#linguistics question:
Would both an ejective and a non-ejective form of a phoneme be separately included in a phoneme inventory? I have ejective /nʼ/ at the start of syllables and regular /n/ at the end of syllables.
#conlanging
@Alamantus It sounds like /n/ and /'n'/ are allophones (unless [n] can appear in the onset?) - in which case one should go in the phoneme inventory and the other should be listed in an allophony section. I think the convention is to put the more 'normal'* phone in the phoneme inventory (plain /n/) and describe the less 'normal'* phone under allophony (ejective /n'/)
Also: ejective nasals?? Just the kind of craziness I love
@quinterbeck So /n'/ only ever appears as its own syllable (nucleus, I guess?), and /n/ only ever appears in the coda, which is why I'm a little confused about it.
Would that still make /n'/ an allophone of /n/ if they're used in such different and non-intersecting ways?
@Alamantus @quinterbeck yes, it would. The most definitive way you can prove that two sounds are two different phonemes is to find some minimal pairs ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Minimal_pair ). What you describe would probably perfectly fit as an allophony (no minimal pairs possible, as contexts are maximally different). So yes, IMHO, you can list them as two allophones of the same phoneme in your inventory.
@Alamantus You're welcome :) (it kinda IS my job anyway :D )
@Nasiviru Awesome, that makes perfect sense! Thanks for walking me through it. :D