Help:IPA for Latvian
The table below shows the way in which the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) represents Latvian language pronunciations in Wikipedia articles.
See Latvian phonology for a more thorough look at the sounds of Latvian.
IPA key
Mostly based on Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
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Geminate consonants
At the time of its inception, a conscious decision was made that Latvian orthography does not need to show gemination/lengthening of consonants because there would be no practical benefit of doing so. Nevertheless, single obstruent consonants (as opposed to consonant clusters) between two short vowels are always long, e.g., Atis would be ⟨attis⟩ and aka would be ⟨akka⟩ or [ˈatːis] and [ˈakːa].[10] Transcribing Latvian in IPA, however, consonant length is usually not indicated. Sonorants are an exception and are indicated in orthography: mamma, panna, allaž, ķerra, the long sonorants as in these words should probably be indicated both in phonetic as well as phonemic (i.e., less precise) transcriptions: [mamːa], [panːa], [alːaʒ], [cærːa].[10]
Tone
Standard Latvian has three tones, by convention called, the level (stiepts), broken (lauzts) and falling (krītošs,) indicated by a tilde (~), circumflex (^) or grave (`) accents respectively.[11] Different tones are distinguished if the stressed syllable (the first syllable, in most all cases) has either a long vowel or a diphthong, short vowels do not take on different tones, neither do unstressed syllables.[12]
In Rīga Latvian the falling tone has been syncretized with the broken (meaning, its users differentiate only between the level and broken tones and perceive the falling tone as broken.)
Tone is usually omitted transcribing Latvian in IPA, English Wiktionary for its Latvian entries, however, uses a notation of macron, circumflex or grave accent where necessary (note: tilde is already reserved for indicating nasal vowels in IPA, hence replacing it with a macron.)
See also
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 An unvoiced consonant in a compound followed by a voiced consonant will become voiced, e.g., atdarīt → [ˈadːariːt] or [ˈadˌdariːt].
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 The sounds [f] and [x] do not occur in native words.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 Before the masculine ending -s, voiced consonants are devoiced, e.g. smags → [smaks]. The -s is assimilated after a devoiced fricative, producing a long consonant, e.g., mazs → [masː] and mežs → [meʃː]. Devoicing also occurs in compounds, labprātīgs → [ˈlapːraːtiːks] or alternatively [ˈlapˌpraːtiːks].
- ↑ Allophone of nasals before velars.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 The letter ⟨o⟩ in Latvian orthography usually represents the diphthong [uɔ], cf. Lithuanian nuoma and Latvian noma. [ɔ] and its long counterpart, [ɔː], are only encountered in loanwords.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 7.3 In closed syllables, [ai], [ɛi], [oi], and [ui] may be transcribed as vowel-glide sequences, e.g. tais [tajs], veikt [vɛjkt], boikots [bɔjkɔts], and muita [mujta].
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 Only occurs in loanwords or onomatopoeiatic words.
- ↑ Only occurs in loanwords and onomatopoeiatic words or as the result of vocalization in open syllables of [v].
- ↑ 10.0 10.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
