Editing Gallo language (section)

== Phonology ==

=== Consonants ===
The [[consonant]]s in Gallo are almost the same as in French, but there are many local variants, such as the [[Voice (phonetics)|voicing]] of [<nowiki/>[[Voiceless alveolar fricative|s]]] into [<nowiki/>[[Voiced alveolar fricative|z]]] in [[Pays de Retz]] and that of [<nowiki/>[[Voiceless alveolar stop|t]]] into [<nowiki/>[[Voiced dental and alveolar plosives|d]]] in [[Pays de la Mée]]. Certain consonant combinations are also characteristic of certain regions, such as the [[plosive]]s [<nowiki/>[[Voiceless palatal plosive|c]]] and [<nowiki/>[[Voiced palatal plosive|ɟ]]], which can be compared to [<nowiki/>[[Voiceless velar plosive|k]]] or [<nowiki/>[[Voiced velar plosive|g]]] followed by a light [<nowiki/>[[Voiced palatal approximant|j]]] sound. The [[affricate]]s [<nowiki/>[[Voiced postalveolar affricate|dʒ]]] and [<nowiki/>[[Voiceless postalveolar affricate|tʃ]]] appear in the western part of [[Upper Brittany|Haute-Bretagne]], where, for example, the word ''curë'' [kyʁe] is pronounced as [tʃyʁə], and the word ''ghepe'' as [dʒep]. Elsewhere, [cyʁə] and [ɟəp] can be heard. ''Qhi'', meanwhile, can be pronounced [ki], [tʃi] or [ci]. These modifications result from an advancement of the [[place of articulation]] of the [[palatal consonant]]s. The [[Semivowel|semi-consonant]] [j] is used extensively to [[Palatalization (phonetics)|palatalize]] other consonants, notably [fj], [tj], [sj] and [pj]. However, this is not done in all regions, and [j] is often replaced by [l]. The word ''pllée'', for example, can be pronounced [pje] or [ple].<ref name=":2" />

[[Germanic languages|Germanic]] in origin, [<nowiki/>[[Voiceless glottal fricative|h]]] generally hasn’t been pronounced since the 13th century, but it is still used in Mené, a small region around [[Merdrignac]] and [[Plémet]].<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Jouin |first=Serge |date=1983 |title=Communauté et diversité en Pays Gallo |url=http://dx.doi.org/10.3406/annor.1983.3902 |journal=Cahier des Annales de Normandie |volume=15 |issue=1 |pages=165–182 |doi=10.3406/annor.1983.3902 |issn=0570-1600|url-access=subscription }}</ref>

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
! colspan=2| !! [[Labial consonant|Labial]] !! [[Dental consonant|Dental]]/[[Alveolar consonant|Alveolar]] !! [[Palatal consonant|Palatal]] !! [[Velar consonant|Velar]]/[[Uvular consonant|Uvular]] !! [[Glottal consonant|Glottal]]
|-
! colspan=2|[[Nasal consonant|Nasal]]
| {{IPA link|m}} || {{IPA link|n̪}} || {{IPA link|ɲ}} ||  ||
|-
! rowspan=2|[[Plosive]]
! voiceless
| {{IPA link|p}} || {{IPA link|t̪}} || {{IPA link|c}} || {{IPA link|k}} ||
|-
! voiced
| {{IPA link|b}} || {{IPA link|d̪}} ||  {{IPA link|ɟ}} || {{IPA link|g}} ||
|-
! rowspan=2|[[Fricative]]
! voiceless
| {{IPA link|f}} || {{IPA link|s}} || {{IPA link|ʃ}} ||  || {{IPA link|h}}
|-
! voiced 
| {{IPA link|v}} || {{IPA link|z}} || {{IPA link|ʒ}} || {{IPA link|ʁ}} ||  
|-
! rowspan=2|[[Approximant]]
! plain
|  || {{IPA link|l}} || {{IPA link|j}} ||  ||
|-
! labial
|  ||  || {{IPA link|ɥ}} || {{IPA link|w}} ||
|}

* {{IPA|/m, p, b/}} are [[bilabial consonant|bilabial]], whereas {{IPA|/f, v/}} are [[labiodental consonant|labiodental]].
* {{IPA|/n̪, t̪, d̪/}} are [[dental consonant|dental]], whereas {{IPA|/s, z, l/}} are [[alveolar consonant|alveolar]].
* {{IPA|/ɲ, c, ɟ, j/}} are [[palatal consonant|palatal]], {{IPA|/ʃ, ʒ/}} are [[post-alveolar consonant|post-alveolar]], and {{IPA|/ɥ/}} is [[labial-palatal consonant|labial-palatal]].
* {{IPA|/k, g/}} are [[velar consonant|velar]], {{IPA|/ʁ/}} is [[uvular consonant|uvular]], and {{IPA|/w/}} is [[labial-velar consonant|labial-velar]].

=== Vowels ===
The vowel system of Gallo is close to French, but they diverged as they evolved, and Gallo has a number of phenomena not found in French, such as the pervasive use of [[schwa]] and [[diphthong]]s.

In Gallo, as in French, the [<nowiki/>[[Open front unrounded vowel|a]]] of [[Latin]] in [[Stress (linguistics)|stressed]] syllables has evolved into [<nowiki/>[[Close-mid front unrounded vowel|e]]] or [<nowiki/>[[Length (phonetics)|eː]]]. Thus, ''adsátis'' became ''assé'' [ase]. However, while French has combined [e] and [eː] into just [e], a distinction was preserved in Gallo. For example, when [a] was followed by [s], the [eː] became either an [e] or a diphthong, most often [ej]. The [e] became a schwa ([<nowiki/>[[Schwa|ə]]]) in most regions. This distinction between [e] and [eː] makes it possible to differentiate [[past participles]] by [[Grammatical gender|gender]] and number. While in standard French, ''chassé'', ''chassée,'' and ''chassés'' are all pronounced the same, most Gallo speakers make a [[Phoneme|phonemic]] distinction between the masculine ''chassé'' [ʃasə] and the feminine ''chassée'' or plural ''chassés'' [ʃase]. In this example, the pronunciation of ''é'' was changed when the silent feminine or plural endings were added to the word.<ref name=":3">{{Cite book |last=Chauveau |first=Jean-Paul |title=Evolutions phonétiques en gallo |date=1989 |publisher=Ed. du Centre national de la recherche scientifique |isbn=978-2-222-04281-5 |series=Sciences du langage |location=Paris}}</ref>

Latin verbs with infinitives ending in -''are'' followed the same evolutionary pattern as in French. ''Captiáre'' became ''chasser'' [ʃasə] in Gallo and ''chasser'' [ʃase] in French. This evolution of the [a] in stressed syllables varies from region to region. While in central [[Upper Brittany]], schwa has replaced [e]. In some outlying regions, it is replaced by [<nowiki/>[[Open-mid front unrounded vowel|ɛ]]] or remains [e]. Some words do not obey the rule, such as ''pátre'' and ''mátre'', which have become ''pere'' [peʁ] and ''mere'' [meʁ] in practically all of Upper Brittany, while [pəʁ] and [məʁ] are only heard in the center-west. The [a] in open stressed syllables before [<nowiki/>[[Voiced dental, alveolar and postalveolar lateral approximants|l]]] doesn't follow the [e]/[eː] pattern either, and has evolved very differently in different regions. ''Sále'' has thus become ''sèl'', ''sél'', ''sé'' or ''seu''.<ref name=":3" /> Schwa is also used to make a [[Syllabic consonant|syllabic]] [l] and [ʁ], as in ''berton'' [bʁˌtɔ̃].<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Angoujard |first=Jean-Pierre |date=2006 |title=Natures de schwa en gallo (ou " il y a schwa, schwa et schwa ") |url=http://jep2006.irisa.fr/openconf/author/final/final-64.pdf |journal=Laboratoire de Linguistique de Nante}}</ref>

Like all [[langues d'oïl]], Gallo underwent the [[vowel shift]] known as [[Bartsch's law]], according to which the Latin [a] in open stressed syllables, when preceded by a palatal consonant, became ''ie'', as in ''cápra'', which became ''chieuvr''. As in French, the sound [j] represented by the letter i disappeared around the Renaissance, giving ''chèvre'' and ''cheuv'', though this sound can still be observed in [[Côtes-d'Armor]]. In eastern Brittany, the disappearance of the sound was even more dramatic than in French, and some speakers say ''chen'' (dog), while the French word remains ''chien'' (from Latin ''cáne'').<ref name=":3" />

The Latin [e] in open stressed syllables has also evolved into ''ie'' in both Gallo and French, with ''hĕri'' becoming ''yere'', for example. In Gallo, the vowel following the y differs from region to region. In most of Upper Brittany, it's a schwa, and elsewhere it's a [ɛ] or an [e] (the geographical distribution is the same as for [e]/[eː]). The Latin [o] in open stressed syllables became a ''ue'', then [[Monophthongization|monophthonged]] in both French and Gallo around the 12th century, becoming [<nowiki/>[[Open-mid front rounded vowel|œ]]] in French, [ə] in Gallo. ''Cór'' thus became ''qheur''. The evolution of the Latin [e] in closed stressed syllables is much more diverse, and the original diphthong ''éi'' has been replaced by a large number of phonemes varying from word to word and region to region. The many pronunciations of ''mai'', from the Latin ''mé'', illustrate this diversity: [maj], [ma], [me], [mɛ], etc. The pronunciation of Latin [o]/[u] in closed stressed syllables is more authentic in Gallo than in other langues d’oïl. ''Gùla'', for example, is pronounced [gul] in Gallo, but [gœl] in French. Some terms, however, are influenced by neighboring langues d'oïl, and ''astour'' [astuʁ] ("now", from Latin ''hóra'') is becoming [astœʁ] in eastern Upper Brittany. In the south of [[Loire-Atlantique]], thanks to contact with [[Poitevin dialect|Poitevin]], [ɔ] is common, and guernol [gɛʁnɔl] and parto [paʁtɔ] are heard instead of guernouille [gɛʁnuj] and partout [paʁtu].<ref name=":3" />

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
! rowspan=2| !! colspan=2|[[Front vowel|Front]] !! rowspan=2|[[Central vowel|Central]] !! rowspan=2|[[Back vowel|Back]]
|-
! unrounded || rounded
|-
! [[Close vowel|Close]]
| {{IPA link|i}} || {{IPA link|y}} ||  || {{IPA link|u}}
|-
! [[Close-mid vowel|Close-mid]]
| {{IPA link|e}} {{IPA link|eː}} || {{IPA link|ø}} ||  || {{IPA link|o}}
|-
! [[Mid vowel|Mid]]
|  ||  || {{IPA link|ə}} || 
|-
! [[Open-mid vowel|Open-mid]]
| {{IPA link|ɛ}} {{IPA link|ɛː}} {{IPA link|ɛ̃}}  || {{IPA link|œ}} {{IPA link|œ̃}} ||  || {{IPA link|ɔ}} {{IPA link|ɔ̃}} 
|-
! [[Open vowel|Open]]
| {{IPA link|a}} ||  ||  || {{IPA link|ɑ}} {{IPA link|ɑ̃}}
|}

=== Diphthongs ===
Gallo has diphthongs, just like Latin itself, other langues d’oïl, and other Romance languages. Diphthongs in Gallo generally use the semi-vowels [w] and [j], more rarely [ɥ]: [wa], [wə], [wi], [aw], [ja], [ju], [aj], [ej], [ɛ̃i], [ɥi], [ɥɛ̃], [ɥə], etc.<ref name=":2" /> The triphthong [jaw] is also used.<ref name=":5">{{Cite book |last=Tréhel-Tas |first=Nathalie |title=Parlons gallo: langue et culture |date=2007 |publisher=l'Harmattan |isbn=978-2-296-03247-7 |location=Paris}}</ref>

The very common diphthong [aw] most often is the result of the disappearance of a consonant that existed in Latin. For example, ''fagu'' ("beech") became ''fao'', and what once was two consecutive, separately pronounced vowels, [fau], has become a diphthong: [faw]. In some words, such as ''talpa'', the [l] became a vowel, [u], and then [w], so [al] thus became [aw]: [tawp], while in French, the [al] merged into [o]: taupe [top]. In northern Upper Brittany, diphthongs are used to express plurals: un martè [maʁtə], des martiaos [maʁtjaw]. In Loire-Atlantique, only the plural form is used.<ref name=":2" />

The nasal diphthong [ɛ̃ɔ̃], heard for example in ''grand'' ([gʁɛ̃ɔ̃] "great") is typical of western langues d’oïl and is also found in [[Norman language|Norman]], [[Poitevin–Saintongeais|Poitevin-Saintongeais]] and [[Angevin dialect|Angevin]], sometimes in slightly different forms ([aɔ̃] in Saintongeais, [ɛ̃ɑ̃] in Norman).<ref>{{Cite web |title=Langues d'oïl |url=http://corpusdelaparole.huma-num.fr/spip.php?article39 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303183918/http://corpusdelaparole.huma-num.fr/spip.php?article39#federation=archive.wikiwix.com&tab=url |archive-date=3 March 2016 |website=Corpus de la parole |access-date=9 December 2023 }}</ref>