Ingush Phonology and Orthography
Ingush
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Contents
A brief overview of Ingush phonology
Consonants
Ingush has three series of stops and affricates:
-
voiceless
-
voiced
-
ejective
The voiceless series is aspirated.
Ingush consonants are realized at eight or nine distinct places of articulation:
-
labial
-
dental
-
alveolar
-
palatal
-
(palatovelar -- technically phonemic, but not perceived as phonemic by
all speakers)
-
velar
-
uvular
-
pharyngeal
-
glottal
The voiceless velar fricative /x/ is actually realized intermediate between
a velar and uvular articulation.
All words begin with a consonant; the glottal stop is the phonetic realization
of the zero initial. Consonants may also be pharyngealized; alternatively,
pharyngealization may be analyzed as a vowel feature.
Vowels
Ingush has a complex vowel system with considerably allophonic variation.
There is a contrast between long and short vowels (e.g. /i:/ vs. /i/).
In addition, the long vowels have shortened allophones in closed syllables,
which often have a realization which is indistinguishable from that of
phonemically short vowels.
In pharyngealized syllables, vowels have backed allophones with distinctly
pharyngeal articulation.
The mid central vowel (schwa) of Ingush occurs frequently at the end
of words, where it is completely elided in most environments.
Ingush
sound system in the International Phonetic Alphabet
(More information on the International
Phonetic Alphabet)
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Ingush orthography
The orthography currently in use in Ingushetia is based on the Russian
cyrillic alphabet. One additional letter, I, is used to represent ejectives
(when occuring after a voiceless consonant) and pharyngeals (when occuring
after a voiced consonant, word initially, or after a vowel).
This orthography severely underdifferentiates the phonemes of Ingush.
While native speakers acquire literacy in it, it is impractical for the
student of Ingush, for reference works which must indicate precise pronunciation
(such as dictionaries), and for computer-related applications.
Ingush sound
system in Cyrillic (characters not visible in all browsers)
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An all-ASCII Latin practical orthography for Ingush
This orthographic system has been developed in consultation with colleagues
and Ingush speakers. It has several advantages:
-
It does not use diacritics or special characters. It is easy to type and
to transmit electronically. (Compare the browser-specific and platform-specific
visibility of the Cyrillic chart above.)
-
It is compatible with the practical Chechen orthography proposed for use
by Erwin Komen.
-
It is strictly phonemic.
VOWELS
| Vowels and rising diphthongs |
|
Falling diphthongs |
| ii |
|
uu |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| i |
y |
u |
| ie |
|
uo |
|
ei |
| (e) |
a |
o |
|
|
ai |
oi |
|
|
|
ou |
| ea |
aa |
oa |
|
|
aai |
|
|
|
aau |
CONSONANTS
| p |
t |
c |
ch |
jk |
k |
|
q |
' |
w |
|
tt |
|
|
|
|
|
qq |
| p' |
t' |
c' |
ch' |
jk' |
k' |
|
q' |
| b |
d |
dz |
dzh |
jg |
g |
| f |
|
s |
sh |
|
|
x |
|
h |
hw |
| v |
|
z |
zh |
|
|
|
gh |
| m |
|
n |
|
|
rh |
|
|
|
l |
r |
|
|
|
|
|
j |
|
-
/a/ represents schwa.
-
/p' t'/ etc. are ejectives.
-
/'/ is a glottal stop. (It is not transcribed word initially.)
-
/w/ is a pharyngealized glottal onset. It is also used following a consonant
(e.g. /dwa/) to mark pharyngealization.
-
/hw/ is a voiceless pharyngeal fricative.
-
/c c'/ etc. are alveolar affricates and fricatives [ts ts'] etc.
-
/ch ch'/ etc. are palatal affricates and fricatives.
-
/rh/ is a voiceless flap.
-
/jk/, etc. are palatovelars.
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