Hamont dialect

• /m, p, b, β/ are bilabial, whereas /f, v/ are labiodental.[1]
• The word-initial /sx/ cluster can be realized as [ɕx].[2]
• /ʃ, ʒ/ do not occur as frequently as in many other dialects, and can be said to be marginal phonemes.[2]
• /ŋ, k, x, ɣ/ are velar, whereas /j/ is palatal.[1]
• /ʀ/ is a uvular trill. Word-finally it is devoiced to either a fricative [χ] or a fricative trill [ʀ̝̊].[3]
• Other allophones include [ɱ, ɲ, c, ɡ]. They appear in contexts similar to Belgian Standard Dutch.[2]
• Voiceless consonants are regressively assimilated. An example of this is the past tense of regular verbs, where voiceless stops and fricatives are voiced before the past tense morpheme [də].[2]
• Word-final voiceless consonants are voiced in intervocalic position.[2]

The Hamont dialect contains 22 monophthong and 13 diphthong phonemes.[4] The amount of monophthongs is higher than that of consonants.[4]

Monophthongs of the Hamont dialect, from Verhoeven (2007:221)

On average, long vowels are 95 ms longer than short vowels. This is very similar to Belgian Standard Dutch, in which the difference is 105 ms.[2][6]

The quality of the monophthongs is as follows:

• /i, iː, u, uː, eː, oː, ɛ, ɛː, ɔ, ɔː, ɑː/ are similar to the corresponding cardinal vowels [i, u, e, o, ɛ, ɔ, ɑ], but none of them are quite as peripheral.[4]
• Among the central vowels, only /y/, /ʏ/ and /aː/ are phonetically central ([ʉ̞, ɵ, äː]), the rest of them (/yː, œ, œː/) is front [yː, œ, œː], similar to the corresponding cardinal vowels. /y/ is near-close (and slightly advanced from the central position) rather than close and /ʏ/ is close-mid. As in Standard Dutch, /ʏ/ is phonetically similar to the unstressable /ə/ and the two differ mainly in rounding. There are conflicting reports regarding the backness of /øː/ as it is depicted as front [øː] on Verhoeven's auditory chart and as central [ɵː] on the formant chart.[7]
• /ɪ/ is similar to /eː/, but it is lower and slightly more central ([ɪ̞]). For some speakers there is additional non-phonemic long [ɪː], which can appear in words such as noordenwind [ˈnoːʀdəʀβɪːnt] ('north wind'). This is probably an influence of Belgian Standard Dutch.[8]
• The contrast between the long open vowels is a genuine front–central–back contrast. The Hamont dialect thus has four, not five phonemic vowel heights.[9]
• /æː/ is open front [æ̞ː].[4]
• The short /æ/ and /ɑ/ are somewhat higher and more front ([æ, ɑ̝̈]) than their long counterparts. This is not shown on the vowel chart.[4]

All monophthong-glide combinations are restricted to the syllable coda.[10]

Dialect of Hamont contrasts long and short closing diphthongs. The long ones are on average 70 ms longer than their short equivalents. Centering diphthongs are all long.[4]

Closing diphthongs of the Hamont dialect, from Verhoeven (2007:221)

Centering diphthongs of the Hamont dialect, from Verhoeven (2007:221)

• The starting points of /ɛi(ː), œy(ː)/ are close to the corresponding cardinal vowels [ɛ, œ].[4]
• The starting point of /ɑu(ː)/ is near-open central [ɐ].[4]
• The ending points of /ɛi(ː), œy(ː), ɔu(ː)/ are rather close, more like [i, y, u] than [ɪ, ʏ, ʊ].[4]
• The ending point of /ɑu(ː)/ is slightly more open ([ʊ]) than those of the other closing diphthongs.[4]
• The starting points of /ɔu(ː)/ and /oːə/ are more central than the corresponding cardinal vowels: [ɔ̟, o̟].[4]
• The starting points of /iːə, yːə/ are somewhat lower ([i̞, y˕]) than the corresponding cardinal vowels.[4]
• The starting point of /uːə/ is somewhat lower and somewhat more central ([ü̞]) than the corresponding cardinal vowel.[4]
• The starting point of /ɔːə/ is somewhat higher and somewhat more central ([ɔ̝̈]) than the corresponding cardinal vowel.[4]

Like most other Limburgish dialects, but unlike some other dialects in this area,[11][12] the prosody of the Hamont dialect has a lexical tone distinction, which is traditionally referred to as stoottoon ('push tone') or Accent 1 and sleeptoon ('dragging tone') or Accent 2. They are transcribed as superscript 1 and superscript 2, respectively. This distinction can signal either lexical differences or grammatical distinctions, such as those between the singular and the plural forms of some nouns.[13]

The distinction between Accent 1 and Accent 2 is phonemic only in stressed syllables.[13]

In final position, Accent 1 is realised as a steady fall [V˥˩] through the rhyme, the Accent 2 is falling-rising [V˥˩˩˥]; the first half of the rhyme is falling, whereas the rest is rising.[13]

In non-final position, Accent 1's F0 stays high in the first 45% of the rhyme and then falls rapidly towards the end of the rhyme (in IPA, that can be transcribed [V˦˥]). When the focus of the sentence is on a word with Accent 2, it is realized as a very shallow fall-rise combination [V˥˩˩˥].[14]

Vowels with Accent 1 are generally shorter than those with Accent 2.[14]

The sample text is a reading of the first sentence of The North Wind and the Sun, read by a 75-year-old male middle-class speaker.[1]

[də noːʀdəʀβ̞ɪːnd ɛn də zɔn | di β̞ɑʀə ʀyzi n̩t maːkə ʔoːvəʀ β̞i t̩ stɛʀkstə β̞ɑs | tun əʀənə vɛ̃ːnt fəʀbɛiː kβ̞ɑːmp mɛ nə β̞ɛʀmə jɑz ɔːn][15]

De noordenwind en de zon waren ruzie aan het maken over wie het sterkste was toen er een man voorbij kwam met een warme jas aan.[16]