Dryadic Phonetics

Introduction

Due to differences between dryad and human anatomical structures, particularly with respect to vocal tracts, the articulatory phonetics underpinning dryad languages is quite different from human-based articulatory phonetics. Approximations of phones are made using the IPA by equating them to human phones based on their acoustic and auditory properties. The following attempts to explain the dryad vocal tract and present a modified IPA for dryad languages, as well as identify the basic differences between the phonetics of human languages and dryad languages.

Vocal Tract

Unlike humans, who have full control over the inflow and outflow of air in their lungs, dryads’ lung-like structures operate independently. Their breathing is entirely involuntary, bringing in and expelling air in periods of approximately equal length. This causes all dryadic languages to be spoken in a manor of alternating pulmonic egression and ingression.

The glottis-like organ responsible for vocalizations in dryads is a fibrous, blade-like structure located deep within the respiratory throat. The throat contracts around this blade-like structure, and when air is pushed through, the structure vibrates. This mechanism is comparable to blowing on a blade of grass sandwiched between one’s thumbs. Full closure of the throat around the glottis-like structure is impossible.

A tongue-like structure is located at the top of the respiratory oral cavity. This tongue-like structure, similar to the human tongue, is used to obstruct airflow. This is done by placing the structure on or near the dryadic palate that roughly correspond to the roof of a human mouth. The dryad vocal tract also features a pharyngeal wall which can constrict airflow. There are no epiglottis-like or uvular-like structures.

1. Foramina
2. Tongue
3. Alveolar Ridge
4. Front Palate
5. Back Palate (Velum)
6. Pharyngeal Wall
7. Glottis

The dryad vocal tract also includes a collection of structures called “foramina.” These structures are a collection of slits at the vocal tract opening. These slits can constrict airflow resulting in a non-human articulation that is acoustically similar to human bidental fricatives (forcing air through ones teeth).

Articulations comparable to human labial and dental articulations are impossible for the dryad vocal tract to produce; this includes vowel rounding. A lack of a nasal cavity also makes nasal phones impossible. Complete closure of the vocal tract is only possible with the tongue-like structure; therefore, stops are only possible with places of articulation that use the tongue-like structure. Furthermore, stops appear to be exceptionally rare and highly marked sounds in dryad languages due to the nature of the dryads’ pulmonic airflow.

Consonants

	Foraminal	Coronal			Dorsal		Laryngeal
	Foraminal	Alveolar		Retroflex	Palatal	Velar	Pharyngeal	Glottal
Stop	-	t d		ʈ ɖ	c ɟ	k g	-	-
Sibilant Fricative	-	s z	ʃ ʒ	ʂ ʐ	ɕ ʑ	-	-	-
Non-sibilant Fricative	h̪ ɦ̪	θ̠ ð̠	ɹ̠̊˔ ɹ̠˔	ɻ̊˔ ɻ˔	ç ʝ	x ɣ	ħ ʕ	h ɦ
Approximant	h̪ ɦ̪	ɹ̥ ɹ		ɻ̊ ɻ	j̊ j	ɰ̊ ɰ	ħ ʕ	h ɦ
Tap/Flap	-	ɾ̥ ɾ		ɽ̊ ɽ	-	-	-	-
Lateral Fricative	-	ɬ ɮ		ɭ̊˔ ɭ˔	ʎ̝̊ ʎ̝	ʟ̝̊ ʟ̝	-	-
Lateral Approximant	-	l̥ l		ɭ̊ ɭ	ʎ̥ ʎ	ʟ̥ ʟ	-	-

The only co-articulated consonants observed in dryad languages combine the foraminal place of articulation and the other places of articulation. This is transcribed by using a dental bracket placed either above ⟨◌͆⟩ or below ⟨◌̪⟩ the consonant, or by combining the two places of articulation with a tie ⟨◌͡h̪⟩ or ⟨◌͡ɦ̪⟩. The foraminal articulations are sometimes transcribed as [ʍ] and [w] or through labialization superscript ⟨◌ʷ⟩ when marking co-articulation.

Vowels

	Front	Central	Back
Close	i	ɨ	ɯ
Close-Mid	e	ɘ	ɤ
Open-Mid	ɛ	ɜ	ʌ
Open	æ	a	ɑ

Above is a basic mapping of vowels that occur in Dryadic languages. There are no rounded vowels due to a lack of a labial place of articulation.

Foraminal Vowels

	Front	Central	Back
Close	i͆	ɨ͆	ɯ͆
Close-Mid	e͆	ɘ͆	ɤ͆
Open-Mid	ɛ͆	ɜ͆	ʌ͆
Open	æ͆	a͆	ɑ͆

Similar to rounded vowels in human phonetics, Dryadic vowels can be foraminalized. Since it is anatomically impossible for a human to produce foraminal vowels, the most acoustically similar approximation in human phonetics (other than co-articulating vowels with a bidental fricative) are fricative or apicalized vowels or, particularly in the case of lower vowels, a voiced velar fricative produced with differing F1 and F2 formants based on the tongue height and frontness of the vowel. Low foraminal vowels are notably more marked and uncommon among Dryadic languages, while high foraminal vowel are less marked and very common.