Occitan phonology

This article describes the phonology of the Occitan language.

Consonants

Below is an abstract consonant chart that covers multiple dialects. Where symbols for consonants occur in pairs, the left represents a voiceless consonant and the right represents a voiced consonant.

IPA chart of Occitan consonants[1]

	Labial	Dental/ Alveolar	Palato- alveolar	Palatal		Velar	Uvular/ Glottal
				plain	lab.
Nasal	m	n		ɲ		(ŋ)
Plosive	p   b	t   d				k   ɡ
Affricate		ts   (dz)	tʃ   dʒ
Fricative	f   (v)   β	s   z   ð	(ʃ)   (ʒ)			ɣ	(h)
Approximant				j	ɥ	w
Lateral		l		ʎ
Trill		r					(ʀ)
Tap		ɾ

Notes

• The phoneme /ʃ/ is mostly found in Southern Occitan (written ⟨(i)sh⟩ in Gascon, ⟨ch⟩ in Provençal, and ⟨(i)ss⟩ in Languedocien).
• The distinction between /v/ ⟨v⟩ and /b/ ⟨b⟩ is general in Provençal, Vivaro-Alpine, Auvergnat and Limousin. However, in Languedocien and Gascon, the phonemes /b/ and /v/ are neutralized as /b/ (thus /v/ has disappeared).
• In Languedocien:
  • the phonemes /b, d, ɡ/ indicate three kinds of sounds, depending on what surrounds them:
    • a voiced plosive sound [b, d, ɡ] by default
    • devoiced to [p, t, k] phrase-finally or before a voiceless sound
    • a voiced fricative [β, ð, ɣ] when both preceded and followed by voiced continuants (i.e., vowels or [r, l, z]) within the same phrase.
  • the phonemes /ts/ and /dz/ and the sequences /p+s/, /k+s/ are neutralized as /ts/ (thus /dz/, /p+s/ and /k+s/ have disappeared).
• In Auvergnat and Limousin, and locally in other dialects,
  • the phonemes /ts/ and /tʃ/ are neutralized as /ts/ (thus /tʃ/ has disappeared).
  • the phonemes /dz/ and /dʒ/ are neutralized as /dz/ (thus /dʒ/ has disappeared).
• In Auvergnat, most of the consonants, except /r/, can have a palatalized sound before i and u. Consequently, the consonant phonemes have two kinds of sounds, one being not palatal (by default) and the other being palatal (before i and u): /p/ → [p, pj]; /b/ → [b, bj]; /t/ → [t, tj]; /d/ → [d, dj]; /k/ → [k, kj]; /ɡ/ → [ɡ, ɡj]; /f/ → [f, fj]; /v/ → [v, vj]; /s/ → [s, ʃ]; /z/ → [z, ʒ]; /ts/ → [ts, tʃ]; /dz/ → [dz, dʒ]; /m/ → [m, mj]; /n/ → [n, nj]; /l/ → [l, lj].
• In one part (and only one part) of Limousin, a transphonologization has occurred:
  • The old phonemes /ts/, /dz/ have now become /s/, /z/, less frequently /θ/, /ð/.
  • The old phonemes /s/, /z/ have now become /ʃ/, /ʒ/, less frequently /h/, /ɦ/.
• In the Provençal in general, and partially in other dialects, the phonemes /j/ and /ʎ/ are neutralized as /j/ (thus /ʎ/ has disappeared).
• The original rhotic consonants, /ɾ/ (tapped) and /r/ (trilled), have shown important evolutions:
  • In Provençal and partially in other dialects, there is now an opposition between /ɾ/ (tapped) and /ʀ/ (uvular) (whereas /r/ has disappeared). This feature is shared with Portuguese. In the cases when the opposition is impossible between the two phonemes, the default realization is /ʀ/ (it was /r/ in the original pattern).
  • In most of Limousin, Auvergne, Vivarais and Niçard, the phonemes /ɾ/ and /r/ are neutralized as /r/ (or even /ʀ/).

Gascon consonants

• Gascon shares some traits with Languedocien:
  • The phonemes /b, d, ɡ/ have the same realization as described above for Languedocien.
  • The phonemes /b/ and /v/ of the general pattern are neutralized as /b/. It seems possible, however, that the phoneme /v/ never existed in Gascon.
• Gascon and Southern Languedocien do not have the semivowel /ɥ/ (Gascon has /ɥ/, SL has /β/) and have the same distribution for the phonemes /dʒ/ ⟨tg, tj⟩ and /ʒ/ ⟨j, g⟩.
• A glottal fricative sound /h/ is recognized among the dialects of Gascon.
• In one part of Gascon, the palatal affricates /tʃ/ /dʒ/ become plosive palatal consonants: /c/, /ɟ/.

Vowels

Vowels IPA Examples English approximation a quatre sack e fetge say (without the y sound) ɛ mètge sect i vitz cease ɔ escòla cause u Tolosa soup y luna as in French rue and German Blüte

Diphthongs IPA Examples English approximation aj maire tie ej rei bay ɛj glèisa ɔj jòia boy ɔw plòure aw pausa now ew Euròpa ɛw benlèu ja embestiar yard je oriental yes jɛ fièr jɔ luòc yawn ju accion you iw viure beware uj soi you yawned wa qüadragenari wag we bilingüe wait wɛ oèst wet ɥɛ fuèlha wɔ doás war wi Loís weed ɥi ambigüitat

Triphthongs IPA Examples English approximation jaw suau jej fieiral jɛj fièira jew ieu jɛw camaièu jɔw buòu ɥɛj puèi

Vowel pronunciation according to position

Spelling	Stressed		Unstressed but not final		Unstressed and final
	Pronunciation	Examples	Pronunciation	Examples	Pronunciation	Examples
a	/a/ or /ɔ/	bala, cantaràs, occitan /a/ veniá /ɔ/	/a/	partir /a/	/ɔ/	companhia /ɔ/
e	/e/ or /ɛ/	pel /e/ (skin) pèl /ɛ/ (hair)	/e/	esfòrç /e/	/e/	autre /e/
o	/u/ or /ɔ/	rascós, informacion /u/ esfòrç /ɔ/	/u/	portal /u/	/u/	basco /u/

Note:

• The grapheme ⟨a⟩, when in final position and after the word's stress, is pronounced /ɔ/ in general (locally: /a/, /ə/).
• The grapheme ⟨á⟩ is pronounced /ɔ/ in general (locally: /e/, /ɛ/).
• Final ⟨o⟩ is generally used in loanwords, especially from Catalan, Spanish and Italian.

General ablaut

In an unstressed position, some vowels cannot be realized and become more closed vowels:

• The stressed vowel /ɛ/ ⟨è⟩ becomes the unstressed vowel /e/ ⟨e⟩. For instance (stress underlined): tèrra /ˈtɛrrɔ/ → terrassa /teˈrrasɔ/.
• The stressed vowel /ɔ/ ⟨ò⟩ becomes the unstressed vowel /u/ ⟨o⟩. For instance (stress underlined): còde /ˈkɔde/ → codificar /kudifiˈka/.
• In some local dialects, especially in the Languedocien variety of Guyenne, the stressed vowel /a/ ⟨a⟩ becomes the unstressed vowel /ɔ/ ⟨a⟩. For instance (stress underlined): bala /ˈbalɔ/ → balon /bɔˈlu/.
  • Also in Guyenne, the vowel ⟨a⟩, when stressed, is pronounced /ɔ/ when followed by a nasal consonant such as /n, m, ɲ/ ⟨n, m, nh⟩ or a final ⟨n⟩ that is silent: montanha, pan /munˈtɔɲɔ, ˈpɔ/ (instead of /munˈtaɲɔ, ˈpa/).
• In Limousin, Auvernhat, Vivaro-Alpine and in most of Provençal (though not in Niçard), the stressed diphthong /aw/ ⟨au⟩ becomes the unstressed diphthong /ɔw/ ⟨au⟩. For instance (stress underlined): sauta /ˈsawtɔ/ → sautar /sɔwˈta/.
• In Limousin, Auvernhat, Vivaro-Alpine and in most of Provençal (though not in Niçard), the stressed diphthong /aj/ ⟨ai⟩ becomes the unstressed diphthong /ej/ ⟨ai⟩. For instance (stress underlined): laissa /ˈlajsɔ/ → laissar /lejˈsa/.

Vowel changes in Auvergnat

One typical characteristic of Auvergnat (also a feature of some neighbouring dialects of Vivaro-Alpine) is the transformation of the following phonemes:

• The old phoneme /ɛ/ has become /e/.
• The old phoneme /e/ has become /ə/ or /ɪ/.

In an unstressed position, some vowels cannot be realized and become more closed vowels:

• The stressed vowel /e/ ⟨è⟩ becomes the unstressed vowel /ə (ɪ)/ ⟨e⟩. For instance (stress underlined): tèrra /ˈterɔ/ → terrassa /təˈrasɔ/.
• The stressed vowel /ɔ/ ⟨ò⟩ becomes the unstressed vowel /u/ ⟨o⟩. For instance (stress underlined): còde /ˈkɔdə/ → codificar /kudifiˈka/.
• In the northern part of Auvergne, the stressed vowel /a/ ⟨a⟩ (unrounded) becomes the unstressed vowel /ɒ/ ⟨a⟩ (rounded). For instance (stress underlined): bala /ˈbalɔ/ → balon /bɒˈlu/.
• The stressed diphthong /aw/ ⟨au⟩ becomes the unstressed diphthong /ɔw (u, œ)/ ⟨au⟩. For instance (stress underlined): sauta /ˈsawtɔ/ → sautar /sɔwˈta/.
• The stressed diphthong /aj/ ⟨ai⟩ becomes the unstressed diphthong /ej (i)/ ⟨ai⟩. For instance (stress underlined): laissa /ˈlajsɔ/ → laissar /lejˈsa/.

Vowel changes in Limousin

A strong characteristic of Limousin (also a feature of some neighbouring dialects of Vivaro-Alpine) is the neutralization of the phonemes /e/ and /ɛ/ in one single phoneme /e/, that can have various degrees of opening.

In words of popular formation, the sequences ⟨as, es, is, òs, os, us, ues⟩ [as, es, is, ɔs, us, ys, œs], when at the end of a syllable, first became [ah, eh, ih, ɔh, uh, yh, œh] and have now become long vowels, [aː, (ej), iː, ɔː, uː, yː, œː], which tends to create new phonemes with a relevant opposition between short vowels and long vowels. The same phenomenon exists in one part of Vivarais, and also occurred in the transition from Old to Middle French.

In an unstressed position, some vowels cannot be realized and become more closed vowels:

• The stressed vowel /ɔ/ ⟨ò⟩ becomes the unstressed vowel /u/ ⟨o⟩. For instance (stress underlined): còde /ˈkɔde/ → codificar /kudifiˈka/.
• The stressed vowel /a/ ⟨a⟩ (unrounded) becomes the unstressed vowel /ɒ/ ⟨a⟩ (rounded). For instance (stress underlined): bala /ˈbalɔ/ → balon /bɒˈlu/.
• The stressed diphthong /aw/ ⟨au⟩ becomes the unstressed diphthong /ɔw/ ⟨au⟩. For instance (stress underlined): sauta /ˈsawtɔ/ → sautar /sɔwˈta/.
• The stressed diphthong /aj/ ⟨ai⟩ becomes the unstressed diphthong /ej/ ⟨ai⟩. For instance (stress underlined): laissa /ˈlajsɔ/ → laissar /lejˈsa/.

Regional variation

IPA Examples English equivalent Auvergnat v vent valid ʃ servici shoe dz gente ads ts chabra cats œ fuelha blur wɔ pòrta war ɥi ajuidar French lui wi boisson we œj nueit French accueil

IPA Examples English equivalent Gascon ʒ joença measure h hemna high ʃ Foish shoe yw cuu wew ueu

IPA Examples English equivalent Limousin v vent valid dz gente ads ts chabra cats œ fuelha blur o còsta between spoke and sport ɥi ajuidar French lui wej boisson away

IPA Examples English equivalent Provençal v vent valid ʒ age measure œ fuelha blur wɔ bòna war ʀ tèrra French rue

IPA Examples English equivalent Vivaro-Alpine v vent valid

• In Limousin and Auvergnat, final consonants, except for ⟨nh⟩ and ⟨m⟩, are generally muted when not directly followed by a word with a vocalic initial: filh [fi], potz [pu], fach [fa], limon [liˈmu] but estelum [ejteˈlun], estanh [ejˈtan], un fach ancian [yn fats ɔnˈsja].
• In Limousin and Auvergnat, when a diphthong starts in ⟨o⟩ or ⟨u⟩, it is always a rising diphthong: boisson [bwiˈsu] (Auvergnat) and [bwejˈsu] (Limousin) versus [bujˈsu] (Languedocien) or [bujˈsun] (Provençal).
• In all dialects but Languedocien, final ⟨l⟩ is heavily velarized ("dark l") and therefore usually spelled ⟨u⟩: especial [espeˈsjaɫ] / especiau [espeˈsjaw] but especiala [espeˈsjalɔ] in the feminine (except in Gascon where it stays as especiau).

Word stress

Word stress has limited mobility. It can only fall on:

• the last syllable (oxytones or mots aguts 'acute words')
• the penultimate syllable (paroxytones or mots plans 'plain words').
• However, in Niçard, and less commonly in the Cisaupenc dialect of the Occitan Valleys, the stress can also fall on the antepenultimate (third from last) syllable (proparoxytones or mots esdrúchols 'slip words'). These proparoxytones are equivalent to paroxytones in all other dialects. For instance (stress underlined):

general pattern (no proparoxytones)	Cisaupenc (some proparoxytones)	Niçard (many proparoxytones)
pagina	pàgina	pàgina
arma, anma	ànima, anma	ànima
dimenge	diamenja	diménegue
manja, marga	mània	mànega

Historical development

As a Romance language, Occitan developed from Vulgar Latin. Old Occitan (around the eighth through the fourteenth centuries) had a similar pronunciation to present-day Occitan; the major differences were:

• Before the 13th century, ⟨c⟩ had softened before front vowels to [t͡s],[2] not yet to [s].[3]
• In the early Middle Ages, ⟨z⟩ between vowels represented the affricate [d͡z],[2] not yet /z/.
• In early Old Occitan, ⟨z⟩ represented [t͡s] in final position.[4]
• In the late Middle Ages, the letter ⟨a⟩ went from [a] to [ɑ] in unaccented position and in stressed syllables followed by a nasal consonant.[5]
• When not part of a diphthong, the vowel spelled ⟨o⟩ was probably pronounced as [ʊ],[6] not yet [u].
• Between vowels, the letter ⟨i⟩ or ⟨j⟩ represented, for most speech in Occitania, [j]. However, this could become [ʒ], especially down south:[7] it later became [d͡ʒ], which, in turn, would locally depalatalize to [d͡z] in Middle Occitan.
• In words where /ɾ/ was preceded by a diphthong whose second element was [j], it was sometimes palatalized to [rʲ].[8]
• In earlier times, some dialects used [ç] instead of the more common [ʃ]: despite their similarity, this often led to contrasting spellings (⟨laishar⟩ or ⟨laischar⟩ [lajˈʃaɾ] vs. ⟨laichar⟩ [lajˈçaɾ]; ⟨fois⟩ or ⟨foish⟩ [fʊjʃ] vs. ⟨foih⟩ [fʊiç]) before it became [s] commonly across the language (⟨laissar⟩ [lajˈsaɾ], ⟨Fois⟩ [fujs]).[8][9]
• In the pre-literary period of early Old Occitan /u/ had not been fronted to [y], although strong doubts exist as to when the change actually happened.[2]
• When between vowels, /d/ lenited to [ð], though this is still true for only Gascon and Languedocien dialects; elsewhere, it eventually turned to [z] or was deleted.[10]
• In Gascon, there was one voiced labial phoneme that was [b] in the beginning of a word and [β] between vowels.[11] This still happens today and has spread to the neighbouring Languedocien dialect.
• The phoneme ⟨lh⟩ was exclusively pronounced [ʎ] (it is now [j] in intervocalic or final position in some dialects).[12]

Old Occitan phonology

Consonants IPA Examples English approximation b beutatz beauty ç Foih human (but not happy) d domna doll ð foudatz this f fol fool ɡ gay garage dʒ jorn raging tʃ chansó match k cansó neglect l lauzeta laundry m amors marine n benanansa natural p perduda captain ɾ vestidura Italian mare r(r) rossinhols Spanish rápido s sospir last ʃ laishar shoe t tuih fact v Ventadorn valid ks amix box z roza amazing ts amanz cats

Full vowels IPA Examples English approximation a quar sack e fetz say (without the y sound) ɛ melhs sect i vida cease ɔ midons cause u Tholoza soup y negús French lunette

Diphthongs IPA Examples English approximation aj esmai tie ej mezeis bay ɛj gleiza ɔj enoyós boy ɔw mou aw lauzengiers now ew Deus ɛw leu ja chastiar yard je nien yes jɛ quier wɔ huoills yawn ju jauzion you iw chaitiu beware uj cui you yawned wa aquatic wag wɛ oest wet ɥɛ fuelha wi Loís weed

Triphthongs IPA Examples English approximation waw suau jej fieyral jɛj fieyra jew yeu wɔw buou ɥɛj pueys

See also

• Catalan phonology
• Occitan conjugation
• Occitan alphabet

Notes

1. Wheeler (1997:248)
2. Grandgent (1905:4)
3. McGee, Timothy James, Rigg, A. G. and Klausner, David N. 1996. Singing Early Music: The Pronunciation of European Languages in the Late Middle Ages and Renaissance, Volume 1, p. 104:

   The confusion of spellings, such as se for ce, voluntat for volontat, indicate the accomplishment of a phonetic evolution (here [t͡s] > [s] and atonic [o] > [u]).

4. McGee, Timothy James, Rigg, A. G. and Klausner, David N. 1996. Singing Early Music: The Pronunciation of European Languages in the Late Middle Ages and Renaissance, Volume 1, p. 110:

   Although z originally denoted the voiced affricate [dʒ], it simplified to [z], as [t͡s] simplified to [s], but at an earlier date. The spellings s and z alternate even in the earlier troubadours, indicating the pronunciation [z] in such words as cortesia/cortezia, rosa/roza, gilosa/giloza. In final position -z is pronounced [t͡s], also spelled -tz: toz/totz, maritz, amanz, parlatz, tertz.

5. McGee, Timothy James, Rigg, A. G. and Klausner, David N. 1996. Singing Early Music: The Pronunciation of European Languages in the Late Middle Ages and Renaissance, Volume 1, p. 104:

   When we note that tonic -a followed by unstable n does not rhyme with regular tonic -a, we have confirmation of two a-phonemes, the normal [a] (anterior a) and the posterior [ɑ], as well as confirmation that Old Occitan does not nasalize vowels followed by nasal consonants, as Old French does.

6. Anglade (1921:20)
7. Anglade (1921:22):

   Les manuscrits ne distinguaient pas i intervocalique de j: on hésite donc sur la prononciation des mots suivants: veraia, aia, raia, saia, etc. Lienig, se fondant sur le témoignage et sur la graphie des Leys [d'Amor], admet comme vraisemblable une prononciation de i voyelle ou semi-consonne dans le Nord de l'Occitanie, et de j dans le Sud. La prononciation -aja (comme dans fr. âge) serait rare dans les rimes des troubadours.

8. Grandgent (1905:5)
9. Société pour l'Étude des Langues Romanes, Revue des langues romanes, 1877, p. 17:

   ...plusieurs dialectes de l'ancienne langue, y compris le limousin, comme le prouvent des textes de Limoges et de Périgueux, changeaient souvent l's dure suivant i, particulièrement i engagé dans une diphthongue, en une consonne probablement identique au ch français, et qu'on figurait sch, sh ou ch. Sur sh, voyez un passage des Leys d'amors, I, 62, qui prouve clairement que cette combinaison n'avait pas la valeur d'une s simple. Les trois notations, ou seulement deux d'entre elles, sont quelquefois employées concurremment dans les mêmes textes, ce qui démontre leur équivalence. Ainsi les Coutumes de Limoges ont ayschí, punischen, mais plus souvent, par ch, laychen, poicha, etc.

10. Grandgent (1905:8)
11. Grandgent (1905:7)
12. McGee, Timothy James, Rigg, A. G. and Klausner, David N. 1996. Singing Early Music: The Pronunciation of European Languages in the Late Middle Ages and Renaissance, Volume 1, p. 105:

    The Italian notation gl and the Catalanized ll, both indicating [ʎ], give evidence of the palatalized pronunciation of Occitan lh. Likewise, the transcription of Occitan words in non-Latin alphabets such as Hebrew or Greek may confirm their pronunciation with more precision.

References

• Anglade, Joseph (1921), Grammaire de l'Ancien Provençal ou Ancienne Langue d'Oc, Paris: Librarie C.Klincksieck
• Balaguer, Claudi & Patrici Pojada: Diccionari Català - Occità / Occitan - Catalan
• Fettuciari, Jòrgi, Guiu Martin & Jaume Pietri: Diccionari Provençau - Francés
• Grandgent, C.H. (1905), An Outline of the Phonology and Morphology of Old Provençal, Heath's modern language series, Boston: Heath, OL 14032936M
• Wheeler, Max (1997), "Occitan", in Harris, Martin; Vincent, Nigel (eds.), The Romance Languages, Routledge Language Family Descriptions, Routledge, pp. 246–278, ISBN 0-415-16417-6
• Bèc, Pèire. (1973). Manuel pratique d’occitan moderne, coll. Connaissance des langues, Paris: Picard.
• Bianchi, Andriu & Alan Viaut. (1995). Fiches de grammaire d’occitan gascon normé, vol. 1. Bordeaux: Presses Universitaires de Bordeaux
• Romieu, Maurici & Andriu Bianchi. (2005). Gramatica de l’occitan gascon contemporanèu, Bordèu: Presses Universitaires de Bordeaux.
• Ronjat, Juli. (1930–1941). Grammaire istorique [sic] des parlers provençaux modernes, 4 vol. [reprint, 1980, Marselha: Laffitte Reprints, 2 vol.].

Further reading

• Lavalade, Yves. Dictionnaire Occitan - Français
• Omelhièr, Cristian. Petiòt diccionari Occitan d'Auvèrnhe - Francés