The charts below show the way in which the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) represents West Frisian language pronunciations in Wikipedia articles.

See West Frisian phonology for a more thorough look at the sounds of West Frisian.

Consonants
IPA Examples English approximation
b bak [bak], opdwaan [ˈobdvaːn][1] bait
ɕ sjonge [ˈɕoŋə] ship, but without labialization and with stronger palatalization
d dei [dai], net dwaan [nɛd dvaːn][1] duck
dz skodzje [ˈskɔdzjə] between buds and budge (retracted)
f fet [fɛt] feats
ɡ gau [ɡɔu],[2] ik bin [ɪɡ bɪn][1] goal
ɣ ploege [ˈpluːɣə],[2] sjoch ien [sjoɣ iən][1] roughly like go, but without completely
blocking air flow on the g; Spanish amigo
h heal [hɪəl][3] heal
j jong [joŋ] yard
k kaam [kaːm] school
l lang [laŋ] land
l̩ leppel [ˈlɛpl̩][4] bottle
m man [mɔn], ynbine [ˈimbinə][5] man
m̩ iepen [ˈiəpm̩][4] rhythm
n né [nei] neck
n̩ tiden [ˈtiːdn̩][4] suddenly
ɲ wenje [ˈvɛɲə] somewhat like canyon
ŋ sang [saŋ], ynkomme [ˈiŋkomə][5] ring
ŋ̍ rekken [ˈrɛkŋ̍][4] ring, but longer
p piip [piːp], kob [kop][6] sport
r ryk [rik],[7] siede [ˈsiərə][8] trilled R; similar to water (American English)
r̩ eker [ˈeikr̩][4]
s sinne [ˈsɪnə] between sip and ship (retracted)
t tin [tɪn], jild [jɪlt],[6] op dy [op ti][9] stop
ts tsiis [tsiːs] between cats and catch (retracted)
v iver [ˈiːvər],[10][11] of bûter [ɔv ˈbutər],[1]
of út [ɔv yt][1] 		very
ʋ wyn [ʋin][10] between wine and vine
χ ljocht [ljɔχt],[11] Valkenburg [ˈfalkəbørχ][6] loch (Scottish English)
z lêze [ˈlɛːzə],[11] baas die [baːz di],[1]
is yn [ɪz in][1] 		between zone and genre (retracted)
ʑ telefyzje [teiləˈfiʑə] genre, but without labialization and with stronger palatalization
Suprasegmentals
ˈ stêd [ˈstɛːt] Primary stress, as in deer /ˈdɪər/
ˌ stedshûs [ˌstɛtsˈhuːs] Secondary stress, as in commandeer
/ˌkɒmənˈdɪər/
◌̃ ynfalle [ˈĩfɔlə], jûns [jũːs] nasal vowel[12]
Dialectal sounds
IPA Examples English approximation
ɑː maat [mɑːt][13] father
ɪː beast [bɪːst][14] kid
øː beuch [bøːχ][15][16] roughly like herd
œː töter [ˈtœːtər][17]
œ skoalle [ˈskœlə][17] roughly like hurt
ɵ [18]
ɞ [18]
ɔi laitsje [ˈlɔitsjə][19] choice
uːi [20] to eternity
Vowels
IPA Examples English approximation
Monophthongs
a pak [pak] up
aː faak [faːk] father
ɛ fet [fɛt] bet
ɛː bêd [bɛːt] RP air
ə de [də][21] about
i dyk [dik] teach
iː tiid [tiːt][22] tea
ɪ ik [ɪk] sit
ɔ top [tɔp] off
ɔː rôt [rɔːt] RP law
o op [op] for
ø nut [nøt][21] roughly like hurt
u hoep [hup] rule
uː skoech [skuːχ][22][23] fool
y slute [ˈslytə] roughly like cute
yː drúf [dryːf][23] roughly like cued
Diphthongs (falling)
ai laitsje [ˈlaitsjə] right
aːi kaai [kaːi] tie
ei reek [reik][24] face
ɛi frij [frɛi] hey
iə bien [biən][22][25] RP near
ɪə read [rɪət][25]
iu ieu [iu] hue
oə boat [boət][25] RP moor
uə goed [ɡuət][22][25]
oi muoie [ˈmwoiə] choice
oːi moai [moːi] boy
ou rook [rouk][24] goat
ɔu goud [ɡɔut]
øə gleon [ɡløən] roughly like herd
øy deun [døyn][16][24] roughly like a yacht
œy jui [jœy]
ui ploeije [ˈpluiə] Rapa Nui
yə flues [flyəs][25] roughly like RP cure
Diphthongs (rising)
jɛ hjerst [jɛst][25] yes
jɪ fjild [fjɪlt][25] roughly like yeast
jø mjuks [mjøks][25] roughly like Jurgen
wa toar [twar][25] won
wo spoen [spwon][25] water

Notes[edit]

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h The syllable-final (and also word-final) voiceless obstruents [p, t, k, f, s, χ] are voiced to [b, d, ɡ, v, z, ɣ] (note that [χ] is velar when voiced) when the next syllable (including the next word) begins with a voiced stop and, in case of the fricatives [f, s, χ], also when the next word begins with a vowel (Tiersma (1999:24)).
  2. ^ a b [ɡ] and [ɣ] are allophones of a single phoneme /ɣ/. The plosive [ɡ] appears word-initially and syllable-initially (the latter only when stressed), whereas the fricative [ɣ] occurs elsewhere (Hoekstra (2001:86), Sipma (1913:15, 17)).
  3. ^ In most dialects, /h/ is deleted before [j] and [w] (Tiersma (1999:22)).
  4. ^ a b c d e The syllabic nasals [m̩, n̩, ŋ̍] are all phonemically /ən/, whereas the syllabic [l̩, r̩] are phonemically /əl, ər/. To read about their exact distribution, see e.g. Sipma (1913:36). The only sonorants that cannot be syllabic are [ʋ, j].
  5. ^ a b Apart from being the phonetic realization of the phonemes /m, ŋ/, [m, ŋ] occur as allophones of /n/ before, bilabial and velar consonants (Tiersma (1999:24)).
  6. ^ a b c Word-final /b, d/ are realized as voiceless [p, t] (van der Veen (2001:104)). Note, however, that final /b/ is rare (Tiersma (1999:21)), and that in loanwords from Standard Dutch, final /ɣ/ can also appear, and is also devoiced and retracted to [χ].
  7. ^ /r/ is silent before other alveolar consonants, i.e. /n, t, d, s, z, l/ (Tiersma (1999:28–29), Keil (2003:8)). An exception to this rule are recent loanwords from Standard Dutch (e.g. sport), which may or may not be pronounced with [r] (Tiersma (1999:29)).
  8. ^ Intervocalic ⟨d⟩, as well as the sequence ⟨rd⟩ are often rhotacized to /r/ (Tiersma (1999:21)).
  9. ^ In various pronouns and function words, the initial /d/ becomes voiceless [t] when a voiceless obstruent ends the preceding word (Tiersma (1999:24)).
  10. ^ a b Both [ʋ] and [v] can be regarded as allophones of a single phoneme /v/, though [v] is the most common realization. The approximant [ʋ] can appear word-initially, whereas the fricative [v] occurs elsewhere (Keil (2003:7)).
  11. ^ a b c Among fricatives, neither the voiced /z/ nor the voiceless /χ/ can occur word-initially (Sipma (1913:16–17)).
  12. ^ When a sequence of any vowel and /n/ occurs before any continuant besides /h/ (that is, /f, v, ʋ, s, z, r, l, j/), it is realized as a nasalized vowel. When the following consonant is /s/, such a nasalized vowel is also lengthened (but only in stressed syllables (Hoekstra (2001:86))), so that e.g. jûns (phonemically /juns/) is pronounced [jũːs], whereas prins (phonemically /prɪns/) is pronounced [prẽːs]. One exception to this lengthening rule is that when a short vowel precedes the sequence /nst/ in the second person singular verb form (as in winsʋ [vɪ̃st]), it is kept short by most speakers (Tiersma (1999:13)). It is unclear whether the lengthened short monophthongs /ɪ, ø/ (/o/ cannot be lengthened) are phonetically long monophthongs or diphthongs (as it is the case with the oral /eː, øː/), hence the transcription [prẽːs] rather than [prẽĩs].
  13. ^ /ɑː/ has a phonemic status in the Aastersk dialect (van der Veen (2001:102)).
  14. ^ /ɪː/ has a phonemic status in the Hindeloopers dialect (van der Veen (2001:102)).
  15. ^ [øː] is the Hindeloopers realization of /øː/. In other dialects, /øː/ is commonly slightly diphthongal [øy] (van der Veen (2001:102)).
  16. ^ a b Nearly all words with /øː/ are loanwords from Standard Dutch (Visser (1997:17)).
  17. ^ a b The open-mid front rounded vowels /œ, œː/ have a phonemic status in the Hindeloopers and Súdwesthoeksk dialects, but not in the standard language (Hoekstra (2001:83), van der Veen (2001:102)).
  18. ^ a b [ɵ] and [ɞ] are the southwestern realizations of, respectively, /wo/ and /wa/ (Hoekstra (2003:202), citing Hof (1933:14)).
  19. ^ [ɔi] is a dialectal realization of /ai/ (Booij (1989:319)).
  20. ^ In some dialects, /ui/ and /uːi/ are distinct phonemes. In the standard language, however, only /ui/ appears (Tiersma (1999:12)).
  21. ^ a b Phonetically, /ə/ and /ø/ are quite similar, but the former appears only in unstressed syllables (Tiersma (1999:11)).
  22. ^ a b c d Some speakers merge the long vowels /iː, uː/ with the centering diphthongs /iə, uə/ (Visser (1997:24)).
  23. ^ a b The long close rounded vowels /uː, yː/ do not appear in the dialect of Leeuwarden (van der Veen (2001:102)).
  24. ^ a b c Even though they pattern with monophthongs, the long close-mid vowels /eː, øː, oː/ are often realized as narrow closing diphthongs ((Visser (1997:22–23), Tiersma (1999:10–11))), and that is how we transcribe them here.
  25. ^ a b c d e f g h i j The falling diphthongs [iə, ɪə, oə, uə, yə] alternate with the rising diphthongs [jɪ, jɛ, wa, wo, jø] in the phenomenon called breaking. The [yə−jø] alternation occurs only in the word pair sluere−slurkje (Booij (1989:319)).

Bibliography[edit]

See also[edit]

Comparisons
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