Vowels Catalan has inherited the typical vowel system of
Vulgar Latin, with seven stressed phonemes: , a common feature in
Western Romance, except Spanish,
Asturian, and
Aragonese.
Balearic has also instances of stressed . Dialects differ in the different degrees of
vowel reduction, and the incidence of the pair . In
Eastern Catalan (except most of Majorcan), unstressed vowels reduce to three: → ; → ; remains distinct. There are a few instances of unreduced , in some words.
Alguerese has lowered to , similar to Eastern dialects spoken in the
Barcelona metropolitan area (however, in the latter dialects the vowels are distinct as vs. ). In Majorcan (except in some parts of in the northern of the island), unstressed vowels reduce to four: follow the Eastern Catalan reduction pattern; however reduce to , with remaining distinct, as in Western Catalan. In
Western Catalan, unstressed vowels reduce to five: → ; → ; remain distinct. This reduction pattern, inherited from
Proto-Romance, is also found in Italian and
Portuguese. Some Western dialects present further reduction or
vowel harmony in some cases. Central, Western, and Balearic differ in the lexical incidence of stressed and . Usually, words with in central Catalan correspond to in Balearic and in Western Catalan. Words with in Balearic almost always have in central and western Catalan as well. As a result, Western Catalan has a much higher incidence of . Note, the quality of vowels also varies across dialects, and they may present a wide range of contextual
allophones. For further information see Catalan phonology#Vowels. • Vowel mergers (between dialects) include: •
au ('bird') vs.
ou ('egg') - Southern Valencian (as ). •
ma ('my') vs.
mà ('hand') - General Valencian, North-Western, Alguerese (as ). •
be ('sheep') vs.
bé ('good') - Northern Catalan, Alguerese (as ). •
que ('that') vs.
què ('what') - General Valencian (as ). •
sec ('dry, I sit') vs.
sec ('fold') - General Valencian, North-Western, Northern Catalan, Alguerese (as ). •
set ('thirst') vs.
set ('seven') - General Catalan, Central Catalan (as ). Northern Catalan, Alguerese (as ) •
son ('sleep') vs.
són ('they are') - Alguerese (as ). •
son ('his') vs.
són ('they are') - Northern Catalan (as ). •
sol ('sun, alone') vs.
sòl ('floor, ground') - Northern Catalan, Alguerese (as ). •
sou ('salary') vs.
sou ('you are') - Northern Catalan, Alguerese, Northern Valencian (as ). •
espècia ('spice') vs.
espècie ('type') - Central Catalan, Northern Catalan, Balearic; incl. General Catalan (as ). Alguerese (as ). •
gener ('January') vs.
Giner ('
Giner' [surname]) - colloquial Western Catalan, especially Valencian (as ). •
però ('but') vs.
pro ('pro') - some Eastern Catalan speakers (as ∅). •
fullet ('brochure') vs.
follet ('goblin') - Central Catalan, Northern Catalan, Balearic (except most of Majorcan), Alguerese; incl. General Catalan (as ).
Consonants Catalan and Valencian dialects are characterised by
final-obstruent devoicing,
lenition and
voicing assimilation. Additionally, many dialects contrast two
rhotics () and two
laterals (). Most Catalan and Valencian dialects are also renowned by the usage of
dark l (i.e.
velarisation of → ), which is especially noticeable in syllable
final position, in comparison to neighbouring languages, such as Spanish, Italian and French (that lack this pronunciation). There is dialectal variation in regard to: • The pronunciation and distribution of
sibilants (with different results according to
voicing and
affrication vs.
deaffrication). • While, arguably there are seven to eight sibilants in Standard Catalan and Standard Valencian, dialects like Central Valencian and Ribagorçan only have three or four. • The usage of the voiced labiodental fricative phoneme . • The pronunciation or not of
yod () in the digraph . • The
elision and pronunciation of final
rhotics (either or ). • The
delateralisation of the palatal lateral approximant (). • The alternation of
lenition vs.
fortition (such as in 'village, people' → vs. vs. vs. vs. ). Consonant mergers (between dialects) include: • General consonant mergers in both General Catalan and Valencian: •
cub ('cube') vs.
cup ('winepress') - as . •
tord ('
thrush') vs.
tort ('crooked') - as . •
mag ('magician') vs.
mac ('pebble') - as . • General consonant mergers in General Catalan and dialectally in Valencian: •
tom ('tome') vs.
tomb ('turn') - as . •
rom ('rum') vs.
romp ('he or she breaks') - as . •
glans ('acorns') vs.
glands ('glands') - as . •
quan ('when') vs.
quant ('how much') - as . • Other consonant mergers include: •
bola ('ball') vs.
vola ('he or she flies') - General Catalan, North-Western Catalan, Northern Catalan, Central Catalan, Central Valencian and partly in Northern Valencian (as ). •
vida ('life') vs.
vira ('to turn, to tack') - Alguerese (both as ). •
vila ('town') vs.
vira ('to turn, to tack') - Alguerese (both as ). •
vals ('costs') vs.
valls ('valleys') - Alguerese and parts of Eastern Aragon (as ). •
bans ('bands') vs.
banys ('baths') - Alguerese and parts of Eastern Aragon (as ). •
caça ('hunting') and
cassa ('ladle') vs.
casa ('house') - Central Valencian (as ) and parts of Eastern Aragon (as and ). •
boja ('crazy') vs.
botja ('shrub') - General Valencian (as ). Northern Valencian (as ). •
boja ('crazy') vs.
botja ('shrub') vs.
botxa ('
bocce') - Central Valencian (as ). •
setge ('siege') vs.
setze ('sixteen') - Northern Valencian (as ). •
xoc ('shock') vs.
joc ('game') - Central Valencian (as ). •
xec ('check') vs.
txec ('Czech') - General Valencian (as ). •
all ('garlic') vs.
ai ('ouch' [interj.]) - Majorcan, young speakers of Catalan and Valencian (as ). •
raig ('ray') vs.
rai ('raft, interj.') - some Catalan and Valencian speakers (as ). •
raig ('ray') vs.
raigs ('rays') - General Catalan and Valencian (as ). Some Catalan and Valencian speakers (as and , respectively). •
goig ('joy') vs.
gots ('glass' [drinking glass]) - Northern Valencian (as ). Partially in Central Valencian (as ). •
reis ('kings') vs.
reix ('
resh') - partially in Northern Valencian (as ). Note that in some dialects,
reis in the context of
Reis Mags ('
Magi') has merged with the plural of
reix, i.e.
reixos ('Magi' and 'reshes') favouring over (except Northern Valencian where it may be pronounced with ). •
guis ('stew') vs.
guix ('
gypsum') - partially in Northern Valencian (as ). •
test ('test') vs.
text ('text') - some Catalan and Valencian speakers (as ). •
bruns ('dark browns') vs.
brunz ('he or she buzzes') - General Catalan and Valencian (as ). •
isard ('chamois, wild') vs.
-itzar ('-ize/-ise' [suffix]) - General Valencian and partly in Balearic and Alguerese (as ). •
isard ('chamois, wild') vs.
-itzar ('-ize/-ise' [suffix]) vs.
hissar ('to hoist') - Central Valencian (as ). •
tsarina ('tsarina') vs.
Sarina ('
Sarina' [given name]) - most Catalan and Valencian dialects (as ). •
zinc ('zinc') vs.
cinc ('five') - Central Valencian (as ) and Eastern Aragon (as or ). •
erts ('stiffs') vs.
hertz ('hertz') - General Catalan and Valencian (as ). == Morphology ==