Hasselt dialect

• Obstruents are devoiced word-finally. However, when the next word starts with a vowel and is pronounced without a pause, both voiced and voiceless word-final obstruents are realized as voiced.[1]
• /m, p, b, β/ are bilabial, whereas /f, v/ are labiodental.[2]
• The sequences /nt, nd/ are realized as more or less palatalized:
  • In the conservative variety, these are, respectively, [ntʃ] and [ndʒ].[1]
  • Nowadays, [ɲc] and [ɲɟ] are the normal realizations, whereas the conservative [ntʃ, ndʒ] are used only in a few words.[1]
• /h/ is often dropped.[1]

According to Peters (2006), /ʀ/ is realized as a voiced trill, either uvular [ʀ] or alveolar [r]. Between vowels, it is sometimes realized with one contact (i.e. as a tap) [ʀ̆ ~ ɾ],[1] whereas word-finally, it can be devoiced to [ʀ̥ ~ r̥].[5]

According to Sebregts (2014), about two thirds of speakers have a uvular /ʀ/, whereas about one third has a categorical alveolar /ʀ/. There are also a few speakers who mix uvular and alveolar articulations.[6]

Among uvular articulations, he lists uvular trill [ʀ], uvular fricative trill [ʀ̝], uvular fricative [ʁ] and uvular approximant [ʁ̞], which are used more or less equally often in all contexts. Almost all speakers with a uvular /ʀ/ use all four of these realizations.[7]

Among alveolar articulations, he lists alveolar tap [ɾ], voiced alveolar fricative [ɹ̝], alveolar approximant [ɹ], voiceless alveolar trill [r̥], alveolar tapped or trilled fricative [ɾ̞ ~ r̝], voiceless alveolar tap [ɾ̥] and voiceless alveolar fricative [ɹ̝̊]. Among these, the tap is most common, whereas the tapped/trilled fricative is the second most common realization.[7]

Elsewhere in the article, the consonant is transcribed ⟨ʀ⟩ for the sake of simplicity and for the sake of consistency with IPA transcriptions of other dialects of Limburgish.

Monophthongs of the Hasselt dialect, from Peters (2006:119)

Diphthongs of the Hasselt dialect, from Peters (2006:119)

Marginal monophthongs of the Hasselt dialect, from Peters (2006:119)

Marginal diphthongs of the Hasselt dialect, from Peters (2006:119)

• Among the marginal vowels, the nasal ones occur only in French loanwords (note that /æ̃ː/ is typically transcribed with ⟨ɛ̃⟩ in transcriptions of French and that /œ̃ː/ is very rare, as in Standard Dutch), whereas /oː/ is restricted to loanwords from standard Dutch and English. As in about 50 other dialects spoken in Belgian Limburg, the rounded front vowels /y, yː, ø, øː, œ, œː/ have largely been replaced with their unrounded counterparts [i, iː, ɪ, eː, ɛ, ɛː] and are mostly restricted to loanwords from French. The marginal diphthong /ai/ occurs only in loanwords from French and interjections. /øi/ is also rare, and like /ai/ occurs only in the word-final position.[9][10]
• /aː/ is near-front [a̠ː].[10]
• All of the back vowels are almost fully back.[8] Among these, /u, uː, ɔ, ɔː/ and the non-native /oː/ are rounded, whereas /ɑ, ɑː/ are unrounded.
• Before alveolar consonants, the long rounded vowels /uː, øː, œː/ are realized as centering diphthongs [uə, øə, œə].[10]
• /ə, ɔ/ are mid [ə, ɔ̝].[10]
  • /ə/ occurs only in unstressed syllables.[1]
• /æ/ is near-open, whereas /aː, ɑ, ɑː/ are open.[10]
• /ui/ and /ɔi/ have somewhat advanced first elements ([u̟] and [ɔ̟], respectively). The latter diphthong occurs only in the word-final position.[10]
• Before alveolar consonants, /ei, ou/ are realized as centering diphthongs [eə, oə]. In the case of /ei/, this happens only before the sonorants, i.e. /n, l/ and the alveolar allophones of /ʀ/, with the triphthong [ejə] being an alternative pronunciation. In the case of /ou/, the centering diphthong is used before all alveolar consonants, not just the sonorants. No triphthongal variants of /ou/ have been reported.[10]
• Among the closing-fronting diphthongs, the ending points of /ɔi/ and /ai/ tend to be closer to [e] (but more central than the cardinal vowel) than [i]. In addition, the first element of /ai/ is closer to [ɐ].[10]
• The first element of /iə/ is somewhat retracted ([i̠]).[10]

There are also the sequences /uːj, ɔːj, ɑːj/, which are better analyzed as sequences of /uː, ɔː, ɑː/ and the approximant /j/, rather than diphthongs /uːi, ɔːi, ɑːi/. The sequences /ɔːj, ɑːj/ occur only word-finally.[10]

The sample text is a reading of the first sentence of The North Wind and the Sun.

[də ˈnɔːʀdəʀβɛ̀nt ən də ˈzɔn | βøːʀən ɑn tɪskəˈtɛːʀə | ˈèːvəʀ ˈβiə vɔn ɪn ˈtβæː ət ˈstæ̀ʀəkstə βøːʀ][11]

De naorderwend en de zon weuren an tisketère ever wië von in twae het stèrkste weur.