BCSM - pronunciation question

Discussion in 'Other Slavic Languages' started by qwqwqw, May 8, 2014.

  1. qwqwqw Senior Member

    Bayern, D
    Hello, I have a question about pronunciation. If you are kind enought to answer it that would be great.

    When there is a j after, say, l like in temeljno, does that soften the l sound? In other words, does the l letter sound different when it's not followed by a j? If yes, would j also soften every other letter before it?

    Many thanks in advance.
  2. qwqwqw Senior Member

    Bayern, D
    Možda sam pitanje kazao loše.

    Koja je uloga j-a u riječi temeljno? Da li se slovo uopšte čuje?
    Last edited: May 11, 2014
  3. 123xyz

    123xyz Senior Member

    Skopje, Macedonia
    The letter "j" in the word "temeljno" isn't functioning independently but in conjunction with the letter "l" to produce "lj", which is considered a single grapheme and has its own place in the BCS alphabet, written as "љ" in Cyrillic. This "lj" in turn is indeed a soft sound, i.e. it is a palatal lateral approximant ([ʎ] in IPA). I suppose you could consider it a softening of "l" (the regular alveolar lateral approximant), as it did indeed arise from "l" in most cases. Anyway, the two sounds are indeed distinct. As for the softening of other letters, "n" + "j" produces a palatal nasal, also a distinct grapheme ("њ" in Cyrillic), but beyond that, sequences of the remaining consonants followed by "j" should be analyzed as mere sequences, in my opinion, just like "st" or "pr". Perhaps the "j" brings their place of articulation slightly closer to its own palatal one, but this isn't phonemic and is overall of no substance within the language, I would say. If you are merely curious about it, I suggest you wait for other forum users to explain any minute phonological mutations that it may trigger.
  4. qwqwqw Senior Member

    Bayern, D
    No it's OK, this is more than I expected, a very good explanation, thanks much.

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