Gujarati phonology

Template:IPA notice Gujarati is an Indo-Aryan language native to the Indian state of Gujarat. Much of its phonology is derived from Sanskrit.

Vowels

	Front	Central	Back
Close	Template:IPA		Template:IPA
Close-mid	Template:IPA	Template:IPA	Template:IPA
Open-mid	Template:IPA		Template:IPA
Open	(Template:IPA)	Template:IPA

• Sanskrit's phonemic vowel length has been lost.Template:Sfnp Vowels are long when nasalized or in a final syllable.Template:SfnpTemplate:Sfnp
• Gujarati contrasts oral and nasal, and murmured and non-murmured vowels,Template:Sfnp except for Template:IPA and Template:IPA.Template:Sfnp
• In absolute word-final position the higher and lower vowels of the Template:IPA and Template:IPA sets vary.Template:Sfnp
• Template:IPA and Template:IPA developed in the 15th century. Old Gujarati split into Rajasthani and Middle Gujarati.Template:Sfnp
• English loanwords are a source of Template:IPA.Template:Sfnp

Consonants

Consonants

		Labial	Dental/ Alveolar	Retroflex	Postal. /Palatal	Velar	Glottal
Nasal		Template:IPAlink	Template:IPAlink	Template:IPAlink
Plosive	voiceless	Template:IPAlink	Template:IPAlink	Template:IPAlink	Template:IPAlink	Template:IPAlink
	voiced	Template:IPAlink	Template:IPAlink	Template:IPAlink	Template:IPAlink	Template:IPAlink
	aspirated	(Template:IPA)	Template:IPA	Template:IPA	Template:IPA	Template:IPA
	murmured	Template:IPA	Template:IPA	Template:IPA	Template:IPA	Template:IPA
Fricative	voiceless	Template:IPAlink	Template:IPAlink		Template:IPAlink
	voiced		(Template:IPAlink)				Template:IPAlink
Approximant		Template:IPAlink	Template:IPAlink		Template:IPAlink
Flap			Template:IPAlink	Template:IPAlinkTemplate:Sfnp

• A fourth nasal phoneme is postulated for the phones Template:IPA and the nasalization of a preceding vowel Template:IPA.Template:SfnpTemplate:Sfnp Before velar and palatal stops, there is variation between these; e.g. Template:IPA~Template:IPA ('ask for'), Template:IPA~Template:IPA ('swing').Template:Sfnp
• Stops occurring at first members of clusters followed by consonants other than Template:IPA are unreleased; they are optionally unreleased in final position. The absence of release entails deaspiration of voiceless stops.Template:Sfnp
• Intervocalically and with murmuring of vowels, the voiced aspirated stops Template:IPA have voiced spirant allophones Template:IPA. Spirantization of non-palatal voiceless aspirates has been reported as well,Template:Sfnp including Template:IPA being usually realized as Template:IPA in the standard dialect.Template:Sfnp
• The two voiced retroflex plosives /ɖʱ, ɖ/ and the retroflex nasal /ɳ/ have flapped allophones [ɽʱ, ɽ, ɽ̃]. The plosives /ɖʱ, ɖ/ are unflapped initially, geminated, and after nasal vowels; and flapped intervocalically, finally, and before or after other consonants.Template:Sfnp The nasal /ɳ/ is unflapped before retroflex plosives and intervocalically, and in final position varies freely between flapped and unflapped.Template:Sfnp
• Template:IPA has Template:IPA and Template:IPA as allophones.Template:Sfnp
• The distribution of sibilants varies over dialects and registers.
  • Some dialects only have Template:IPA, others prefer Template:IPA, while another system has them non-contrasting, with Template:IPA occurring contiguous to palatal segments. Retroflex Template:IPA still appears in clusters in which it precedes another retroflex: Template:IPA ('clear').Template:Sfnp
  • Some speakers maintain Template:IPA as well for Persian and English borrowings. Persian's Template:IPA's have by and large been transposed to Template:IPA and Template:IPA: Template:IPA ('life') and Template:IPA ('thing'). The same cannot be so easily said for English: Template:IPA ('cheese').
  • Lastly, a colloquial register has Template:IPA, or both Template:IPA and Template:IPA, replaced by voiceless Template:IPA. For educated speakers speaking this register, this replacement does not extend to Sanskrit borrowings.Template:Sfnp

Phonotactical constraints include:

• Template:IPA and Template:IPA do not occur word-initially.Template:Sfnp
• Clusters occur initially, medially, and finally. Geminates occur only medially.Template:Sfnp
• Biconsonantal initial clusters beginning with stops have Template:IPA, Template:IPA, Template:IPA, and Template:IPA as second members.Template:Sfnp In addition to these, in loans from Sanskrit the clusters Template:IPA and Template:IPA may occur.
  The occurrence of Template:IPA as a second member in consonantal clusters is one of Gujarati's conservative features as a modern Indo-Aryan language. For example, languages used in Asokan inscriptions (3rd century BC) display contemporary regional variations, with words found in Gujarat's Girnar inscriptions containing clusters with Template:IPA as the second member not having Template:IPA in their occurrence in inscriptions elsewhere. This is maintained even to today, with Gujarati Template:IPA corresponding to Hindi Template:IPA and Template:IPA.Template:Sfnp
• Initially, s clusters biconsonantally with Template:IPA, and non-palatal voiceless stops.Template:Sfnp
• Triconsonantal initial clusters include Template:IPA - most of which occur in borrowings.Template:Sfnp
• Geminates were previously treated as long consonants, but they are better analyzed as clusters of two identical segments. Two proofs for this:Template:Sfnp
  • The u in geminated uccār "pronunciation" sounds more like the one in clustered udgār ('utterance') than the one in shortened ucāṭ ('anxiety').
  • Geminates behave towards (that is, disallow) Template:IPA-deletion like clusters do.

Gemination can serve as intensification. In some adjectives and adverbs, a singular consonant before the agreement vowel can be doubled for intensification.Template:Sfnp #VCũ → #VCCũ.

big	Template:IPA	Template:IPA	big
straight	Template:IPA	Template:IPA	straight
considerably	Template:IPA	Template:IPA	considerably

Stress

The matter of stress is not quite clear:

• Stress is on the first syllable except when it doesn't have Template:IPA and the second syllable does.Template:Sfnp
• Stress is barely perceptible.Template:Sfnp
• Stress typically falls on the penultimate syllable of a word, however, if the penultimate vowel in a word with more than two syllables is schwa, stress falls on the preceding syllable.

ə-deletion

Schwa-deletion, along with a-reduction and Template:IPA-insertion, is a phonological process at work in the combination of morphemes. It is a common feature among Indo-Aryan languages, referring to the deletion of a stem's final syllable's Template:IPA before a suffix starting with a vowel.Template:Sfnp

This does not apply for monosyllabic stems and consonant clusters. So, better put, #VCəC + V# → #VCCV#. It also doesn't apply when the addition is an o plural marker (see Gujarati grammar#Nouns) or e as an ergative case marker (see Gujarati grammar#Postpositions).Template:Sfnp}} It sometimes doesn't apply for e as a locative marker.

Stem			Suffix		Suffixed stem		C/V	Del	Notes
verb root	Template:IPA	educate	Template:IPA	1st person singular, future	Template:IPA	will educate	CVCəC + VC → CVCCVC	Yes	Polysyllabic stem with Template:IPA in its final syllable, with a suffix starting with a vowel (verbal declension).
	Template:IPA	understand	Template:IPA	masculine plural, perfective	Template:IPA	understood	CVCəC + CV → CVCCCV		Polysyllabic stem with Template:IPA in its final syllable, with a suffix starting with a semi-vowel (verbal declension).
	Template:IPA	descend	Template:IPA	masculine singular, imperfective	Template:IPA	descending	VCəC + CV → VCəCCV	No	Suffix starting with a consonant.
	Template:IPA	swim, float	Template:IPA	2nd person singular, present	Template:IPA	swimming, floating	CəC + V → CəCV		Monosyllabic.
	Template:IPA	describe	Template:IPA	feminine, perfective	Template:IPA	described	CVCCəC + VC → CVCCəCVC		Consonant cluster.
	Template:IPA	wallow, roll	Template:IPA	1st person plural, future	Template:IPA	will wallow, roll	VCoC + VCV → VCoCVCV		Non-ə.
noun	Template:IPA	laziness	Template:IPA	adjectival marker	Template:IPA	lazy	VCəC + V → VCCV	Yes	Polysyllabic stem with Template:IPA in its final syllable, with a suffix starting with a vowel (adjectival marking).
	Template:IPA	time	Template:IPA	locative marker	Template:IPA	at (the) time	CVCəC + V → CVCCV		Sometimes yes — e as a locative marker.
	Template:IPA	day			Template:IPA	on (the) day	CVCəC + V → CVCəCV	No	Sometimes no — e as a locative marker.
	Template:IPA	game	Template:IPA	plural marker	Template:IPA	games	CVCəC + V → CVCəCV		Plural o number marker suffix.
adjective	Template:IPA	hot	Template:IPA	noun marker	Template:IPA	heat	CVCəC + V → CVCCV	Yes	Polysyllabic stem with Template:IPA in its final syllable, with a suffix starting with a vowel (noun marking).

ɑ-reduction

A stem's final syllable's Template:IPA will reduce to Template:IPA before a suffix starting with Template:IPA. #ɑC(C) + ɑ# → #eC(C)ɑ#. This can be seen in the derivation of nouns from adjective stems, and in the formation of passive and causative forms of verb stems.Template:Sfnp

Stem		Suffix	Suffixed Stem			Reduced
cut	Template:IPA	Template:IPA	Template:IPA	be cut	Passive	Yes
		Template:IPA	Template:IPA	cause to cut	Causative
cause to cut	Template:IPA	Template:IPA	Template:IPA	cause to be cut	Causative Passive	NoTemplate:Efn
		Template:IPA	Template:IPA	cause to cause to cut	Double Causative
use	Template:IPA	Template:IPA	Template:IPATemplate:Efn	be used	Passive	Yes
long	Template:IPA	Template:IPA	Template:IPA	length	Noun

Template:IPA-insertion

Between a stem ending in a vowel and its suffix starting with a vowel, a Template:IPA is inserted.Template:Sfnp #V + V# → #VʋV#. This can be seen in the formation of passive and causative forms of verb stems.

Stem		Suffix	Suffixed stem
see	Template:IPA	Template:IPA	Template:IPA	be seen
sing	Template:IPA	Template:IPA	Template:IPA	cause to sing

The second example shows an ɑ-reduction as well.

ə-insertion

ə finds itself inserted between the emphatic particle Template:IPA and consonant-terminating words it postpositions.Template:Sfnp

one	Template:IPA	Template:IPA	one
that	Template:IPA	Template:IPA	that

Murmur

Template:IPA serves as a source for murmur, of which there are three rules:Template:Sfnp

Rule		FormalTemplate:Efn	Casual	English
1	Word-initial Template:IPATemplate:Efn	Template:IPA	Template:IPA	now
		Template:IPA	Template:IPA	bone
2	Template:IPAnon-high → Template:IPAnon-high, more open	Template:IPA	Template:IPA	easy
		Template:IPA	Template:IPA	large
		Template:IPA	Template:IPATemplate:Efn	day
3	Template:IPAhigh → Template:IPA (glide)	Template:IPA	Template:IPA	stayed
		Template:IPA	Template:IPA	very

The table below compares declensions of the verbs Template:IPA ('to do') and Template:IPA ('to say'). The former follows the regular pattern of the stable root Template:IPA serving as a point for characteristic suffixations. The latter, on the other hand, is deviant and irregular in this respect.

Infinitive	Perfective	Imperative	1sg. Future
Template:IPA	Template:IPA	Template:IPA	Template:IPA
Template:IPA	Template:IPA	Template:IPA	Template:IPA

The Template:IPA situation can be explained through murmur. If to a formal or historical root of Template:IPA these rules are considered then predicted, explained, and made regular is the irregularity that is Template:IPA (romanized as kahevũ).

Thus below are the declensions of Template:IPA Template:IPA-possessing, murmur-eliciting root Template:IPA, this time with the application of the murmur rules on the root shown, also to which a preceding rule must be taken into account:

0. A final root vowel gets deleted before a suffix starting with a non-consonant.

Rule	Infinitive	Perfective	Imperative	1sg. Future
	Template:IPA	Template:IPA	Template:IPA	Template:IPA
0		Template:IPA	Template:IPA	Template:IPA
2	Template:IPA		Template:IPA
3				Template:IPA
→	Template:IPA	Template:IPA	Template:IPA	Template:IPA

However, in the end not all instances of Template:IPA become murmured and not all murmur comes from instances of Template:IPA.

One other predictable source for murmur is voiced aspirated stops. A clear vowel followed by a voiced aspirated stop can vary with a pair gaining murmur and losing aspiration: Template:IPA.

Bibliography

• [{{{url}}} Compendium of the world's languages, volume 1. Abaza to Lusatian]. Routledge.
• The Indo-Aryan Languages. Routledge.
• [{{{url}}} Notes on Gujarati Phonology].
• [{{{url}}} Phonetic Observations on Gujarati].
• The Indo-Aryan Languages. Cambridge University Press.
• [{{{url}}} The World's Writing Systems]. Oxford University Press.
• [{{{url}}} Phonologies of Asia and Africa]. Eisenbrauns.
• [{{{url}}} An encyclopedia of the world's major languages, past and present]. New England Publishing Associates.
• [{{{url}}} International Encyclopedia of Linguistics]. Oxford University Press.
• [{{{url}}} Historical Phonology of Gujarati Vowels]. Linguistic Society of America.
• [{{{url}}} Gujarati Phonology].
• [{{{url}}} Indo-Aryan Nasals in Gujarati].