Unami phonology

Consonants
Unami has been analyzed as having contrastive geminate and non-geminate obstruent consonants, although this contrast is relatively weak. A full analysis of the status of the geminates, also known as long consonants, is not available, and more than one analysis of Delaware consonants has been proposed. The long consonants are described as having low functional yield, that is they differentiate relatively few pairs of words but do occur in contrasting environments. Some examples of contrastive geminate pairs include: ná k·ə́ntka·n "then you (sg.) danced" versus ná kə́ntka·n "then there was dancing"; ní p·ɔ́·m "his thigh" versus ní pɔ́·m "the ham"; and nsa·s·a·k·ənə́mən "I stuck it out repeatedly" versus nsa·sa·k·ənə́mən "I stuck it out slowly". There are also rules that lengthen consonants in certain environments. The length mark is used to indicate gemination of a preceding consonant or vowel length, although in the literature on Unami the raised dot (·) is often used for these purposes, as other diacritics may be used above vowels (see below). In the following chart, the usual transcription used in the sources is given with the IPA in brackets.

Vowels
Unami vowels are presented as organized into contrasting long–short pairs. One asymmetry is that high short is paired with long, and the pairing of long and short  is noteworthy. It is worth noting that /ə/ and /o/ are not distinguishable before /w/, /m/, and /kw/. Additionally, vowels are classified as strong and weak, which plays an important role in determining stress (see below). Long vowels and vowels before consonant clusters are automatically strong. Certain short vowels, which are differentiated with a breve – /ǐ, ě, ǒ/ – are also strong vowels because they are treated morphophonemically as long vowels, even though they are pronounced as short. In a sequence of syllables containing a short vowel followed by a consonant (C) or consonant and /w/ (Cw), the odd-numbered vowels are weak, and the even numbered vowels are strong. Furthermore, some short vowels are strong even in a weakening environment; these exceptions are often marked with a grave accent. Additionally, some vowels which are unaffected by predicted vowel syncope are marked with an acute accent. There is a predictable tendency, additionally, to nasalize and lengthen a vowel before /ns/ and /nš/, so that /lowé·nso/ ("his name is [such]") is realized closer to [luwé̹·su] from underlying /ələwe·nsəw/.

Syllable structure
Syllable structure is diverse, permitting a certain amount of consonant clustering. The following consonant clusters can occur:
 * /m, n/ (which are realized as homorganic nasals) + /p, t, k, s, č, š/
 * /h/ + /p, t, č, k, m, l/
 * /s/ + /p, k/
 * /x/ + /p, k/
 * /š/ + /k/

Additionally, certain consonants may combine with the semivowel /w/. Note that some underlying forms may also contain /sw/ and /šw/, but these are always removed by morphophonemic processes.
 * /p, m, k, h/ + /w/

Stress
Stress is generally predictable in Unami. The rightmost nonfinal strong vowel is stressed, or a strong vowel in final position if it is the only one in the word. Often when stress would be expected to fall on the antepenult it is shifted to the penult. This change is found in three conjunct endings: /-ak/, /-at/, and /-an/. In the last case, the accent shifts to the penultimate /-an/ only if it would otherwise fall on an antepenultimate short vowel, and if the consonant between them is voiced.

Phonological processes
Unami phonology is extremely complex, with various morphophonological rules, which is to say, a theoretical form will undergo a set of predictable phonological processes to produce the true form found in speech (there are some exceptions to these rules, however.) There are about 17 such rules common to both Munsee and Unami, and another 28 unique to Unami, though this analysis ignores predictable exceptions, such as the class of static words which may skip many of these rules. These rules govern things such as consonant lengthening/shortening, vowel syncopation, metathesis, vowel coloring, etc.

A list of processes unique to Unami follow. Note that these are written in linguistic notation. Thus, {ə,a} → ∅ / _{h, x}V when {ə,a} are weak means that the sounds /ə/ and /a/ become null (disappear) in the context of when they are weak and appear before either /h/ or /x/ and another vowel. The slash means "in the context of", and the underscore _ indicates where the /ə/ or /a/ must occur. In some notations the pound symbol (#) appears, indicating word boundaries (either the beginning or end). Regular parenthesis indicate optional conditions when framing phonemes or additional information about phonemes (e.g., "C=stop"). The capital letters C, V, and N mean "consonant", "vowel", and "nasal" respectively.


 * U-1: Weak and strong vowel marking
 * U-2: Weak short vowel loss before gutturals /h/ and /x/: /kənalhó·xwe/ ("you walk upstream") versus /nalahó·xwe·(w)/ ("he walks upstream")
 * {ə,a} when /ə,a/ are weak→ ∅ / _{h, x}V
 * U-3: Vowel-coloring; underlying /ə/ may be color to /i/ /o/ or /a/ in various environments.
 * ə → o / _ {(k)w} -- although Goddard notes that this orthography may be imperfect because surface-phonemic /ə/ and /o/ are not distinct before /w/, /m/ and /kw/. Cf. /pko/ ("vegetable gum", underlying /pəkəw/) with /mpok·ó·yom/ ("my gum") but /mpək·ó·he/ ("I gather gum").
 * ə → i / _ {y}
 * ə → o / _ h{p, kw, m, w}
 * ə → i / _ h elsewhere
 * ə → o / _ {Np, Nkw} and // w_Nk
 * ə → i / _ Nk elsewhere
 * ə → o / _x{p, kw}
 * ə → a / _x elsewhere
 * U-4: Vowel shortening before primary cluster of a nasal and another consonant
 * V̅ → V̌ / _ NC
 * U-5: Semivowel assimilation
 * {w, y}h → hh / V̌_
 * U-6: Stop lengthening
 * C^(vl≠h) → C· / V_(s, š, x) where V is strong
 * U-7: /h/-metathesis
 * V̌hC → hV̌C except / VC_ where V is weak
 * U-8: An adjustment in vowel length before /hC/ (i.e. an /h/ and another consonant)
 * V → V̌ / _hC (voiced C)
 * V → V̅ / _hC (voiceless C)
 * U-9: /h/-loss before stop consonant
 * hC (C=stop) → C
 * U-10: Nasal assimilation, part 1
 * NC (C=stop) → homorganic nasal + voiced stop
 * NC (C=continuant) → ⁿC / V_
 * U-11: Vowel-weakening and syncope (with certain exceptions)
 * a → ah / CV (/a/ is weak; C=voiceless) except some a (a=weak) → ∅ / #n_CV (C=voiceless)
 * ə → ∅ / _CV (/ə/ is weak; C=voiceless) and / l_{n, l}, y_l, w_w, m_m and  / #(n)_{n, l}V
 * U-12: Nasal assimilation, part 2
 * nC (C=voiceless; C≠/x,h/) → homorganic nasal + C (C=voiced) / #_
 * VⁿC → Ṽ·C (most speakers)
 * U-13: Voiced consonant assimilation
 * C(x)C(y) (C=voiced constituant) → CʸCʸ
 * U-14: Vowel syncope before /xCV/, in which exceptions are marked with a grave accent
 * V̌ → ∅ / _{x, s, š}CV except / VC_ (where V=weak)
 * U-15: /h/-loss in clusters
 * h → ∅ / _{CC, C#, Cah}
 * U-16: Vowel shortening
 * V̅ → V̌ / _h(ə)CV and // _CC (C=voiced) and / _C·ah
 * U-17: /mə/-loss
 * V́hməna· → V́hna·
 * U-18: /ə/-insertion
 * ∅ → ə / h_{l, n, m} and / #{l, m}_C (C≠h)
 * U-19: Metathesis of /w/. Does not affect the roots /wəl-/ 'well' and /wət-/ 'pull'.
 * w(ə)C¹(w) → Cw / #_V if C¹=/p, m, k, h/
 * w(ə)C → Cw / #_{ah, a, a·}
 * {/nəw/, /kəw/} → {nw, kw} / #_{ah, a, a·}
 * w{h, x} → {hw, xw} / C_
 * x → xw / o(·)_
 * (k)wx(k) → (k)x(k)w / #_
 * U-20: /w/-coloring of /a/-vowels and /w/-loss
 * w{ah, a, a·} → {oh, ɔ, ɔ·} / {#,C,V}_ where C is not /w/ and V is not /o(·)/
 * w → ∅ / V¹_V² where V¹ is not /o(·)/ and V² is not /ə/
 * w → ∅ / (C)_o(·)
 * U-21: /y/-adjustment
 * y → ∅ / V̄_V¹ where V¹ is not /ə/
 * ∅ → y / V¹_V² where V¹ is a front vowel and V² is a back vowel
 * w → y / _k (only in the suffixes ₁/-əkw/ and ₁/-əke·/)
 * U-22: Final /l/-loss. The dropping of the /l/ is optional, but the option is exploited differently by the two morphemes it affects.
 * l → (l) / _#
 * U-23: Final-vowel shortening
 * V̄ → V̆ / _#
 * U-24: Final /h/-, /w/-, and /y/-loss
 * h → ∅ / _#
 * w → (w) / V̄_#
 * w → ∅ / o(·)_#
 * w → ∅ / #_tə{l, n}
 * y → ∅ / i_#
 * U-25: Initial cluster and syllable loss. Initial clusters arising from morphophonemic rules U-11 and U-14 above are simplified; many initial weak-vowel syllables are lost. There are many exceptions, however, such that Goddard does not attempt to describe the pattern.
 * U-26: Consonant-shortening
 * C·(w) → C(w) / _{ah, oh, C, #}
 * U-27: Consonant-lengthening
 * C (C=stop) → C· / #(C)hV̆_V(C)#
 * U-28: Negative vowel assimilation in forms with ₅/-(o·)w(i·)/, which was a recent innovation at the time Goddard was writing.
 * V̄ˣ(w)i → V̄ˣV̆ˣ / _#