Editing Svan language (section)

==Phonology==

===Consonants===
The consonant inventory of Svan is more or less the same as that of [[Old Georgian]]. That is, compared to Modern Georgian, it also has {{IPA|/j/}}, {{IPA|/q/}} and {{IPA|/w/}}, but the labiodental fricative only appears as an allophone of {{IPA|/w/}} in the Ln dialect. Furthermore, the uvular consonants {{IPA|/q/}} and {{IPA|/q’/}} are realized as affricates, i.e. {{IPA|[q͡χ]}} and {{IPA|[q͡χʼ]}}.<ref name=":0">{{Cite journal |last=Tuite |first=Kevin |date=2020 |title=The Svan language |url=https://www.academia.edu/37393637 |journal=Manuscript}}</ref>

{| class=wikitable style=text-align:center
|+Svan consonants
! colspan=2 |
! [[Labial consonant|Labial]]
! [[Dental consonant|Alveolar]]
! [[Palatal consonant|Palatal]]
! [[Velar consonant|Velar]]
! [[Uvular consonant|Uvular]]
! [[Glottal consonant|Glottal]]
|-
! colspan=2 | [[Nasal consonant|Nasal]]
| m {{IPAslink|m}} მ
| n {{IPAslink|n}} ნ
| 
| 
| 
| 
|-
! rowspan=3 | [[Plosive consonant|Plosive]]
! <small>[[voice (phonetics)|voiced]]</small>
| b {{IPAslink|b}} ბ
| d {{IPAslink|d}} დ
| 
| g {{IPAslink|ɡ}} გ
| 
| 
|-
! <small>[[Aspirated consonant|aspirated]]</small>
| p {{IPAslink|pʰ}} ფ
| t {{IPAslink|tʰ}} თ
| 
| k {{IPAslink|kʰ}} ქ
| q {{IPAslink|qʰ}} ჴ
| 
|- 
! <small>[[ejective consonant|ejective]]</small>
| ṗ {{IPAslink|pʼ}} პ
| ṭ {{IPAslink|tʼ}} ტ
| 
| ḳ {{IPAslink|kʼ}} კ
| q̇ {{IPAslink|qʼ}} ყ
| ʔ {{IPAslink|ʔ}} ჸ
|-
! rowspan=3 | [[Affricate consonant|Affricate]]
! <small>[[voice (phonetics)|voiced]]</small>
| 
| ʒ {{IPAslink|d͡z}} ძ
| ǯ {{IPAslink|d͡ʒ}} ჯ
| 
| 
| 
|- 
! <small>[[Aspirated consonant|aspirated]]</small>
| 
| c {{IPAslink|t͡sʰ}} ც
| č  {{IPAslink|t͡ʃʰ}} ჩ
| 
| 
| 
|-
! <small>[[ejective consonant|ejective]]</small>
| 
| ċ {{IPAslink|t͡sʼ}} წ
| čʼ {{IPAslink|t͡ʃʼ}} ჭ
| 
| 
| 
|-
! rowspan=2 | [[Fricative consonant|Fricative]]
! <small>[[voice (phonetics)|voiced]]</small>
| (v {{IPAblink|v}} ვ)
| z {{IPAslink|z}} ზ
| ž  {{IPAslink|ʒ}} ჟ
| 
|ɣ {{IPAslink|ʁ}} ღ
|
|-
! <small>[[voicelessness|voiceless]]</small>
| 
| s {{IPAslink|s}} ს
| š  {{IPAslink|ʃ}} შ
| 
| x {{IPAslink|χ}} ხ
| h {{IPAslink|h}} ჰ
|- 
! colspan=2 | [[Approximant consonant|Approximant]]
| w {{IPAslink|w}} უ̂ 
| l {{IPAslink|l}} ლ
| y {{IPAslink|j}} ჲ
| 
| 
|
|- 
! colspan=2 | [[Trill consonant|Trill]]
| 
| r {{IPAslink|r}} რ
| 
| 
| 
| 
|}

=== Vowels ===
The vowel inventory of Svan varies between different dialects. For instance, Proto-Svan phonemic long vowels occur in the Upper Bal, Cholur and Lashkh dialects, but have been lost in the Lentekh and Lower Bal dialects. Compared to Georgian, Svan also has a central or back unrounded high vowel {{IPA|/ə/}} (realized as {{IPA|[ɯ]~[ɨ]}}), the low front {{IPA|/æ/}} (except for Lashkh) and the front rounded vowels {{IPA|/œ/}} and {{IPA|/y/}} (also except for Lashkh). The front rounded vowels are often realized as diphthongs {{IPA|[we]}} and {{IPA|[wi]}} and are therefore sometimes not treated as separate phonemes.<ref name=":0" />

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
! rowspan=3 |
! colspan=4 | [[Front vowel|Front]]
! colspan="2" rowspan="2" | [[Central vowel|Central]]
! colspan="2" rowspan="2" | [[Back vowel|Back]]
|-
! colspan=2 | {{small|unrounded}}
! colspan=2 | {{small|rounded}}
|-
! {{small|short}}
! {{small|long}}
! {{small|short}}
! {{small|long}}
! {{small|short}}
! {{small|long}}
! {{small|short}}
! {{small|long}}
|-
! [[Close vowel|Close]]
| {{IPAslink|i}}<br>ი<br>i
| {{IPAslink|iː}}<br>ი̄<br>ī
| {{IPAslink|y}}<br>უ̈, ჳი<br>ü
| {{IPAslink|yː}}<br>უ̄̈<br>ṻ
|
|
| {{IPAslink|u}}<br>უ<br>u
| {{IPAslink|uː}}<br>უ̄<br>ū
|-
! [[Close-mid vowel|Close-mid]]
| {{IPAslink|e}}<br>ე<br>e
| {{IPAslink|eː}}<br>ჱ<br>ē
|
|
| rowspan=2|{{IPAslink|ə}}{{efn|name=fn1}}<br>ჷ<br>ə
| rowspan="2"|{{IPAslink|əː}}<br>ჷ̄<br>ə̄
|
|
|-
! [[Open-mid vowel|Open-mid]]
| 
| 
| {{IPAslink|œ}}<br>ო̈, ჳე<br>ö
| {{IPAslink|œː}}<br>ო̄̈<br>ō̈
| {{IPAslink|ɔ}}<br>ო<br>o
| {{IPAslink|ɔː}}<br>ო̄<br>ō
|-
! [[Open vowel|Open]]
| {{IPAslink|æ}}<br>ა̈<br>ä
| {{IPAslink|æː}}<br>ა̄̈<br>ā̈
|
|
|
|
| {{IPAslink|ɑ}}<br>ა<br>a
| {{IPAslink|ɑː}}<br>ა̄<br>ā
|}
{{notelist|refs=
{{efn|name=fn1|Realized as {{IPA|[ɯ]}} or {{IPA|[ɨ]}}.}}
}}

===Alphabet===
[[File:Road sign in Svan language, Tvebishi village, late October 2020.jpg|thumb|Road sign in Svan language, that contains only Svan-specific letters, and romanized variant]]
The alphabet, illustrated above, is similar to the [[Mingrelian alphabet]], with a few additional letters otherwise obsolete in the [[Georgian script]]:<ref>{{Cite web |title=Svan alphabet, language and prounciation |url=https://www.omniglot.com/writing/svan.htm |access-date=2023-10-13 |website=www.omniglot.com}}</ref>
* [[Fi (letter)|ჶ]] {{IPA|[f]}}
* [[Khari (letter)|ჴ]] {{IPA|/q⁽ʰ⁾/}}
* [[ჸ]] {{IPA|/ʔ/}}
* [[Ie (letter)|ჲ]] {{IPA|/j/}}
* უ̂ {{IPA|/w/}}
* [[ჷ]] {{IPA|/ə/}}
* [[He (Georgian letter)|ჱ]] {{IPA|/eː/}}

These are supplemented by diacritics on the vowels (the [[umlaut (diacritic)|umlaut]] for front vowels and [[Macron (diacritic)|macron]] for length), though those are not normally written.  The digraphs 
* ჳი ("wi") {{IPA|/y/}}
* ჳე ("we") {{IPA|/œ/}}
are used in the Lower Bal and Lentekh dialects, and occasionally in Upper Bal; these sounds do not occur in Lashkh dialect.