Galician Dialectal Blocks and Phonetic Systems

Galician Dialectal Blocks and Linguistic Features

Western Block (Bloque Occidental)

• 1. Gheada Rule: The use of an aspirated /h/, similar to the English word house. This is known as Gheada, which is represented in writing by a specific digraph.
• 2. Presence of Seseo: Found at the end of syllables (implosive Seseo: lus). It is also found in smaller areas in the initial syllable position (prenuclear or explosive Seseo: vesina).
• 3. Feminine Endings: Use of undifferentiated feminine endings.
• 4. Masculine Plurals: For masculine words ending in -n, the plural takes the form -ns.
• 5. Personal Pronouns: The subject pronoun used is vós instead of tu.
• 6. Verb Variations: Use of cantino instead of sangue, or cantein/cantén elsewhere.
• 7. Verb Suffixes: Alongside the verb suffix -ndes (cantades), the forms -n (cantan) and -s (cantas) are used. Area: Fisterra, Bergantiños, and Pontevedra.

Eastern Block (Bloque Oriental)

• 1. Plurals: Plural types for oxytone (sharp) words ending in -n.
• 2. Diphthongs: The diphthong -ui- remains in some words, but in other cases, it presents different solutions such as -ui- (luita), or -u- (muito).
• 3. Vowel Retention: It keeps the -u- in words like cal (cual).
• 4. Phonetic Sequences: Registers the sequence -x- (caxa) instead of -ix- (caixa/box).
• 5. Endings: Termination in -ín (veciñín) instead of -iño (veciño/neighbor).
• 6. Plurals of L-ending Words: Plurals for oxytone words ending in -l (e.g., animais).
• 7. Suffixes: Use of specific suffixes in some tenses (cantón). Area: Asturias, Ancares, and Zamora.

Central Block (Bloque Central)

• 1. Diphthongs: The -ui- diphthong is the majority form.
• 2. Gender Distinction: General distinction between the masculine termination (irmán) and the female (irmá/sister).
• 3. Plurals: Plurals in -s for names ending in -n (e.g., cans).
• 4. Verb Forms: Verb forms with -i- in the past tense of the verbs of the 2nd conjugation (e.g., saíu).
• 5. Verb Suffixes: The verbal suffix -des is the majority form. Area: Mindoniense and Lucus-Auriense.

Galician Phonetic System

Consonants

• /b/: Voiced bilabial stop.
• /d/: Voiced dental stop.
• /g/: Voiced velar stop.
• /p/: Voiceless bilabial stop.
• /t/: Voiceless dental stop.
• /k/: Voiceless velar stop.
• /m/: Voiced bilabial nasal.
• /n/: Voiced alveolar nasal.
• /ɲ/: Voiced palatal nasal.
• /ŋ/: Voiced velar nasal.
• /f/: Voiceless labiodental fricative.
• /θ/: Voiceless interdental fricative.
• /s/: Voiceless alveolar fricative.
• /ʃ/: Voiceless palatal fricative.
• /tʃ/: Voiceless palatal affricate.
• /ʎ/: Voiced palatal lateral.
• /l/: Voiced alveolar lateral.
• /ɾ/: Simple alveolar tap (voiced).
• /r/: Multiple alveolar trill (voiced).

Vowels

• /i/: Closed, front or palatal.
• /u/: Closed, back or velar.
• /a/: Open, central.
• /e/: Mid-close, front or palatal.
• /ɛ/: Mid-open, front or palatal.
• /o/: Mid-close, back or velar.
• /ɔ/: Mid-open, back or velar.