Etrandish dialects

The Etrandish language has a varierity of dialects. The vocabulary and grammar are overwhelmingly the same - other than slang - and the main difference is pronounciation.

Dialects versus mesolects
The city of Grandfolk has been the centre of power and authority in Etrand ever since the city has existed, As such, not only the standard language was based off it, but the elite of the country - the feudal elite (aristocracy), ecclesiastical elite (clergy) and plutocratic elite (high merchants) - has sought to conform to this standard. This created a top-down process during which the elites adopted the Grandfolk standard, and from them adopted the rest of the literate middle-class the accent.

The end result was the birth of mesolects, which are basically Standard Etrandish with some local characteristics, a compromise between the local flavors of the local dialect and the pan-Etrandish intelligibility of the standard language. As such, the mesolects are characterized by these characteristics:
 * Preservation of the distinction between all the phonemes still distinct in Standard Etrandish, bur merged in some dialects. Such examples include the popular merger of and, or that of  and . The aim is to have the exact same number of distinct phonemes as in Standard Etrandish.
 * is pronounced as in the local dialect, rather than as in Standard Etrandish. The only exception to this is the -influenced mesolect, which (due to the low prestige of the dialect) imitates Standard Etrandish by using the alveolar flap/trill instead of using the local dialectal approximant.
 * Full or slack-voicing of modally voiced stops word-initially and word-finally, just like in Standard Etrandish.
 * Aspiration of modally voiceless stops in non-coda positions, just like in Standard Etrandish.
 * Tendency to exaggerate vowels
 * Tendency towards hypercorrection for less confident speakers in a desperate attempt to immitate the

Grandfolk dialect
While the Standard Etrandish spoken by the country's elite is largerly based off the dialect of Grandfolk - as the city has always been the seat of main power and authority in the kingdom - some differences still exist:
 * There is considerable amount of slang vocabulary local to the lower-class areas of Grandfolk, absent from Standard Etrandish.
 * The low-class population uses what is known as "lazy pronounciation" or "slurred pronounciation", which includes...
 * Removing word-final short vowels
 * Removing short vowels before sonorants, creating syllabic consonants that are nonexistent in every other variety of Etrand
 * Presence of of the alveolar trill - or   - in positions that are not allowed in Standard Etrandish, such as after consonants and word-finally, due to the loss of short vowels before or after.
 * Tendency to pronounce the diphthongs as  in open syllables,  in closed syllables.
 * Open-syllable lengthening of any remaining short vowels
 * Tendency to lenite postvocalic to, especially in fast, casual or slurred speech. Because intervocalic ungeminated  is pronounced as an apico-alveolar/postalveolar flap ,  and intervocalic  is pronounced as a denti-alveolar flap , there is no risk of confusion between intervocalic  and.
 * Intervocalic is also very often flapped, just like.

Western Etrandish

 * Preservation of as, like in Standard Etrandish.
 * The merger of and
 * This new phoneme usually surfaces as a stop word-initially and after nasals, and as a fricative / approximant / flap  everywhere else. Some speakers may consistently use a weak stop, (rarely) an affricate , or (even more rarely) a fricative.
 * Ungeminated is consistently pronounced as a flap, even word-initially, where it would be pronounced as a trill in other dialects. The geminated  is still pronounced as a trilled.
 * Word-initial may be pronounced as.
 * Heavier presence of loanwords from the Halfling languages and High Elven language than in any other variety of Etrandish.
 * All varieties of Etrandish have a large number of loanwords from both Classical High Elven (mainly religious and political terminology) and Middle High Elven (mainly terminology relating to military, cuisine, high culture and luxuries), however, the geographic connection between Western Etrandish-speakers and Eastern High Elven-speakers has resulted in Western Etrandish having slightly more High Elven influence.
 * All varieties of Etrandish have a large number of loanwords from both Classical High Elven (mainly religious and political terminology) and Middle High Elven (mainly terminology relating to military, cuisine, high culture and luxuries), however, the geographic connection between Western Etrandish-speakers and Eastern High Elven-speakers has resulted in Western Etrandish having slightly more High Elven influence.

Northern Etrandish

 * Lack of . Word-final nasals are fully preserved in their original state.
 * Preservation of as.
 * The modally voiced stops and affricates are fully devoiced  word-initially and word-finally. They are still fully voiced word-medially, and still distinct from the modally voiceless stops, which are aspirated.
 * Uvular articulations of, for which this dialect is the most famous for. We distinguish between two types of speakers:
 * Type A speakers pronounce as a uvular trill  when word-initial or geminated; a uvular flap  word-medially (when prevocalic and ungeminated); a uvular approximant, glide, or even just the simultaneous lengthening and pharyngealization of the vowel before itself  when not followed by a vowel.  is pronounced as . When not followed by another vowel, the clusters  are respectively pronounced as  or.
 * Type B speakers consistently realize as a uvular fricative .  is pronounced as.
 * Both types generally pronounce as.
 * Tendency to palatalize to  before and after front vowels, as well as other consonants. This is stigmatized and considered low-class.
 * A large number of loanwords from the Dwarven language, absent from other dialects.
 * This influence is not one-sided: Northern Etrandish has also influenced Southern Dwarven, being the source of Etrandish loanwords in those varieties of Dwarven. This connection between Northern Etrandish and Southern Dwarven goes back all the way to the Kingdom of Steelhelm. As a matter of fact, the Uvular R - characteristic of both - could have been already present in Old Northern Etrandish.

Eastern Etrandish

 * Merger of and.
 * Merger of and.
 * This new phoneme usually surfaces as a stop word-initially and after nasals, and as a fricative / approximant / flap  everywhere else. Some speakers may consistently use a weak stop, (rarely) an affricate , or (even more rarely) a fricative.
 * Medial non-geminated is consistently realized as an alveolar flap.
 * Word-initial and medial geminated is realized as an alveolar or uvular trill . Traditionally the earlier was the mainstream, but the latter has been spreading and mainstreaming recently due to the enroaching influence of.
 * The lenition of postvocalic to . The lenition of  is discussed above.
 * The lenition of postvocalic to . The lenition of  is discussed above.

Eastern Mountains dialect

 * Th-stopping of to . Both are also exempt from palatalization.
 * The palatalization of to  before front unrounded vowels and . The extent of palatalization depends on the individual speaker's preference, ranging from just palatalized alveolar (with a palatal offglide) to fully alveolo-palatal (with optional affrication/assibilation for the stop consonants).
 * are retroflexed to
 * is consistently pronounced as an alveolar or uvular trill . Flap and approximant pronunciations are never used.
 * is consistently pronounced as an alveolar or uvular trill . Flap and approximant pronunciations are never used.

Southern Etrandish

 * Merger of and.
 * Merger of and.
 * This new phoneme usually surfaces as a stop word-initially and after nasals, and as a fricative / approximant / flap  everywhere else. Some speakers may consistently use a weak stop, (rarely) an affricate , or (even more rarely) a fricative.
 * The modally voiceless stops are either only weakly aspirated or completely unaspirated, in sharp contrast with other dialects that all aspirate the modally voiceless stops in prevocalic positions.
 * Modally voiced stops are consistently fully voiced.
 * Prevocalic is a dark . Non-prevocalic  is usually either vocalized  or silent Zero (linguistics).
 * Southern drawl: → ;  →  → ;  → ;  → ;  →, etc. The further south a dialect is, the stronger the drawl is. For example, the Talon-accent has a rather weak and un-marked drawl, with any accent south of the River Golea has a strong and marked drawl. Some aspiring speakers may be self-conscious about their drawl and employ hypercorrection, realizing  as ,  as , etc.
 * is consistently realized as an approximant, which may be elided when not prevocalic (non-rhotic).
 * Any subdialect spoken north of the River Golea, less than 50 kilometres south of the River Golea or less than 50 kilometres away from the coast is rhotic. As such, the Talon-accent is rhotic.Rhotic accents follow the Standard Etrandish pattern of vowel allophony, turning into R-coloured vowels or diphthongs.
 * Accents spoken more than 50 kilometres south of the River Golea and more than 50 kilometres away than the sea are non-rhotic. Non-rhotic accents lengthen short vowels before the silent, and replace the last element of diphthongs with a simple schwa, turning into . The long schwa is shortened  word-finally, lowered  otherwise.
 * Some subdialects use a uvular approximant . All such subdialects are non-rhotic, and tend to replace with, when it's the second element of a diphthong.
 * Tendency to make silent. This is a very low-class feature that's only used by illiterate people.
 * Tendency to glottalize postvocalic to . This is a very low-class feature that's only used by illiterate people.
 * Adstratum with the Swamp Lizardman languages
 * To an extent, all varieties of Etrandish have loanwords from Lizardman, but mostly from the now-extinct Plains Lizardman
 * Just like in the case of and Dwarven, this influence is not one-sided, as the Swamp Lizardman langauges have also taken loanwords from (Southern) Etrandish, especially since the reign of King Tondbert I of Etrand.
 * Just like in the case of and Dwarven, this influence is not one-sided, as the Swamp Lizardman langauges have also taken loanwords from (Southern) Etrandish, especially since the reign of King Tondbert I of Etrand.

Copperport dialect
The dialect of Copperport shares a lot of features with the Southern Etrancoasti dialect. It is unknown which influenced which historically. Among the shared features are the retroflex realization of, retroflexion and affrication of , and the heavier palatalization of.


 * Merger of and.
 * Th-stopping of to . This dental stop is exempted from the retroflexion after  that  goes through.
 * Tendency to voice word-final modally voiceless consonants, the city Copperport's name essentially becoming Copperpord
 * The retroflexion of the clusters to.
 * This is where the city's nickname Capperpudd originates from.
 * is raised to before.
 * lowered to in every other position.
 * is pronounced as an alveolar or uvular trill word-initially and when geminated; a retroflex flap  when medial, prevocalic and ungeminated; a retroflex approximant  when not prevocalic.
 * are pronounced as
 * The palatalization of are a lot stronger than in other dialects, them being realized as  or even.
 * Tendency to make silent. This is a very low-class feature that's only used by illiterate people.
 * Tendency to glottalize postvocalic to . This is a very low-class feature that's only used by illiterate people.
 * Presence of a lot of loanwords from Etrancoasti and Gabyrian, especially words relating to military, fishing, trade and other maritime activities.
 * Presence of a lot of loanwords from Etrancoasti and Gabyrian, especially words relating to military, fishing, trade and other maritime activities.

Treatment of
The voiceless dental fricative is traditionally meant to be pronounced as a strictly dental fricative, which is preserved in Standard Etrandish (and the Grandfolk dialect off which it is based), the  and  dialects as well as the various mesolects. Most other dialects - especially when spoken by lower-class speakers - tend to exhibit th-fronting, that is, pronouncing as a labiodental. Examples of such dialects include, and the.

Voiceless th-stopping is a much rarer phenomenon, occouring regularly only in the. It is important to note, that even in that particular dialect, there is no complete merger of and, as the latter is subject to palatalization to  before front vowels and , while the earlier is not, consistently pronounced as.

Treatment of
The voiced dental fricative is traditionally meant to be pronounced as a strictly dental fricative, which is preserved only in Standard Etrandish (and the Grandfolk dialect off which it is based), the  dialect, and more formal registers of the various mesolects. All other dialects exhibit th-stopping in one form or another, in form of a complete or incomplete merger.

In, and , this merger is complete, which is safe, as  is not a subject to any phenomena like palatalization or retroflexion. Speakers of dialects without this merger perceive these dialects as mispronouncing as  (the common stereotype), when in reality, speakers of these dialects most commonly only use the dental stop  only word-initially and after nasals, a dental fricative / approximant / flap  everywhere else. Some speaker may consistently pronounce both and  as either  or, but this is rarer (the latter of which may be a result of hypercorrection).

In the and the, however, the merger is incomplete: while both dialects exhibit th-stopping,  is exempt from all the phonological processes  goes through when influenced by neighbouring sounds (palatalization in the Eastern Mountains, retroflexion in Copperport)). In the ,  is palatalized to  before front vowels and , while  is consistently pronounced as . In the ,  is retroflexed to , while  is consistently pronounced as  or even.

Nasal vocalization
In several dialects - namely, , , the and the  - word-final nasals (so long as they are directly following a vowel) undergo varying degrees of vocalization.

In these dialects, word-final are realized as. are realized as, are realized as ,  are realized as. In the lowest-class registers, this nasal vocalization may go as far as completely removing the word-final nasal, nasalizing and lengthening the vowel it follows.

In Standard Etrandish, and the, the word-final nasals  are preserved as.

Etrancoasti

 * are realized as true mid, halfway between and
 * are realized as
 * The modally voiced stops and affricates are completely devoiced  word-initally and word-finally, but still kept distinct from their modally voiceless counterparts , which are aspirated.
 * Most speakers either soften to a continuants  or always pronounce them as a voiceless
 * Etrancoasti-accented Etrandish is usually subject to the same variation as pure Etrancoasti is, such as the palatalization of velars before front vowels and.

Dwarven

 * The Etrandish vowels are respectively mapped to the Dwarven  - in other words:  is consistently rounded,  are conflated as ,  are conflated as.
 * In the Dwarven language itself, the vowels are marginal and only exist in loanwords, thus they may not be pronounced as intended. For example, both  and  tend to be conflated with  by speakers who aren't too fluent at Etrandish.  may be realized as,  or conflated with.
 * The Etrandish consonants undergo a split, changing realization depending on what vowel follows them:
 * are realized as before the so-called "dark vowels"
 * are realized as before the so-called "light vowels"
 * Aggressive reduction of unstressed short vowels to a schwa, or even their elision, creating syllabic consonants nonexistent in Etrandish.
 * The Etrandish and  are merged as.
 * There is no aspiration: voiceless stops and affricates are consistently unaspirated. Some Etrandish-speakers may mishear these unaspirated stops for voiced stops.
 * Word-final stops and fricatives are devoiced

Artaburro Wood Elven

 * are raised to
 * The lax are tensed to
 * are usually replaced by
 * is usually mispronounced as
 * is always a trill/flap . This is correct in the syllable onset, but in the syllable coda, the correct usage would the approximant - Artaburrans use the flapped  in coda position too.
 * The voiceless stops are pronounced as only slightly aspirated, as opposed to the stronger aspirated that is considered correct in Etrandish
 * Final is split to

Dragoc Wood Elven

 * are raised to
 * The lax are tensed to .  and  are merged into.
 * are usually replaced by
 * is usually mispronounced as (Th-alveolarization)
 * The voiceless stops are pronounced as only slightly aspirated, as opposed to the stronger aspirated that is considered correct in Etrandish
 * and are merged and pronounced as a flapped . Coda-position  is usually elided and the preceding vowel is lengthened.  is replaced by.
 * are palatalized to before . Some speakers may palatalize  into  before, but this is rarer.
 * Final is either merged with  or extended into
 * are replaced by
 * Tendency to insert prosthetic vowels - usually - after voiced consonants, but not voiceless ones

High Elven

 * is either lowered to or raised to
 * is raised to
 * The diphthongs are replaced by long vowels
 * Problems with front rounded vowels:
 * The short are usually merged with  or
 * The long usually become
 * The schwa is usually replaced by either, except word-finally
 * is affricated to word-initially and after nasals
 * is always a trill/flap . This is correct in the syllable onset, but in the syllable coda, the correct usage would the approximant - High Elves use the flapped  in coda position too.
 * A lot of speakers may pronounce as  and/or elide coda-position Rs (non-rhotic accent). Others pronounce  as either  or, and always pronounce Rs (rhotic accent). The usage of  is quite peculiar, as High Elven lacks the sound - it only has  and.
 * The voiceless stops are pronounced as only slightly aspirated, as opposed to the stronger aspirated that is considered correct in Etrandish
 * is usually fronted to (Th-fronting)
 * Final is split to

Dark Elven

 * are lowered to . remain unchanged.
 * The lax vowels are tensed
 * The front rounded are replaced by central rounded . Native speakers of Etrandish can rarely tell the difference.
 * The diphthongs are replaced by long monophthongs
 * is usually mispronounced as either (Th-alveolarization) or  (Th-fronting)
 * is pronounced as a uvular trill/flap/fricative
 * A lot of speakers may pronounce as  and/or elide coda-position Rs (non-rhotic accent). Others pronounce  as  and always pronounce Rs (rhotic accent).
 * is pronounced as a velar/uvular
 * is usually mispronounced as or
 * Voiceless stops are unaspirated. Some native Etrandish-speakers may mishear these unaspirated stops for voiced stops.
 * The schwa is often completely removed, creating new syllabic consonants or complex consonant clusters that do not exist in Etrandish.