Pronunciation of Oceana

(introduction will come)

Monophthongs
Orthography:
 * There are several ways to pronounce :
 * Before an  it's pronounced as [ɑː].
 * Word final it's [ɑ].
 * In all other cases it's [a].
 *  is pronounced as [ɛ]. Some different monophthongs written starting an  are:
 * , which is pronounced as [ɛː].
 * , which is pronounced as [iː].
 * open , which is pronounced as [iː] by the younger generation.
 * [ɛ] is often weakened to [ə] at the end of words.
 *  is pronounced as [i].
 *  is pronounced as [o].
 *  becomes [u].
 *  is pronounced as [ɒː].
 * open , which is pronounced as [u] by the younger generation.
 * is pronounced as [y].
 *  is pronounced as [ɔ].
 *  is pronounced as [i] or [ʌ].

True diphthongs
There are several true diphthongs:
 * Some starting with :
 * , which is pronounced as [aɪ̯].
 * <au>, which is pronounced as [aʊ̯].
 * <ay>, which is pronounced as [eɪ̯].
 * Some starting with <e>:
 * <eu>, which is pronounced as [ɪ̯u].
 * <ey>, which is pronounced as [øɪ̯].
 * Some starting with <i> :
 * open <i>, which is pronounced as [aɪ̯] by the younger generation and the revival community.
 * <io>, which is pronounced as [ɪ̯o].
 * <iu>, which is pronounced as [ɪ̯y].
 * Some starting with <o>:
 * <oi>, which is pronounced as [oɪ̯].
 * <ow>, which is pronounced as [oʊ̯].
 * Some starting with  :
 * <ui>, which is pronounced as [ʊ̯i].
 * <uo>, which is pronounced as [ʊ̯o].

False diphthongs
There are several false diphthongs:
 * Some starting with <a>:
 * <ae>, which is pronounced as [aə̯].
 * Some starting with <e>:
 * <ei>, which is pronounced as [iə̯].
 * Some starting with <i> :
 * <ia>, which is pronounced as [iə̯].
 * <ie>, which is pronounced as [iə̯].
 * Some starting with <o>:
 * <oe>, which is pronounced as [oə̯].
 * <oy>, which is pronounced as [eə̯].
 * Some starting with  :
 * <uy>, which is pronounced as [uə̯].
 * Some starting with <'>:
 * <'o>, which is pronounced as [ɔo̯].

Consonants
Some orthographic notes:
 * <nj> means [ɲ] and <ng> means [ŋ].
 * <ch> means [tʃ] and means [dʒ].
 * <-t> at the end of words is pronounced as [c].
 * <w> is pronounced as [ʋ] or [w].
 * could be [θ] or [ð].
 * <sh> means [ʃ] and <j> means [ʒ].
 * <h> is sometimes pronounced as [x] or even [ɣ], but [ɦ] often makes more sense.
 * <r> is pronounced as [ʁ] or [r].
 * <wh> means [ʍ]
 * <l> is very often pronounced as [ɫ] or even [w].
 * [t] and [d] are slightly dental.
 * [ʁ] can be pronounced as [χ] in a voiceless consonant cluster.

Aspiration, velarization and palatalization of consonants
One of the more difficult things of the Oceana pronunciation is the consequent applying of consonant aspiration, consonant velarization and consonant palatalization. These three values are often not include in the narrow IPA transcriptions included in dictionaries and therefore are often omitted by second language speakers. It is one of the characteristics of the Oceana language which tends to disappear, except for the very stable [tʰ] sound, which occurs when there is [θ] or [ð] in English.

A few minimal pairs:
 * shaldutshred (gastric ulcer) and shalduchred (dark red).
 * tak (so) and thak (roof).
 * trash (explosive) and thrash (thrash).

Glottal stop
The glottal stop (IPA: [ʔ]) is a separate consonant in the Oceana language. All words beginning on a vowel always start with a glottale stop: "a" (English: I) is pronounced as [ʔɑ], even when preceded by another word ending on a consonant: "den a" (English: today, I) is pronounced as [d̪ɛnʔɑ].

The glottal stop is also used at the beginning of a sentence if it begins with a voiceless plosive (t, p, k): "Came shese?" (English: Where is she?) is pronounced as [ʔkʲamɛʃɛsɛ]. If a word at the end of the sentence ends on the vowel [ɛ], or its weaker form [ə], this vowel can be replaced by a glottal stop: "I's trea o'that clocke." (English: It is three o'clock .) can be pronounced as [ʔist̪χɛːʔot̪ʰat̪klokˠɛ], [ʔist̪χɛːʔot̪ʰat̪klokˠə] and [ʔist̪χɛːʔot̪ʰat̪klokˠɛʔ].