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Frisian (West)

Phylum: Indo-European

Genus: Germanic

Lat/lon: 53.2003137, 5.8185041

ISO code: fry

Consonants

Basic short series

bilabiallabio-velarlabio-dentalalveolarpalatalvelarglottal
stoppʰ, btʰ, dkʰ, g
trillr
fricativef, vs, zxh
nasalmnŋ
approximantwj
lateral approximantl

Vowels

Basic short series

frontcentralback
closei, yu
near-closeɪ
close-midɵo
midə
open-midɛɔ
opena

Long series

frontcentralback
closeiː, yː
close-mideː, øː
open-midɛːɔː
open

Diphthongs

/ai/, /ɛi/, /œi/, /ui/, /au/, /ɔu/, /ou/, /iə/, /yə/, /uə/, /ɪə/, /ɵə/, /oə/

Source: Sipma, Pieter. 1913. Phonology & grammar of modern West Frisian. London: Oxford University Press.

Comments: /ʔ/ glottal explosive. Uttered before a stressed vowel or diphthong beginning the word, when used separately (Simpa 1913: 15). [ɣ] is an allophone of /g/ occurring intervocally. Long vowels often show a tendency to become slightly diphthongized... We may say that eː, oː, and øː are regularly a little diphthongized when final (Simpa 1913: 9).

Contributed by: Anton Kukhto (kukhto@mit.edu)