This web page is devoted to the detailed explanations of the phonetical variations among the different dialects of the Occitan language. As it is a huge project, it will require time and will thus be constructed slowly. We want however to publish the informations already available.

The phonetical features will be exposed according to their (believed) origin, when known.

To see the corresponding map, click on the underlined part  of the line.

Aquitanian features :

• betacism : confusion of /b/ and /v/
• F > h (hemna vs. femna)
• LL > r,t.  (aqueth vs. aquel, aquera vs. aquela)  The t with dot below stands for palatalized-t and, the l with dot below stands for voiceless interdental l.
• SC, X > ish / iss (peish vs. peis)
• reduction of intervocalic nasal clusters -MB- > -m- (cama vs. camba), -ND- > -n- (vener vs. vender), -N- > -- (lua vs. luna)
• reduction of the AI diphtong : in the ai form of the verb aver, and in other cases.
• Treatment of the Latin intervocalic -CT- cluster : CT > ch / it (lait vs. lach)
• Prothetic a in words beginning in r (arrat vs. rat).
• Conservation of the velar appendix in former [kw] or [gw] clusters (quart vs. quart, guardar vs. gardar).
• Conservation of intervocalic D  (sudar vs. susar) and regression of intervocalic [dz] in [d] (dider vs. diser, arradim vs. arrasim)
• prononciation [schwa] of /e/ in final position or everywhere (reduction to a 3 aperture degrees vocalic system, as in Basque)
• Unaffricate realizations of /j/ [Z,z] vs. [dZ, ts, dz, tS]
• Vanishing of [r] in post-tonic -tr- or -br- clusters (batre vs. bater, lebe vs. lebre)

• Vocalization of implosive l before roman [ts] (saucissa vs. salcissa) and before other consonnants (mauva vs. malva)

Alvernian features :