Mîrkšam: Phonology: Vowel Quality Inventories: Large (7-14)
The inventory of vocalic phonemes is larger than average, with ten present:
Front Back
Unrounded Rounded Unrounded Rounded
High i y ɯ u
Mid e ø ɤ o
Low a ɶ
Despite their position in the phoneme table above, /a/ and /ɶ/ are not treated as back vowels but as central ones; in formal speech, they are typically pronounced centralized, as [ä] and [ɶ̈]. This ideally would result in a symmetric vowel system.
The actual realization of the vowel phonemes can show considerable variation by dialect, but as a rule, the rounding distinctions are preserved. In many dialects the rounded front vowels and the unrounded back vowels are centralized to some extent, especially in unstressed positions. This tends to cause both /y/ and /ø/ to approach [ʏ], while /ɯ/ becomes [ɯ̽] and /ɤ/ becomes [ʌ̽]. Many of these dialects also realize /ɶ/ as [ɔ̽], with such vocalization again more common in unstressed positions.
Centralization of /i/, /e/, /u/, /o/, or /a/ is less common; these phonemes are realized more consistently across dialect, whether stressed or unstressed, as [i], [e̞], [u], [o̞], and [ä], respectively, though they may lose some vowel quality when unstressed.
In addition to the above variations in realization, unstressed vowels are in all dialects shorter than stressed vowels.
Diphthongs exist in /w/ and /j/, but /w/ can only occur before unrounded vowels. All vocalic variations still apply to the vocalic elements of diphthongs.
