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    Onset: single consonants
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    The topic of this section are words with a single initial consonant. In principle, a word-initial single consonant may precede any vowel and vowel sequence, though there are a few exceptions.

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    The table below lists examples of words with a single initial consonant (consonants not occurring in word-initial position are starred):

    Table 1
    With an obstruent With a nasal With a liquid With a laryngeal
    par /par/ pear mosk /mosk/ sparrow lea /lɪə/ limbs hûs /hu:z/ house
    beam /bɪəm/ tree nei /naj/ after; to; according to ried /riəd/ advice; council
    tosk /tosk/ tooth /*ŋ/
    dong /doŋ/ dung
    kaam /ka:m/ comb
    goes /ɡuəz/ goose
    fier /fiər/ far
    wier /viər/ true
    sik /sɪk/ goat
    /*z/
    /*x/
    /*ɣ/
    In principle, a single word-initial consonant may precede any vowel and vowel sequence. Co-occurrence restrictions between consonants and vowels are not likely to exist here, since the onset and the nucleus are different constituents of the syllable (see: the phonotactics of Frisian - introduction). Therefore, if the combination of a word-initial consonant with some vowel (type) is not attested, this is considered to be an accidental gap. There is one notable exception: for independent reasons, /h/ cannot precede schwa (see: the glottal fricative /h/).

    The unmarked single word-initial consonant is an obstruent, which yields a maximal sonority contrast between the onset and the nucleus. In Frisian, any consonant type (obstruent, nasal, liquid, laryngeal) can occur in word-initial position. The fricatives /z/, /ɣ/, /x/, however, are not allowed there (see the table above). Of the fricatives, this leaves /f/, /s/, and /v/. With respect to the word-initial position then the fricatives behave unsystematically, as opposed to the plosives (see also the obstruents: the plosives and the obstruents: the fricatives).

    None of the velar consonants ‒ the fricatives /ɣ/ and /x/ and the nasal /ŋ/ ‒ occurs in word-initial position, a fact for which no ready explanation seems to be available.

    References
      About this article
      Author(s): Willem Visser
      Category: Frisian Phonology
      Keywords: phonotacticsword-initialsingle consonants
      Version: 1.0, December 2015
      Version history:
      version editor(s) date remarks
      1.0 Willem Visser December 2015
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