Features for Westron

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Phonology

Consonant Inventories WALS Moderately small
/p, t, k, b, d, ɡ, f, θ, s, x, h, v, z, m, n, r, l, j/. In the Shire dialect /k, ɡ/ are realised as [tʃ, dʒ] before a front vowel. /x/ is realised as [h] in word-initial position. In the Gondor dialect /x/ has merged with /h/ but is still articulated in coda position before /t/.
Vowel Quality Inventories WALS Average (5-6)
/i, u, e, o, a/
Consonant-Vowel Ratio WALS Average
3.6
Voicing in Plosives and Fricatives WALS In both plosives and fricatives
Voicing and Gaps in Plosive Systems WALS None missing in /p t k b d g/
Uvular Consonants WALS None
Glottalized Consonants WALS No glottalized consonants
Lateral Consonants WALS /l/, no obstruent laterals
[ɬ] is present as the realisation of the word-initial consonant cluster /hl/. The Shire dialect lacks this cluster.
The Velar Nasal WALS No velar nasal
Allophone of /n/ before velar consonants.
Vowel Nasalization WALS Contrast absent
Allophonic nasal vowels present in the Shire dialect before a nasal + fricative cluster where the nasal is deleted and the preceding vowel nasalised.
Front Rounded Vowels WALS None
Syllable Structure WALS Complex
Fixed Stress Locations WALS Initial
Weight-Sensitive Stress WALS Fixed stress
Weight Factors in Weight-Sensitive Stress Systems WALS No weight
Rhythm Types WALS Trochaic
Absence of Common Consonants WALS All present
Presence of Uncommon Consonants WALS 'Th' sounds
/θ/ present. Fronted to /f/ in the Shire dialect.

Nominal Categories

Number of Genders WALS Two
Sex-based and Non-sex-based Gender Systems WALS Non-sex-based
Systems of Gender Assignment WALS Semantic
Coding of Nominal Plurality WALS Plural suffix
Occurrence of Nominal Plurality WALS All nouns, always obligatory
Plurality in Independent Personal Pronouns WALS Person-number stem
Definite Articles WALS Definite affix
Indefinite Articles WALS No indefinite, but definite article
Inclusive/Exclusive Distinction in Independent Pronouns WALS Inclusive/exclusive
Inclusive/Exclusive Distinction in Verbal Inflection WALS Inclusive/exclusive
Politeness Distinctions in Pronouns WALS Binary politeness distinction
Polite forms were lost in the Shire dialect.
Number of Cases WALS No morphological case-marking

Nominal Syntax

Adjectives without Nouns WALS Without marking
Adjectives acting as nouns could take the definite suffix and, presumably, the plural suffix although Tolkien's material is not clear on this point.

Word Order

Order of Adposition and Noun Phrase WALS Prepositions
Order of Adjective and Noun WALS Adjective-Noun

Other

Writing Systems WALS Alphasyllabic
Written in the Tengwar. Consonant letters and vowel diacritics. The consonant letters have no inherent vowel.

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