Editing Lydian language (section)

==Phonology==
=== Vowels ===
{|
|
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align: center;"
|+Oral vowels
!
![[Front vowel|Front]]
![[Central vowel|Central]]
![[Back vowel|Back]]
|-
![[High vowel|High]]
|{{IPA link|i}} {{grapheme|𐤦 - i}}
|
|{{IPA link|u}} {{grapheme|𐤰 - u}}
|-
![[Mid vowel|Mid]]
|{{IPA link|e}} {{grapheme|𐤤 - e}}
|
|{{IPA link|o}} {{grapheme|𐤬 - o}}
|-
![[Low vowel|Low]]
|
|{{IPA link|ä|a}} {{grapheme|𐤠 - a}}
|
|}
|
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align: center;"
|+Nasal vowels
!
![[Front vowel|Front]]
![[Central vowel|Central]]
|-
![[Close vowel|Mid]]
| rowspan="2" |{{IPA link|ẽ}}~{{IPA link|æ̃}} {{grapheme|𐤶 - ẽ}}
|
|-
![[Low vowel|Low]]
|{{IPA link|ã}} {{grapheme|𐤵 - ã}}
|}
|}
Lydian has seven vowels: 𐤠 '''''a''''', 𐤤 '''''e''''', 𐤦 '''''i''''', 𐤬 '''''o''''', 𐤰 '''''u''''', 𐤵 '''''ã''''', and 𐤶 '''''ẽ''''', the last two being nasal vowels,{{Sfn|Gérard|2005}} typically before a ([[Synchrony and diachrony|synchronic or diachronic]]) nasal consonant (like '''''n''''', '''''ñ''''' or '''''m'''''). The vowels '''''e''''', '''''o''''', '''''ã''''', and '''''ẽ''''' occur only when accented.<ref name="eichner1986">{{cite journal |id={{INIST|11914067}} |last1=Eichner |first1=H |title=Die Akzentuation des Lydischen L'accentuation du lydien |journal=Die Akzentuation des Lydischen l'Accentuation du Lydien |date=1986 |volume=32 |issue=1 |pages=7–21 }}</ref> A vowel or glide 𐤧 '''''y''''' appears rarely, only in the oldest inscriptions,<ref name="Sasseville & Euler 2019"/> and probably indicates an allophone of '''''i''''' or '''''e''''' that is perhaps unstressed.

Lydian is notable for its extensive consonant clusters, which resulted from the loss of word-final short vowels, together with massive [[syncope (phonetics)|syncope]]; there may have been an unwritten [ə] in such sequences.

=== Consonants ===
(Note: until recently the Buckler (1924)<ref name="buckler1924" /> transliteration scheme was often used, which may lead to confusion. This older system wrote '''''v''''', '''''ν''''', '''''s''''', and '''''ś''''', instead of today's '''''w''''' (𐤥), '''''ñ''''' (𐤸), '''''š''''' (𐤳), and '''''s''''' (𐤮). The modern system renders the sibilants more naturally and prevents confusion between '''''v''''' (= w 𐤥) and the Greek [[nu (letter)|nu]] symbol '''''ν''''' (= ñ 𐤸).)

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center;"
|+ Consonants
! rowspan="2" |
! rowspan="2" | [[Labial consonant|Labial]]
! rowspan="2" | [[Interdental consonant|Interdental]]
! rowspan="2" | [[Alveolar consonant|Alveolar]]
! rowspan="2" | [[Palatal consonant|Palatal]]
! colspan="2" | [[Velar consonant|Velar]]
|-
! {{small|plain}}
! {{small|[[Labial–velar consonant|labial]]}}
|-
! [[Nasal consonant|Nasal]]
| {{IPAlink|m}} {{grapheme|𐤪 - m}}
|
| {{IPAlink|n}} {{grapheme|𐤫 - n}}
| colspan="2" | {{IPAlink|ɲ}}~{{IPAlink|ŋ}} {{grapheme|𐤸 - ñ}}
|
|-
! [[Plosive]]
| {{IPAlink|p}}~{{IPAlink|b}} {{grapheme|𐤡 - p}}
|
| {{IPAlink|t}}~{{IPAlink|d}} {{grapheme|𐤯 - t}}
|
| {{IPAlink|k}}~{{IPAlink|g}} {{grapheme|𐤨 - k}}<br>({{IPAlink|g}} {{grapheme|𐤢 - g}})
| {{IPAlink|kʷ}}~{{IPAlink|gʷ}} {{grapheme|𐤲 - q}}
|-
! [[Affricate]]
|
|
| {{IPAlink|ts}}~{{IPAlink|dz}} {{grapheme|𐤹 - c}}
| {{IPAlink|tʃ}} {{grapheme|𐤴 - τ}}
|
|
|-
! [[Fricative]]
| {{IPAlink|f}} {{grapheme|𐤱 - f}}
| {{IPAlink|ð}} {{grapheme|𐤣 - d}}
| {{IPAlink|s}} {{grapheme|𐤮 - s}}
| {{IPAlink|ʃ}} {{grapheme|𐤳 - š}}
|
|
|-
! [[Liquid consonant|Liquid]]
|
|
| {{IPAlink|l}} {{grapheme|𐤩 - l}}
| {{IPAlink|ʎ}} {{grapheme|𐤷 - λ}}
|
|
|-
! [[Rhotic consonant|Rhotic]]
|
|
| {{IPAlink|r}} {{grapheme|𐤭 - r}}
|
|
|
|-
! [[Semivowel|Glide]]
|
|
|
|
|
| {{IPAlink|w}} {{grapheme|𐤥 - w}}
|}

Voicing was likely not distinctive in Lydian. However /p t k/ are voiced before nasals and apparently before /r/. The palatal affricate ('''''τ''''') and sibilant ('''''š''''') may have been [[Palato-alveolar consonant|palato-alveolar]].

It has now been argued that the laterals '''''l''''' and '''''λ''''' are actually flaps.<ref>[https://www.academia.edu/79991787/Rhotacism_in_1st_Millennium_BC_Anatolia_Comparative_Luwian_and_Lydian_Phonology Sasseville, D. (2021). Rhotacism in 1st Millennium BC Anatolia Comparative Luwian and Lydian Phonology]</ref>

The sign 𐤣 has traditionally been transliterated '''''d''''' and interpreted as an interdental /ð/ resulting from the sound change *i̯ > ð or the lenition of Proto-Anatolian *t. However, it has recently been argued that in all contexts '''''d''''' in fact represents the palatal glide /j/, previously considered absent from Lydian.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Oreshko |first1=Rostislav |title=Phonetic value of Lydian letter &lt;d&gt; revisited and development of PIE dentals in Lydian |journal=Wekwos |date=2019 |volume=4 |pages=191–262 |url=https://www.academia.edu/39978695 }}</ref> An interdental /ð/ would stand as the only interdental sound in Lydian phonology, whereas a palatal interpretation of '''''d''''' is complemented by a full series of other palatal consonants: '''''λ''''', '''''š''''', '''''ñ''''', and '''''τ'''''.

Lydian, with its many palatal and nasal sounds, must have sounded quite strange to the ears of ancient Greeks, and transcription of Lydian names into Greek would therefore present some difficulties. Recently a case has been made that the Lydian word Qλdãns, pronounced /kʷɾʲ'ðãns/, both meaning 'king' and the name of a god, could correspond to the Greek Κροῖσος, or [[Croesus]], the last Lydian king, whose kingdom was conquered by the Persians. If the identification is correct it would have the interesting historical consequence that king Croesus was not saved from being burnt at the stake, as Herodotus tells us,<ref>''Histories'', I, 86.</ref> but chose suicide and was subsequently deified.<ref name="Sasseville & Euler 2019">{{cite journal |last1=Sasseville |first1=David |last2=Euler |first2=Katrin |title=Die Identität des lydischen Qλdãns und seine kulturgeschichtlichen Folgen |journal=Kadmos |date=2019 |volume=58 |issue=1/2 |pages=125–156 |doi=10.1515/kadmos-2019-0007 |s2cid=220368367 }}</ref>

=== Stress ===
[[Heiner Eichner]] developed rules to determine which syllable in a word has the stress accent.<ref name="eichner1986" /> In short, the rules are:
* Syllables with vowel ''-'''ã'''-, -'''ẽ'''-, -'''e'''-, -'''o'''-, -'''aa'''-'', and ''-'''ii'''-'' always have stress. Syllables with ''-'''i'''- (-'''y'''-), -'''a'''-'' or ''-'''u'''-'' may be accented or unaccented.
* Enclitics ('''''-añ-, -in-, -it-''''', etc.) never have stress.
* Prefixes, even those with a long vowel ('''''ẽn-''''', '''''ẽt-'''''), do not have stress.<ref name="Sasseville2017" />
* An ''-'''a'''-'' before a nasal ('''''m, n, ñ''''') never has stress.
* In consonant clusters syllabic liquidae ('''''l, λ, r'''''), nasals ('''''m, n, ñ''''') and sibilants ('''''s, š''''') do not have stress.
* Within a declension or conjugation stress does not move from one syllable to another.
A useful application of those rules is the investigation of [[metre]]s in Lydian poetry.