SECTION I: Ganh Phonology and Noun Structure:

Ganh nouns can be thought of as a sequence of consonants, between which various set inflectional vowels are systematically inserted. Most Ganh nouns have three consonants, which are commonly referred to as the root of a word. Thus, one will find in a dictionary the Ganh word for ‘dog’ written as ĢŃM - but Ganh speakers certainly do not try to pronounce this; instead, one should recognize these three consonants as the base form of a noun from which all inflected forms are derived, and into which two vowels are intercalated. The consonants of a noun convey the central idea of the thing, while the intercalary vowels ground the noun in time and space. Thus, ĢŃM, ‘dog’, can be fleshed out to become genuw, the familiar dog who’s close to me and far from you, or ģohńum, the unfamiliar dog that I don’t like who’s close to you and far from me, etc.

Note in the first example above the apparently different third root consonant (w in genuw vs. the m of the dictionary root and the second example), and the diacritics that are missing over the first two consonants (g, n vs. ģ, ń) - these two words are pronounced very differently. But they both are forms of the same dictionary root ĢŃM, ‘dog’. This phonological phenomenon is called morphing. Each consonant of a Ganh root can be morphed. At some point in the evolution of the language, there was a definite article (equivalent to English “the”), presumed to have been na. At a later stage, when the definite article was used before a noun, that noun’s initial syllable was articulated in a less emphasized way: the first consonant was pronounced laxly, and the following vowel was similarly affected. The distinction between a definite and indefinite noun soon could be made without the assistance of the definite article na, and it was omitted from the noun phrase. The slurred first syllable continued to be used as an indicator the noun was definite – thus, where na ģuńum, the dog, was used formerly, gëńum would now suffice. This corrosion of sounds was the original secondary morph of a consonant.

In present-day Ganh, there are eight primary consonants: [dz], [f], [ģ], [l], [m], [m], [ń], and [ts]. Each of these consonants can be morphed, or changed systematically to a different but related sound - the more lax pronunciation of their cardinal form. This other form is called the secondary morph of a consonant. Thus, [dz] becomes [ź], [f] becomes [’], etc, as shown below. In this way, a Ganh consonant should be thought of as a kind of variable. The grammatical significance of morphing has expanded from its original meaning as indicator of definiteness to include a variety of diverse meanings, and is now used on every root consonant of a word in addition to the first, as shown in genuw, a form of ĢŃM.

Below are listed the primary morphs of Ganh consonants (what one would find in a dictionary), their phonological value, and a practical description of their pronunciation; in similar fashion, an indented explanation of each secondary morph of a consonant will follow the primary.

[dz] is an alveolar affricate; it is the final consonant sound in English maids.

[ź] is a palato-alveolar fricative, the final consonant in English garage.

[f] is a voiceless labio-dental fricative, as in English fish.

[’] is a glottal stop; it is a break in the flow of air between two vowels, as in English uh-oh or Cockney bottle (bah-uhl).

[ģ] is a voiced uvular implosive, a brief, throaty gulp. Try swallowing a pill with your mouth open.

[g] is a voiced velar fricative; this is the Parisian French r, or the Irish gh. Say the final sound German Buch, but with the vocal cords humming.

[l] is a voiced velarized lateral approximant; or a ‘dark’ English l, as heard in some Northern English and Irish English dialects. It is an l with the back of the tongue raised.

[y] is a voiced palatal approximant, as in English yellow.

[m] is a voiced apico-labial nasal. Say m while touching the tip of your tongue to your upper lip.

[v] is a voiced bilabial fricative, an intervocalic Spanish b; say v, but instead of putting your front teeth on your lower lip, use your upper lip to say the sound.

[m] is a voiced bilabial nasal, the same as in English moon.

[w] is a voiced labio-velar approximant, as in English welt.

[ń] is a voiced apico-dental nasal; place the tip of the tongue against the upper teeth and say n.

[n] is a voiced alveolar nasal, as in English name.

[ts] is a voiceless alveolar fricative; it is the final consonant sound in English pits.

[ć] is a voiceless palatal fricative; this is the initial sound in English huge and the last in German ich.

Every consonant of a Ganh word can be morphed, as explained. Each consonant may also be aspirated. Note in the example used before the intrusive h in the word ģohńum (the unfamiliar dog that I don’t like who’s close to you and far from me). This h is not a root consonant, but it is certainly pronounced; it is comparable to the final consonant in German Buch or the first sound in Hanukah. In Ganh grammatical terminology, aspiration is a variable feature of every consonant, a guttural sound attached at the end of the syllable of the consonant upon which it has been used. For example, if the ģ in ģońum is aspirated, an h is inserted after the o of the affected syllable and before the ń of the following syllable to become ģohńum. If the ń were aspirated, the h would appear before the final m: ģońuhm. Because of Ganh’s phonology, a consonant is almost always followed by a vowel; the h of an aspirated consonant will always follow that consonant’s vowel and precede the first consonant of the next syllable. Consonants that terminate a syllable cannot receive aspiration, like the final m in ģohńum. The meaning of aspiration varies. In the above example, when used on the first root consonant of a noun, it denotes the speaker’s dislike for that entity: ģohńum means ‘the unfamiliar dog that I don’t like who’s close to you and far from me’, while ģońum may be translated as ‘the unfamiliar dog who’s close to you and far from me.’ When aspiration is used on the second root consonant, as on the ń of ģońuhm, it indicates the subject of the sentence’s dislike for the noun, as different from the speaker’s. However, when the noun is not used in a sentence, as in these examples, it reflects back to the speaker’s feelings, making ģohńum and ģońuhm roughly equivalent in these examples. The differences in meaning produced by the placement of aspiration on a root consonant will be seen in detail later in actual sentences.

Ganh’s vowels are divided, as with consonants, into two distinct classes, or morphs, primary and secondary. There are only four primary vowels - [u], [œ], [o], [i] - the cardinal forms from which the secondary morph’s are derived, respectively [ë], [e], [a], and [ı], as shown in the pronunciation table below. Already we’ve seen that when the initial consonant of a noun is morphed to show familiarity, the vowel following that consonant is morphed also: ģońum, ‘a dog who’s close to you and far from me’, becomes gańum, ‘the dog who’s close to you and far from me’. Other instances of vowel morphing will be demonstrated in subsequent sections.

The other process Ganh vowels may undergo is lengthening, in which the vowel is held perceptibly longer than usual and given a sharp, rising intonation. This is represented in writing by repeating the vowel; thus, when the o in ģońum, ‘a dog who’s close to you and far from me’, is lengthened, it’s written ģoońum. The change in meaning is imperceptible because the noun is not being used in a sentence, though if it were it would indicate the noun’s distance from the subject, as different from the speaker. Oftentimes the spatial or temporal distance between grammatical parties (such as the noun and the subject or the noun and the speaker) is expressed in proportion with how long the vowel is held. Thus distinctions of distance can be made in speech that cannot be accurately represented in writing. In speech, there may be two levels of distance designated by the same imprecise convention of doubling the vowel.

As has been stated, the unspoken root form of Ganh nouns may be thought of as a sequence of consonants, usually three, as with ĢŃM. Nouns may also, though much less frequently, consist of a two-consonant root, as with ĢL, ‘forest’. Since the various processes affected on the root consonants of Ganh nouns (discussed above) are mathematically regular, most of the explanations hereon will consist of short tables matching the varying meaning of a process with a certain consonant according to its place in the noun, etc; morphing or aspiration mean different things when it is used on different consonants within a word.