Editing Interlingua (section)

== Phonology ==

[[File:Vocabulario scientific international.ogg|thumb|Spoken Interlingua]]

Interlingua is primarily a written language, and the pronunciation is not entirely settled. The sounds in parentheses are not used by all speakers.

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
|-
!
! colspan="2" | [[Labial consonant|Labial]]
! colspan="2" | [[Alveolar consonant|Alveolar]]
! colspan="2" | [[Postalveolar consonant|Post-<br>alveolar]]
! [[Palatal consonant|Palatal]]
! colspan="2" | [[Velar consonant|Velar]]
! [[Glottal consonant|Glottal]]
|-
! [[Nasal stop|Nasal]]
| colspan="2"| {{IPA link|m}}
| colspan="2" | {{IPA link|n}}
| colspan="2"|
|
| colspan="2"|
|
|-
! [[Plosive consonant|Plosive]]
| {{IPA link|p}} || {{IPA link|b}}
| {{IPA link|t}} || {{IPA link|d}}
| colspan="2"|
|
| {{IPA link|k}} || {{IPA link|ɡ}}
|
|-
! [[Affricate consonant|Affricate]]
| colspan="2"|
| colspan="3"| ({{IPA link|ts}} ~ {{IPA link|tʃ}})
| rowspan=2| ({{IPA link|d}}){{IPA link|ʒ}}
|
| colspan="2"|
|
|-
! [[Fricative consonant|Fricative]]
| {{IPA link|f}} || {{IPA link|v}}
| {{IPA link|s}} || {{IPA link|z}}
| {{IPA link|ʃ}} |||
| colspan="2"| 
| ({{IPA link|h}})
|-
! [[Approximant consonant|Approximant]]
| colspan="2"|
| colspan="2"|{{IPA link|l}}
| colspan="2"|
| {{IPA link|j}}
| colspan="2" |{{IPA link|w}}
|
|-
! [[Rhotic consonant|Rhotic]]
| colspan="2"|
| colspan="2" |{{IPA link|ɾ}}
| colspan="2"|
|
| colspan="2"|
|
|}

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
|-
!
! [[Front vowel|Front]]
! [[Back vowel|Back]]
|-
! [[Close vowel|Close]]
| {{IPA link|i}}
| {{IPA link|u}}
|-
! [[Close-mid vowel|Close-mid]]
| {{IPA link|e}}
| {{IPA link|o}}
|- 
! [[Open vowel|Open]]
| colspan=2|{{IPA link|a}}
|}

===Pronunciation===
For the most part, [[consonant]]s are pronounced as in English, while the [[vowel]]s are like Spanish. Written double consonants may be [[Gemination|geminated]] as in Italian for extra clarity or pronounced as single as in English or French. Interlingua has five falling [[diphthong]]s, {{IPA|/ai/, /au/, /ei/, /eu/}}, and {{IPA|/oi/}},{{sfn|Gopsill|1994}} although {{IPA|/ei/}} and {{IPA|/oi/}} are rare.

=== Stress ===
The ''general rule'' is that stress falls on the vowel before the last consonant (e.g., {{lang|ia|l'''i'''ngua}}, 'language', {{lang|ia|ess'''e'''r}}, 'to be', {{lang|ia|requirim'''e'''nto}}, 'requirement') ignoring the final plural {{lang|ia|-(e)s}} (e.g. {{lang|ia|l'''i'''nguas}}, the plural of {{lang|ia|lingua}}, still has the same stress as the singular), and where that is not possible, on the first vowel ({{lang|ia|v'''i'''a}}, 'way', {{lang|ia|'''i'''o cr'''e'''a}}, 'I create'). There are a few exceptions, and the following rules account for most of them:
* Adjectives and nouns ending in a vowel followed by {{lang|ia|-le}}, {{lang|ia|-ne}}, or {{lang|ia|-re}} are stressed on the third-last syllable ({{lang|ia|fr'''a'''gile}}, {{lang|ia|m'''a'''rgine}}, {{lang|ia|'''a'''ltere}} 'other', but {{lang|ia|illa imp'''o'''ne}} 'she imposes').
* Words ending in {{lang|ia|-ica/-ico}}, {{lang|ia|-ide/-ido}} and {{lang|ia|-ula/-ulo}}, are stressed on the third-last syllable ({{lang|ia|pol'''i'''tica}}, {{lang|ia|scient'''i'''fico}}, {{lang|ia|r'''a'''pide}}, {{lang|ia|st'''u'''pido}}, {{lang|ia|cap'''i'''tula}}, {{lang|ia|s'''e'''culo}} 'century').
* Words ending in {{lang|ia|-ic}} are stressed on the second-last syllable ({{lang|ia|c'''u'''bic}}).

Speakers may pronounce all words according to the general rule mentioned above. For example, {{lang|ia|kilom'''e'''tro}} is acceptable, although {{lang|ia|kil'''o'''metro}} is more common.{{sfn|Gode|Blair|1955}}

=== Phonotactics ===
Interlingua has no explicitly defined [[phonotactics]]. However, the prototyping procedure for determining Interlingua words, which strives for internationality, should in general lead naturally to words that are easy for most learners to pronounce. In the process of forming new words, an ending cannot always be added without a modification of some kind in between. A good example is the plural ''-s'', which is always preceded by a vowel to prevent the occurrence of a hard-to-pronounce consonant cluster at the end. If the singular does not end in a vowel, the final ''-s'' becomes ''-es.''{{Citation needed|date=January 2010}}

=== Loanwords ===
Unassimilated foreign [[loanword]]s, or borrowed words, are spelled as in their language of origin. Their spelling may contain [[diacritic]]s, or accent marks. If the diacritics do not affect pronunciation, they are removed.{{sfn|Gode|1971|loc=Introduction}}