<p>To answer the actual question asked, lacking <code>/r/</code> and <code>/l/</code> doesn't seem especially odd. It's very plausible for <code>/l/</code> to turn into <code>/w/</code>, for example, or for <code>/r/</code> to turn into <code>/z/</code> or <code>/h/</code>.</p>
<p>But the rest of your inventory strikes me as very weird in its asymmetry. It's not just about what sounds are missing, but about what sounds you <em>have</em>.</p>
<p>To see this, I recommend putting your phonemes into a table, rather than listing them out like this; most conlangers already know what <code>/d/</code> means (or can easily look it up if they don't), and giving English and French examples with translations is just clutter. It also doesn't offer much clarity into the pronunciation, because e.g. English and French <code>/d/</code> are pronounced somewhat differently—is your intent to have it be alveolar, like in English, or dental, like in French?</p>
<p>Once you make a table, some things will stand out:</p>
<p><a href="https://i.sstatic.net/E1e1P.png" rel="noreferrer"><img src="https://i.sstatic.net/E1e1P.png" alt="table of phonemes given in the question" /></a></p>
<p>Having only a labial nasal is quite weird. Is there a reason for the lack of <code>/n/</code>? Similarly, the stops are strangely asymmetrical. Having <code>/p/</code> and <code>/d/</code>, but no <code>/b/</code> or <code>/t/</code>, is quite unusual. Having gaps in the inventory is fine, like how Arabic has <code>/b/</code> but no <code>/p/</code>, and <code>/q/</code> but no <code>/ɢ/</code>. But these gaps usually still have a pattern to them: notice how these gaps in Arabic happen right at the edges of the inventory, to the frontmost and backmost stops.</p>
<p>If you add <code>/t/</code> and <code>/n/</code> to your inventory, it'll be more symmetrical and come off as more naturalistic.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2023-06-03T16:27:59.340Z
2023-06-03T16:27:59.340Z
Draconis
<p>I imagined a language created by humans, not common humans (<em>Homo sapiens</em>), I mean a fictional species named tusked humans, commonly named orcs (their scientific name is <em>Homo desertum</em>) (which means human from deserts).</p>
<p>In the most common language created by orcs, the following phonemes are:</p>
<ol>
<li><p>There are two nasal consonants: the /m/ sound (as in English mother) (as in French <em>mère</em>, which means mother) (as in Spanish <em>madre</em>, which also means mother), and the /n/ sound (as in English night) (as in French <em>noir</em>, which means black) (as in Spanish <em>negro</em>, which also means black);</p>
</li>
<li><p>There are six fricatives, four voiceless, and two voiced: the /ɸ/ sound (as in Maori <em>whakapapa</em>, which means genealogy), the /s/ sound (as in English snake) (as in French <em>serpent</em>, which means both snake and serpent) (as in Spanish <em>sangre</em>, which means blood), the /x/ sound (as in Spanish <em>juego</em>, which means game), the /h/ sound (as in English house), the /z/ sound (as in English zoology), (as in French <em>zoologie</em>, which naturally means zoology), and the /ɣ/ sound (as in Spanish <em>amigo</em>, which means friend);</p>
</li>
<li><p>There are six plosives (or stops, if you want), four voiceless, two voiced: the /p/ sound (as in English <em>princess</em>) (as in French <em>père</em>, which means father) (as in Spanish <em>padre</em>, which also means father), the /t/ sound (as in English turtle) (as in French <em>tortue</em>, which means both turtle and tortoise), the /k/ sound (as in English kilogram) (as in French <em>kilogramme</em>, which means kilogram) (as in Spanish <em>casa</em>, which means house), the /q/ sound (as in Somali <em>qaab</em>, which means shape), the /d/ sound (as in English dipteran) (as in French <em>diptère</em>, which means dipteran), and the /g/ sound (as in English green) (as in French <em>gorille</em>, which means gorilla);</p>
</li>
<li><p>There are five affricates, three voiceless, and two voiced: the /ps/ sound (as in French <em>psychologie</em>) (which naturally
means psychology), the /ts/ sound (as in French <em>tsar</em>, which means czar), the /dz/ sound, the /ks/ sound, and the /gz/ sound (respectively, as in French <em>réflexe</em>, which means reflex, and as in French <em>xylophone</em>, which naturally means xylophone);</p>
</li>
<li><p>There is only one subfricate (which means inverted affricates): the /sk/ sound (as in English scarlet) (as in French <em>scarabée</em>, which means scarab);</p>
</li>
<li><p>There are three semivowels: the /j/ sound (as in English yellow) (as in French <em>hyène</em>, which means hyena), the /w/ sound (as in English world) (as in French <em>oiseau</em>, which means bird) (as in Spanish <em>abuela</em>, which means grandmother), and the  /ɥ/ sound (as in French <em>fruit</em>, which naturally means fruit);</p>
</li>
<li><p>There are ten standard vowels: the /a/ sound (as in French <em>arbre</em>, which means tree), the /æ/ sound (as in English cat), the /ə/ sound (as in French <em>atelier</em>, which means workshop), the /e/ sound (as in French <em>étranger</em>, which means stranger), the /ø/ sound (as in French <em>bleu</em>, which means blue), the /o/ sound (as in French <em>automne</em>, which means autumn), the /i/ sound (as in English hippie) (as in French <em>illusion</em>, which naturally means illusion), the /u/ sound (as in English cook) (as in French <em>ouvrier</em>, which means worker), the /y/ sound (as in French <em>univers</em>, which means universe), and the /ɯ/ sound (as in Japanese <em>kuki</em>, which means air);</p>
</li>
<li><p>There are zero nasal vowels;</p>
</li>
<li><p>There are seven diphthongs: the /aj/ sound (as in English knife) (as in Spanish <em>aire</em>, which means air) (as in French <em>chandail</em>, which means shirt), the /aw/ sound (as in English cow) (as in Spanish <em>menopausia</em>, which means menopause), the /ej/ sound (as in English day) (as in Spanish <em>rey</em>, which means king), the /ew/ sound (as in Spanish <em>neutro</em>, which means neutral), the /oj/ sound (as in Spanish <em>hoy</em>, which means today), the /ow/ sound (as in English show), and the /uj/ sound (as in French <em>ratatouille</em>, which naturally means ratatouille).</p>
</li>
</ol>
<p>So, I wonder why would a language created by humans almost completely lack approximants (the only ones are semivowels).</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2023-06-02T22:53:56.533Z
The lack of /n/ stands out to me more than the lack of /r/ or /l/.
Draconis
CC BY-SA 4.0
2023-06-08T19:56:19.573Z
For brevity, please assume most readers here know basic IPA.  It's a bit hard to find the content – the lists of phonemes, most of which are common as dirt – among the redundant lists of examples.
Anton Sherwood
CC BY-SA 4.0
2023-07-10T17:39:39.887Z
What actually is the question here? What do approximants in human languages have to do with the phonemic inventory of your conlang; why is the species of the hypothetical speakers of your conlang relevant (perhaps you really have a question for worldbuilding.SE?); and what do rhotacism and lambdacism have to do with any of that?
Karl Knechtel
<phonology><phonetics><biolinguistics>
Is a language in which a person will not have rhotacism, neither lambdacism when speaking it realistic?
# Is a language in which a person will not have rhotacism, neither lambdacism when speaking it realistic?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2023-06-02)

I imagined a language created by humans, not common humans (*Homo sapiens*), I mean a fictional species named tusked humans, commonly named orcs (their scientific name is *Homo desertum*) (which means human from deserts).

In the most common language created by orcs, the following phonemes are:

1. There are two nasal consonants: the /m/ sound (as in English mother) (as in French *mère*, which means mother) (as in Spanish *madre*, which also means mother), and the /n/ sound (as in English night) (as in French *noir*, which means black) (as in Spanish *negro*, which also means black);
2. There are six fricatives, four voiceless, and two voiced: the /ɸ/ sound (as in Maori *whakapapa*, which means genealogy), the /s/ sound (as in English snake) (as in French *serpent*, which means both snake and serpent) (as in Spanish *sangre*, which means blood), the /x/ sound (as in Spanish *juego*, which means game), the /h/ sound (as in English house), the /z/ sound (as in English zoology), (as in French *zoologie*, which naturally means zoology), and the /ɣ/ sound (as in Spanish *amigo*, which means friend);
3. There are six plosives (or stops, if you want), four voiceless, two voiced: the /p/ sound (as in English *princess*) (as in French *père*, which means father) (as in Spanish *padre*, which also means father), the /t/ sound (as in English turtle) (as in French *tortue*, which means both turtle and tortoise), the /k/ sound (as in English kilogram) (as in French *kilogramme*, which means kilogram) (as in Spanish *casa*, which means house), the /q/ sound (as in Somali *qaab*, which means shape), the /d/ sound (as in English dipteran) (as in French *diptère*, which means dipteran), and the /g/ sound (as in English green) (as in French *gorille*, which means gorilla);
4. There are five affricates, three voiceless, and two voiced: the /ps/ sound (as in French *psychologie*) (which naturally
   means psychology), the /ts/ sound (as in French *tsar*, which means czar), the /dz/ sound, the /ks/ sound, and the /gz/ sound (respectively, as in French *réflexe*, which means reflex, and as in French *xylophone*, which naturally means xylophone);
5. There is only one subfricate (which means inverted affricates): the /sk/ sound (as in English scarlet) (as in French *scarabée*, which means scarab);
6. There are three semivowels: the /j/ sound (as in English yellow) (as in French *hyène*, which means hyena), the /w/ sound (as in English world) (as in French *oiseau*, which means bird) (as in Spanish *abuela*, which means grandmother), and the /ɥ/ sound (as in French *fruit*, which naturally means fruit);
7. There are ten standard vowels: the /a/ sound (as in French *arbre*, which means tree), the /æ/ sound (as in English cat), the /ə/ sound (as in French *atelier*, which means workshop), the /e/ sound (as in French *étranger*, which means stranger), the /ø/ sound (as in French *bleu*, which means blue), the /o/ sound (as in French *automne*, which means autumn), the /i/ sound (as in English hippie) (as in French *illusion*, which naturally means illusion), the /u/ sound (as in English cook) (as in French *ouvrier*, which means worker), the /y/ sound (as in French *univers*, which means universe), and the /ɯ/ sound (as in Japanese *kuki*, which means air);
8. There are zero nasal vowels;
9. There are seven diphthongs: the /aj/ sound (as in English knife) (as in Spanish *aire*, which means air) (as in French *chandail*, which means shirt), the /aw/ sound (as in English cow) (as in Spanish *menopausia*, which means menopause), the /ej/ sound (as in English day) (as in Spanish *rey*, which means king), the /ew/ sound (as in Spanish *neutro*, which means neutral), the /oj/ sound (as in Spanish *hoy*, which means today), the /ow/ sound (as in English show), and the /uj/ sound (as in French *ratatouille*, which naturally means ratatouille).

So, I wonder why would a language created by humans almost completely lack approximants (the only ones are semivowels).

**Tags:** phonology, phonetics, biolinguistics

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: The lack of /n/ stands out to me more than the lack of /r/ or /l/.  
> **username_2**: For brevity, please assume most readers here know basic IPA.  It's a bit hard to find the content – the lists of phonemes, most of which are common as dirt – among the redundant lists of examples.  
> **username_3**: What actually is the question here? What do approximants in human languages have to do with the phonemic inventory of your conlang; why is the species of the hypothetical speakers of your conlang relevant (perhaps you really have a question for worldbuilding.SE?); and what do rhotacism and lambdacism have to do with any of that?  

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## 1 answers

### Answer by username_1 on 2023-06-03. Score: 5

To answer the actual question asked, lacking `/r/` and `/l/` doesn't seem especially odd. It's very plausible for `/l/` to turn into `/w/`, for example, or for `/r/` to turn into `/z/` or `/h/`.

But the rest of your inventory strikes me as very weird in its asymmetry. It's not just about what sounds are missing, but about what sounds you *have*.

To see this, I recommend putting your phonemes into a table, rather than listing them out like this; most conlangers already know what `/d/` means (or can easily look it up if they don't), and giving English and French examples with translations is just clutter. It also doesn't offer much clarity into the pronunciation, because e.g. English and French `/d/` are pronounced somewhat differently—is your intent to have it be alveolar, like in English, or dental, like in French?

Once you make a table, some things will stand out:

[![table of phonemes given in the question](https://i.sstatic.net/E1e1P.png)](https://i.sstatic.net/E1e1P.png)

Having only a labial nasal is quite weird. Is there a reason for the lack of `/n/`? Similarly, the stops are strangely asymmetrical. Having `/p/` and `/d/`, but no `/b/` or `/t/`, is quite unusual. Having gaps in the inventory is fine, like how Arabic has `/b/` but no `/p/`, and `/q/` but no `/ɢ/`. But these gaps usually still have a pattern to them: notice how these gaps in Arabic happen right at the edges of the inventory, to the frontmost and backmost stops.

If you add `/t/` and `/n/` to your inventory, it'll be more symmetrical and come off as more naturalistic.


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