User:Tango303/sardinian1/a

There are three series of plosives or corresponding approximants: In Cagliari and neighboring dialects, the soft is assimilated to the rhotic consonant : digitus > didu = diru (finger).
 * Voiceless stops derive from their Latin counterparts in composition after another stop. They are reinforced (double) in initial position, but this reinforcement is not written because it does not produce a different phoneme.
 * Double voiced stops (after another consonant) derive from their Latin equivalents in composition after another stop.
 * Weak voiced "stops", sometimes transcribed $\langleβ, δ, ğ\rangle$ (approximants after vowels, as in Spanish), derive from single Latin stops (voiced or voiceless).

The double-voiced retroflex stop (written dd) derives from the former retroflex lateral approximant.

Fricatives

 * The labiodentals (sometimes pronounced  or  in initial position) and
 * Latin initial v becomes b (vipera > bibera, "viper")
 * In central Sardinia the sound disappears, evoking the  >  transformation in Gascon and Castilian.
 * , written th (as in the English thing, the voiceless dental fricative), is a restricted dialectal variety of the phoneme.
 * : For example, ipsa > íssa
 * : Pronounced at the beginning of a word, otherwise  =, and is written sc(i/e). The voiced equivalent, , is often spelled with the letter x.
 * : Pronounced at the beginning of a word, otherwise  =, and is written sc(i/e). The voiced equivalent, , is often spelled with the letter x.

Affricates

 * (or ), a denti-alveolar affricate consonant written tz, corresponds to Italian z or ci.
 * (or ), written z, corresponds to Italian gi- or ggi- respectively.
 * , written c(i/e) or ç
 * , written g(e/i) or j
 * , written g(e/i) or j

Nasals

 * , written nny (the palatal nasal for some speakers or dialects, although for most the pronunciation is )
 * , written nny (the palatal nasal for some speakers or dialects, although for most the pronunciation is )
 * , written nny (the palatal nasal for some speakers or dialects, although for most the pronunciation is )

Liquids
Some permutations of l and r are seen; in most dialects, a preconsonant l (for example, lt or lc) becomes r: Latin "altum" > artu, marralzu = marrarzu, "rock".
 * (or ), double initially
 * , a flap written r
 * , a trill written rr

In palatal context, Latin l changed into, ,  or , rather than the  of Italian: achizare (Italian accigliare), *volia > bòlla = bòlza = bòza, "wish" (Italian vòglia), folia > fogia = folla = foza, "leaf" (Italian foglia), filia > filla = fidza = fiza, "daughter" (Italian figlia).

Morphology
Sardinian's distinctive features are:
 * The plural marker is -s (from the Latin accusative plural), as in the Western Romance languages French, Occitan, Catalan, Spanish, Portuguese and Galician): sardu, sardus, "sardinian"; pudda, puddas, "hen"; margiane, margianes, "fox". In Italo-Dalmatian languages (such as Italian) or Eastern Romance languages (such as Romanian), the plural ends with -i or -e.
 * Sardinian uses a definite article derived from the Latin ipse: su, sa, plural sos, sas (Logudorese) and is (Campidanese). Such articles are common in Balearic Catalan, and were common in Gascon.
 * A periphrastic construction of "to have to" (late Latin habere ad) is used for the future: ap'a istàre < apo a istàre, "I will stay" (as in the Portuguese hei de estar, but here as periphrasis for estarei).
 * For prohibitions, a negative form of the subjunctive is used: no bengias!, "don't come!" (compare Spanish no vengas and Portuguese não venhas, classified as part of the affirmative imperative mood).

Varieties
Sardinia has historically had a small population scattered across isolated cantons. Its language is divided into two major dialects: Logudorese (su logudoresu), spoken in the north, and Campidanese (su campidanesu), spoken in the south. They differ primarily in phonetics, which does not hamper intelligibility. Logudorese is considered the more conservative dialect, with the Nuorese subdialect the most conservative. It has retained the classical Latin pronunciation of the stop velars (kena versus cena, "supper"), the front middle vowels (compare Campidanese iotacism, probably from Byzantine Greek) and assimilation of close-mid vowels (cane versus cani, "dog" and gattos versus gattus, "cats"). Labio-velars become plain labials (limba versus lingua, "language" and abba versus acua, "water"). I is prosthesized before consonant clusters beginning in s (iscala versus Campidanese scala, "stairway" and iscola versus scola, "school").

An east-west strip of small villages in central Sardinia speaks a transitional dialect (Sardu de mesania) between Logudorese and Campidanese. Examples include is limbas (the languages) and is abbas (the waters). Campidanese is the dialect spoken in the southern half of Sardinia (including Cagliari, the metropolis of the Roman province), influenced by Rome, Carthage, Costantinople and Late Latin. Examples include is fruminis (the rivers) and is domus (the houses).