowel causes assimilation, while in Borriana the labial vowel is the only one that allows harmony. However, in both the broadest and the narrowest versions, and even in the sporadic cases of two-way harmony that are presented here, the pattern of strong → weak extension remains constant.
In the harmonic phenomenon just described, articulatory features spread from left to right. However, there is no shortage of assimilations in which the features spread to the left of the prominent position. This occurs in Majorcan when pretonic /o/ is closed to [u] in words that contain a close tonic vowel, e.g. c[u]nill, c[u]sí, c[u]mú (cf. Veny Clar (1982)). The change involves the extension of the height feature again in the direction dictated by the strong → weak saliency relationship. Similar closures are documented in various Western languages; among these, Tortosan stands out, where the phenomenon, quite variable and often limited to the elderly, presents the peculiarity that height does not only propagate from tonic vowels, but can also do so from unstressed ones (cfr. Morales). In general terms, and in accordance with the data collected by Morales (in prep.), a pretonic mid vowel may become close under the influence of a close vowel with the same point of articulation—palatal or labial—in a following syllable; in this way, vowel sequences of the type e...i and o...u become i...i a) and u...u b), respectively. The assimilation of mid vowels to a high vowel of a different point of articulation is possible, but in the sequence e...u it is reduced to some words c), and in the sequence o...i it is usually limited to fossilized cases, so that the disharmonious alternatives in d) reflect only copied pronunciations of the orthography.

Of the phenomena presented above, the most common and systematic is the change e...i → i...i. As in the examples, /e/ becomes [i] when it precedes a stressed /i/ or unstressed /i/. Closure can even affect a series of two pretonic vowels. Assimilation never affects stressed vowels and there is also no harmony when /e/ and /i/ do not occupy adjacent syllables.
With certain restrictions, the phenomenon can modify the final vowel of the first element of a compound and proclitic elements such as numerals or unstressed pronouns. In the last case, when the vowel of the pronoun is not strictly adjacent to the syllable that triggers the harmony, there is no assimilation; according to Morales (in prep.), the lack of spread is related to the fact that groups of pronouns generate a secondary accent, which would protect the original quality of the vowel.
Morales also reports some examples of rightward (regressive) assimilation between weak elements; that is, cases where an unstressed sequence i...e becomes i...i. Harmony to the right is documented only between vowels that are in pretonic position; therefore, the inflectional elements and the post-tonic vowels belonging to the radical are excluded from the change.
General Valencian is another variety in which the extension of features is limited to the main metric foot: in plain words, the final post-tonic, which is part of the main foot, is affected by harmony a); on the other hand, in proparoxytone words (esdrúixoles) the final does not belong to the main foot and is, therefore, beyond the scope of assimilation b). In Valencian from the south of Alicante, the harmony affects an intermediate layer between the main metrical foot and the clitic group: the prosodic word (PPr) (cfr. Montoya (1989), Segura (1996), Beltran (2008)).
Harmony in General Valencian:

Harmony from Southern Valencian (Alicante):

In the harmony of Valencian, Majorcan and, mostly, Tortosan, the features extend from a strong element to a weak element. In the other possible model, on the other hand, the features are spread in the reverse direction, that is, from positions that are not prominent to positions that are stronger from the perceptual point of view. The trigger for change is in this case a weak element (cf. Walker (2005)). Central Catalan provides an example of harmony—with considerable geographical and idiolectal variation—conditioned by segments located in weak positions. In this dialect, stressed mid vowels in words from other languages tend to be adapted as open mids, as in the paroxytones in example a), with regular reduction in the unstressed syllable, that is, with the vowels [ə], [i] and [u] in this position. Borrowings also have the peculiarity that they tend to block the neutralization of the unstressed middle vowels e and o, which are realized as [e] and [o], respectively. In principle, these two trends should not be mutually exclusive; however, if the post-tonic sound is close-mid, the tonic mids are usually also realized as close, as shown by the plain words in example b), in which the levelling between the two vowels is almost universal. Therefore, the quality of the most prominent vowel is determined by the features of the following vowel, since the appearance of close-mid vowels in tonic position depends on the presence of vowels of the same pitch in the post-tonic syllable.

In proparoxytones there is greater variability. In the variety analyzed by Cabré Castellví (2009) esdrúixol words (i.e. words with stressed on the antepenultimate syllable) are generally subject to the same restrictions and the presence of a close mid in post-tonic position implies the presence of close mids in tonic position a); the syllabic adjacency between the two vowels is key to harmony, since words like Sòcrates [ˈsɔkɾətes] or Hèrcules [ɛrkules] are usually presented without assimilation despite the presence of an unreduced post-tonic e. In the variety described by Bonet Alsina, Lloret-Romanyach & Mascaró Altimiras (2007), on the other hand, post-tonic vowels do not condition the realization of the tonic vowel in esdrúixols b). On the other hand, and in accordance with the interpretation of the aforementioned authors, the adaptation of tonic vowels as open mids is compatible in all varieties with the appearance of unreduced mid vowels in pre-tonic syllables.

Other harmony examples in Central Catalan:



Vowels in contact

One of the most unique features of Catalan and Valencian is the treatment of vowels that come into contact within the speech chain. When a word-final vowel meets an initial vowel there are two possible reactions: lengthening (if both vowels are the same) or weakening/elision of one of the vowels (if they are different). In general terms, two consecutive vowels diphthongize more frequently in Valencian, North Western Catalan and Alguerese. Some examples (in Valencian):

Lengthening
Unstressed /i/ followed by /i/, e.g. platges i illots [ˈpladʒez‿iːˈʎɔts] ('beaches and islets').
Unstressed /o/ followed by /o/, e.g. escrit o oral? [esˈkɾit oːˈɾal] ('written or oral?').
Elision
Unstressed /a/ followed by stressed /ɔ/ → [ɔ], e.g. quina hora és? [ˌkin‿ˈɔɾɔ ˈes] or [ˌkin‿ˈɔɾa ˈes] ('what time is it?').
Stressed /a/ followed by unstressed /e/ → [a], e.g. mà esquerra [ˈma ˈskɛrɛ] or [ˈma ˈskɛra] ('left hand').
Unstressed /a/ followed by unstressed /e/ → [a], e.g. agarra el gos [aˈɣaral ˈɣos] ('take the dog').
Stressed /e/ followed by stressed /a/ → [a], e.g. què has fet? [ˈkas ˈfet] ('what have you done?').
Unstressed /e/ followed by /ɔ/ → [ɔ], e.g. este home [ˌest‿ˈɔme] ('this man').
Stressed /o/ followed by unstressed /e/ → [o], e.g. no els volen [ˈnolz ˈvɔlen] ('they don't want them').




= Diphthongs and triphthongs

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

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] ('he or she 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').
In (Majorcan) Catalan is known the historical process of erasing the vowel (the nucleus) of unstressed final syllables. Burzio (1988) (cited by Kenstowicz (1994)) and Kaye (1990), have proposed similar theories, in that one or more 'extrasyllabic' final consonants represent the opening of a syllable with null vowel (Burzio) or empty nucleus (Kaye). However, in the case of Catalan, such a structure is fundamentally the one that has been proposed (e.g. in Mascaró Altimiras (1987)) to trigger vowel epenthesis in cases such as the followings:

ampl /ˈampl/ → [ˈam.plə] ('I wide')
segl /ˈsɛɡl/ → [ˈsɛɡ.ɡlə] ('I ?')
aspr /ˈaspɾ/ → [ˈas.pɾə] ('I stake', ag.)
corr /ˈkoɾɾ/ → [ˈko(r).rə] ('I run')




= Assimilations

=

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'), Betlem, rotllo ('roll'). 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').
There is dialectal variation regarding words with ⟨tll⟩. While Central and North-Western Catalan tend to innovate with a palatalised pronunciation [ʎː], Valencian and Balearic maintain the traditional pronunciation without palatalisation [lː], i.e. ⟨tl⟩, in most cases (e.g. ametlla vs ametla 'almond').
Valencian dialects (especially Central Valencian) features simple elision in many of these cases (e.g setmana [seˈmana] 'week', rotllo [ˈroʎo] 'roll') and learned words might not exhibit either assimilation or elision: atles [ˈadles] and administrar [adminisˈtɾaɾ].




Prosody






= Stress

=
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

=
The structure of the syllable shows a mandatory nucleus, and the optional presence of a margin before and/or behind the nucleus. Core and margin contrast articulatory due to the fact that the core is emitted with a higher degree of oral opening than the margin. In Catalan and Valencian, the core position is occupied by a vowel and the margin position by one or more consonants. Depending on the number of consonants that make up the margin and the location of the margin in relation to the core, syllabic structures of the type V, CV, VC, CVC, CCV, CCVC, CCVCC, VCC, VCCC, CVCC, CVCCC, etc. are possible. The margin that precedes the nucleus is called "explosive", and the one that follows it, "implosive", syllables can be classified as "open" or "closed" by virtue of the absence or presence of a margin postnuclear, respectively.
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.

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: gnom [ˈnom] ('gnome'), mnemotècnia [nəmuˈtɛŋniə] (E) / [nemoˈtɛŋnia] (W) ('mnemotechnical'), pneumàtic [nəwˈmatik] (E) / [newˈmatik] (W) ('pneumatic'), pseudònim [səwˈðɔnim] (E) / [sewˈðɔnim] (W) ('pseudonym'), pterodàctil [təɾuˈðaktil] (E) / [teɾoˈðaktil] (W) ('pterodactylus').
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



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] (E) [awfeˈɣa(ɾ)] (W) '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').
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') vs. passeig ('stroll, avenue')




Historical development



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






See also


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




Notes






References






Bibliography



Others




External links


A proposal for Catalan SAMPA
Els sons del català (in Catalan)

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