Spelling and Pronunciation
6 min read · 1,119 words
Spelling
This is a personal effort to standardize the variety. I chose a neutral way for the spelling. I find this version the most efficient and regular.
If followed by "aa", they're always spelled ḍ, ṣ and ṭ rather than đ, s, t (ie pharygealized by default):
Seem [se̞ːm] ("to guess the price")
Ṣaam [sˤɐːm] ("to fast") | pharyngealization of "s" is implied upon preceding "aa"
Teeb [te̞ːb] ("to repent")
Ṭaab [tˤɐːb] ("for meal to finish cooking") | again pharyngealization is implied
Đeeq [ðe̞ːq] ("to taste")
Ḍaaq [ðˤɐːq] ("to grow narrower; to shrink") | and again
It kinda always goes like that, if pharyngealized then 'aa' otherwise 'ee'. Both vowels manifest a phonemic split.
Indicating pharyngealization is crucial:
Siif [siːf] ("sword")
Ṣiif [sˤiːf] ("summer")
Sabb [sæbː] ("to insult")
Ṣabb [sˤɐbː] ("to pour, to rain")
Traa [trɐː] ("you/she see/s")
Ṭraa [tˤrɐː] ("to soften")
Star [stɐr] ("to veil; to hide one's mistake/inconsistency")
Sṭar [stˤɐr] ("a line")
Đoll [ðʊlː] ("humiliation")
Ḍoll [ðˤʊlː] ("shadow")
Tunisian doesn't show consonant digraphs
'c' takes on /s/ before (e, i) and /k/ otherwise. Other consonants are all one-to-one.
Words spelled with "c" show they're loanwords. If they violate the language's phonotactics, they default back to "s" or "k":
Banc ("bench") -> Abnaac ("benches") [uuh idk but it doesn't look native]
Şleeke ("flip-flop") -> Şleeyec ("flip-flop's") [from Spanish 'chancla']
Cayyees ("road") -> Cayyeeceet ("roads") [from Spanish 'calles']
The use of 'y' for /iː/ as well as 'i' and 'u' as glides can be indicators for loanwords:
Clorophyl [klʊ.rʊ.'fiːl]
Espaanie [ɘs.'pɐː.njə]
Frombuaaz [frʊmb.'wɐːz]
Loanwords adapt in a systematic spelling
"e" (resp. "o") anywhere in the middle of a word makes /ɪ/ [ɘ] (resp. /ʊ/ [ʊ]) and at the end of the word /ə/ (resp. /u/)
"ee" (resp. "oo", "aa" and "ii") anywhere in the middle of a word makes /ɛː/ [e̞ː] (resp. /ɔː/ [o̞ː], /aː/ [ɐː] and /iː/ [iː]) and at the end of the word /ɛ/ [e̞] (resp. /ɔ/ [o̞], /a/ [ɐ] and /i/ [i])
The final (and any if you have the ɘ-ə merger) schwa has been chosen to be represent by 'e' because according to Consonant-stacking principle it becomes doubled when stacking a prefix. In all cases, it becomes ee (which corresponds to [e̞ː] pronunciation-wise)
varfe ['værfə] ("he verified")
varfeehom [vær'fe̞ːhʊm] ("he verified them")
djeeje ['dʒe̞ːʒə] ("hen")
djeejeet [dʒe̞ː'ʒe̞ːt] ("hens")
This system stays consisted in crucial examples. Compare 'me' ("not to be") whence 'meeni' ("I'm not but../I'm not") and 'ma' ("it was because") whence 'maani' ("It was because I...")
Pronunciation
Stress
We define:
C a consonant cluster
V a vowel sound
Rule:
Stress is either ultimate or penultimate
The heavier syllable attracts stress
From heaviest to lightest:
CVVC
CVV
CVC
CV
If two syllables share the same characterization, that with the more amount of consonants wins
If they still draw, the penultimate wins
faaze : FAA-ze (CVV-CV: CVV) ['fɐː.zə] (fáaze)
faazto: FAAZ-to (CVVC-CV: CVVC) ['fɐːztu] (fáazto)
yetḍrab: yet-ḌRAB (CVC-C²VC: C²VC) [jɘt.'ðˤrɐb] (yetḍráb)
bayyett: bay-YETT (CVC-CVC²: CVC²) [bæj.'jɘt:] (bayyétt)
bayyet: BAY-yet (CVC-CVC: first) ['bæj.jɘt] (báyyet)
tbayyet: TBAY-yet(C²VC-CVC: C²VC) ['tbæj.jɘt] (tbáyyet)
dostour: dos-TOUR (CVC-CVVC: CVVC) [dʊs.'tuːr] (dostóur)
structuree: struc-tu-REE (CV-CVV: CVV) [strʏk.ty.'re̞] (structurée)
faazeet: faa-ZEET (CVV-CVVC: CVVC) [fɐː.'ze̞ːt]
structuur: struc-TUUR (CVC-CVVC: CVVC) [stryk.'tyːr ~ -ʏk] (structúur)
tenten: TEN-ten (CVC-CVC: first) ['tɘn.tɘn] (ténten)
franclee: FRANC-lee (CVC-CV: CVC) ['fraŋk.le̞] (fránclee)
This theory justifies spellings that feel odd, but they're valid:
'She thought for a moment' should be 'ꝁammmet' since the infinitive 'ꝁammem' is V1 (view) although the triple 'm' spelled looks like a typo, through hyphenation, stress holds and otherwise fails:
ꝁammmet: ꝀAMM-met (CVC²-CVC: CVC²) ['χɐmː.mɘt ~ 'χɐ.mə.mɘt]
if spelled ꝁa(m)memet, stress will be ultimate (ꝁa(m)-me-MET (CV-CVC:CVC)) which is wrong.
Suffixing or prefixing can irregularize stress; Tunisian doesn't particularly or necessarily have lexical stress (strees lexiic) , but certain cases of homography, might raise the need for it.
For example: toureŧ; compare ['tuːrɘθ] ("you/she inherit(s)") and [tuː'rɘθ] ("to be inherited"). While they both derive from the same verb 'wreŧ', the latter is a passive voice construction te- + wreŧ which happens to coincide with the former's conjugational one te- + wreŧ.
For such cases we may use non-standard accute diacritics (diacritiic es strees): tóureŧ vs. touréŧ
Another example: tékteb ("you/she write(s)) vs. tektéb ("to be written")
It actually happens that way for all CCeC verbs that admit a passive/reflexive
And yes, 'ew' -> 'ou'. So does 'ow' -> 'ou' and 'ey' -> 'ii' (aka: diphthong collapse)
Coloring Theory
Some allophony can be noticed with "a" in the presence of certain consonants.
Referring to the first column as æ-colors and the second as ɐ-colors.
If the consonant just preceding "a" is an ɐ-color, then "a" is phonemically transcribed [ɐ]:
Qarniit [qɐr.'niːtˤ] ("Octopus")
Raske ['rɐs.kə] ("to fare evade")
Ꝁamse ['χɐm.sə] ("five")
Ğaffel ['ʁɐf.fɘl] ("to fool")
Sṭal ['stˤɐl] ("bucket")
Tṣadmo ['tsˤɐad.mu] ("they were shocked")
Ḍalfe ['ðˤɐl.fə] ("cactus pad")
If the consonant just preceding is an æ-color then it would depend on the consonant cluster just after that same "a". If it contains at least one ɐ-color then it's phonemically [ɐ] otherwise [æ]:
Sabĝe ['sæb.ʕə] ("seven")
Barke ['bɐr.kə] ("a bless")
Now, when indicating an [æ] is crucial, it's then spelled with "ä", eg. bärke ['bær.kə] ("slacking; idling")
You'd never see a word ending in #Ce where C is an ɐ-color, instead they are spelled #Ca (meaning their theoretical schwas are compromised for [ɐ])
Tunisian now distinguishes three types of front vowels
Meet [me̞ːt]
Ĝaam [ʕæːm]
Ğaab [ʁɐːb]
They all historically come from the same phonemic representation of alif (ا). The divergence in articulation is documented as Imāla (or Imeele, you can see the phenomenon right there)
Assimilation
Pronunciation-wise, when you see the construction C₁C₂V and C₂ is a paired voiced consonant, C₁ is often voiced. Contrapositively, if C₁ is voiceless, C₂ is devoiced:
Voicing
Sder ("chest") is phonemically /sdɪr/ but phonetically [zdɘr].
Other examples: tzeed ("to be increased") /tzɛːd/ ['dze̞ːd], sgat ("to fall; to catch") /sgat/ ['zgɐt] (regional), ꝁzar ("to look") /χzar/ ['ʁzɐr]
Devoicing
gtaates ("cats") /gtaːtɪs/ ['ktɐːtɘs] (regional), mteeĝhe ("her; hers") /mtɛːʕhə/ ['mte̞ːħhə ~ 'mte̞ːħːə]
Vowel Harmony
In some accents, words ending in -eeCe are pronounced [-əːCə] instead of standard [-e̞ːCə].
Djeeje ['dʒəː.ʒə]
Hakkeeke [hæk.'kəː.kə]