Editing Romansh language (section)

== Phonology ==
[[File:Romansh (Wikitongues).ogg|thumb|Spoken Romansh]]
Romansh has up to 26 [[consonant]] [[phoneme]]s. Two are found only in some varieties, and one is found only in loanwords borrowed from German.

{| class="wikitable"
|-
! &nbsp;
![[Labial consonant|Labial]]
![[labiodental consonant|Labio-<br />dental]]
![[dental consonant|Dental]] and<br />[[alveolar consonant|alveolar]]
![[palato-alveolar consonant|Palato-<br />alveolar]]
![[alveolo-palatal consonant|Alveolo-<br />palatal]]
![[palatal consonant|Palatal]]
![[velar consonant|Velar]]
![[glottal consonant|Glottal]]
|-
![[Nasal stop|Nasal]]
| align=center | {{IPA|m}}
| &nbsp;
| align=center | {{IPA|n}}
| &nbsp;
| &nbsp;
| align=center | {{IPA|ɲ}}
| align=center | {{ref|1b|1}}{{IPA|ŋ}}
| &nbsp;
|-
![[Plosive consonant|Plosive]]
| align=center | {{IPA|p&nbsp;&nbsp;b}}
| &nbsp;
| align=center | {{IPA|t&nbsp;&nbsp;d}}
| &nbsp;
| rowspan="2" | {{ref|2b|2}}{{IPA|tɕ&nbsp;&nbsp;dʑ}}
| &nbsp;
| align=center | {{IPA|k&nbsp;&nbsp;ɡ}}
| &nbsp;
|-
![[Affricate consonant|Affricate]]
| &nbsp;
| &nbsp;
| align=center | {{IPA|ts}} &nbsp;
| align=center | {{IPA|tʃ}} &nbsp;
| &nbsp;
| &nbsp;
| &nbsp;
|-
![[Fricative consonant|Fricative]]
| &nbsp;
| align=center | {{IPA|f&nbsp;&nbsp;v}}
| align=center | {{IPA|s&nbsp;&nbsp;z}}
| align=center | {{IPA|ʃ&nbsp;&nbsp;ʒ}}
| &nbsp;
| align=center | {{ref|3b|3}}{{IPA|ç}}
| &nbsp;
| align=center | {{ref|4b|4}}{{IPA|h}}
|-
![[Approximant consonant|Approximant]]
| &nbsp;
| &nbsp;
| &nbsp;
| &nbsp;
| &nbsp;
| align=center | {{IPA|j}}
| &nbsp;
| &nbsp;
|-
![[Lateral consonant|Lateral]]
| &nbsp;
| &nbsp;
| align=center | {{IPA|l}}
| &nbsp;
| &nbsp;
| align=center | {{IPA|ʎ}}
| &nbsp;
| &nbsp;
|-
![[Trill consonant|Trill]]
| &nbsp;
| &nbsp;
| align=center | {{ref|5b|5}}{{IPA|r}}
| &nbsp;
| &nbsp;
| &nbsp;
| &nbsp;
| &nbsp;
|}
Notes:
:{{note|1b|1}} in only some dialects, notably Surmiran, and only word-final as in {{lang|rm|paung}} "bread".
:{{note|2b|2}} often transcribed as the palatal stops {{IPA|[c]}} and {{IPA|[ɟ]}} in broad transcriptions.
:{{note|3b|3}} in only some dialects, notably Putèr, and only word-finally as in {{lang|rm|amih}}, "friend".
:{{note|4b|4}} occurs only in German loanwords such as {{lang|rm|halunc}} "crook".
:{{note|5b|5}} also pronounced {{IPAblink|ʁ}} in some dialects of Sursilvan.
The voiced [[obstruent]]s are fully voiced in Romansh, in contrast to [[Swiss German]] with which Romansh is in extensive contact, and voiceless obstruents are [[Aspirated consonant|non-aspirated]]. Voiced obstruents are devoiced word-finally, however, as in {{lang|rm|buob}} "boy" > {{Audio-IPA|Rm-sursilv-buob.flac|[buɔp]}}, {{lang|rm|chöd}} "warm" > {{Audio-IPA|Roh-putèr-chöd.ogg|[tɕøt]}}, {{lang|rm|saung}} "blood" > {{Audio-IPA|Rm-sursilv-saung.flac|[sɛuŋk]}}, or {{lang|rm|clav}} "key" > {{Audio-IPA|Rm-sursilv-clav.flac|[klaf]}}.

{|class="wikitable"
|-
! [[Monophthong]]s
! [[Front vowel|Front]]
! [[Central vowel|Central]]
! [[Back vowel|Back]]
|-
![[Close vowel|Close]]
| align=center | {{IPA|i&nbsp;&nbsp;y}}
|
| align=center | {{IPA|u}}
|-
![[Close-mid vowel|Close-mid]]
| align=center | {{IPA|e&nbsp;&nbsp;ø}}
|
| align=center | {{IPA|o}}
|-
![[Mid vowel|Mid]]
| align=center | {{IPA|ɛ}}
|
| align=center | {{IPA|ɔ}}
|-
![[Open vowel|Open]]
| colspan="3" style="text-align:center;"| {{IPA|a}}
|}
The vowel inventory varies somewhat between dialects, as the front rounded vowels {{IPAslink|y}} and {{IPAslink|ø}} are found only in [[Putèr dialect|Putèr]] and [[Vallader dialect|Vallader]]. They have historically been unrounded in the other varieties and are found only in recent loans from German there. They are not found in the pan-regional variety [[Rumantsch Grischun]] either. The now nearly extinct [[Sutsilvan dialect|Sutsilvan]] dialects of the [[Heinzenberg GR|Heinzenberg]] have {{IPAslink|œ}} as in {{lang|rm|pl'à'nta}} "plant" or "tree", but this is etymologically unrelated to the {{IPA|[ø]}} found in Putèr and Vallader. The exact realization of the phoneme {{IPA|/o/}} varies from {{IPAblink|ʊ}} to {{IPAblink|o}} depending on the dialect: {{Audio|Roh-putèr-cudesch.ogg|''cudesch''}} / {{Audio|Rm-sursilv-cudisch.flac|''cudisch''}} "book". It is regarded as either a marginal phoneme or not a separate phoneme from {{IPA|/u/}} by some linguists.{{sfn|Liver|1999}}

[[Stress (linguistics)|Word stress]] generally falls either on the last or the penult syllable of a word. Unstressed vowels are generally reduced to a [[schwa]], whose exact pronunciation varies between {{IPA|[ə]}} or {{IPA|[ɐ]}} as in {{Audio|Rm-sursilv-canzun.flac|''c'''a'''nzun''}} "song". [[Vowel length]] is predictable:
* Unstressed vowels are short.
* Stressed vowels in closed syllables (those with a [[syllable coda|coda]]) are:
*: long before {{IPA|/r/}}
*: short elsewhere
* Stressed vowels in open syllables are:
*: short before [[voiceless consonant]]s
*: long elsewhere

The number of [[diphthong]]s varies significantly between dialects. Sursilvan dialects contain eleven diphthongs and four [[triphthong]]s ({{IPA|[ɪau]}}, {{IPA|[ɪɛu]}}, {{IPA|[uau]}}, and {{IPA|[uɛi]}}).
{|class="wikitable"
|-
! [[Diphthong]]s
! Falling
! Rising
|-
| '''Closing'''
| align=center | {{IPA|[aɪ]&nbsp;[au]&nbsp;[ɛɪ]&nbsp;[ɛu]&nbsp;[uɪ]&nbsp;[ɪu]}}
| align=center | {{IPA|&nbsp;}}
|-
| '''Centering'''
| align=center | {{IPA|[iə]}}
| align=center | 
|-
| '''Opening'''
| align=center | {{IPA|[uɔ]}}
| align=center | {{IPA|[uɛ]&nbsp;[ɪa]&nbsp;[ua]}}
|}
Other dialects have different inventories; Putèr, for instance, lacks {{IPA|[au]}}, {{IPA|[ɛu]}}, and {{IPA|[uɛ]}} as well as the triphthongs but has {{IPA|[yə]}}, which is missing in Sursilvan. A phenomenon known as "hardened diphthongs", in which the second vowel of a falling Diphthong is pronounced as {{IPA|[k]}}, was once common in Putèr as well, but is nowadays limited to Surmiran: {{lang|rm|strousch}} 'barely > {{IPA|[ʃtrokʃ]}}. {{citation needed|date=July 2019}}