The SAE Phonology Test This test was developed by Salmoneus and Nortaneous on the thread "How to design a non-European phonology " on the original ZBB. The version used is given in this post .
Score is out of 100. Questions where half marks are possible have two boxes. For a full mark, check the left box; for a half mark, check the right box.
Absence of any phonemic POA for stops further back than velar [half mark for only one stop-POA behind velar, or for prominent allophonic stops behind velar]
Phonemic voicing
Phonemic voicing only on stops and fricatives
Voicing distinction on fricatives but only labial and/or coronal fricatives
/v/ but no /w/
One fewer phonemic POA for nasals than for stops and affricates combined
No single MOA found at all POAs [half mark if only one MOA at all POAs]
At least one non-glottal POA with at least one fricative but no stops
Fricatives distinguish more POAs than (non-nasal) stops [half mark if they distinguish the same number]
More non-stops than stops (not counting nasals as either stops or non-stops)
Between 20 and 30 consonant phonemes [half mark if between 15 and 40]
One phonemic lateral, distinguished from rhotics [half mark if more than one]
No lateral obstruents
One phonemic rhotic [half mark if more than one]
5-7 POAs [half mark if at least 4 POAs]
4 stop/affricate POAs
No systematic secondary articulation at more than one POA and no double articulation [half mark if there is systematic palatal secondary articulation]
Voicing as the only phonation distinction
No clicks, ejectives, or ingressive consonants of any kind [half mark if one of these categories occurs not as a series]
7 or more vowel qualities [half mark for 5 or more]
Three or more diphthongs
No non-low back unrounded vowels [half mark if no high back unrounded vowels]
One front rounded vowel
Two or more front rounded vowels
No vowel harmony
Vowels distinguished solely by height, frontness, roundedness and length. (i.e. no voice distinctions, rhotic vowels, ATR, nasal vowels, etc) [half mark for nasal vowels not occuring at all vowel qualities]
More than three degrees of vowel height
Phonemic stress
No phonemic tone [half mark for two-tone languages]
Syllables without onset consonants allowed
CVL syllables allowed (L = lateral or rhotic)
CVN syllables allowed (N = nasal)
CVF syllables allowed (F = fricative)
CVS syllables allowed (S = stop)
CVCC syllables allowed
CVCCC syllables not allowed other than CVCCF [half mark if CVCCCC syllables not allowed other than CVCCCF] [no mark if CVCCC syllables not allowed]
CLV syllables allowed
FCV syllables allowed (F = fricative), where C is not a glide or a liquid. [but only half mark if C cannot be a member of a particular series (eg nasal, voiced, ejective, fricative etc) or POA]
CCCV syllables allowed
CCV syllables allowed but SSV or SSCV syllables not allowed (not including geminates)
CCCV syllables allowed but CCNV syllables not allowed
CCV syllables allowed but SNV syllables not allowed
Sonority hierarchy violation in consonant clusters allowed only for fricatives (stops -> fricatives -> liquids -> approximants)
One syllabic consonant, a rhotic [half mark if lateral or both]
(At least some) affricates treated as phonemes
No non-glottal POA with only one MOA, and that MOA isn't fricative [not counting /w/ as labial-velar or whatever]
No more than four POAs for stops (affricates not counted) [half mark for five, or counting affricates]
No initial nasal other than /m/ or /n/ (half mark if other initial nasals but not initial velar or uvular nasal)
No phonemic distinction of consonant length, or gemination, except across morpheme boundaries
Presence of an approximant/non-alveolar rhotic
9 or more vowel POAs AND no vowel harmony
No velar (or uvular, etc) nasals at all
Words can end in any consonant [half mark if 1-2 exceptions found]
Vowel mergers in unstressed syllables
More phonemes at a single coronal POA than at any other single POA
The following special questions are each worth 5 marks (in addition to any they may have gained in the above):
No initial velar nasal
No tone system with more than two tones
Syllables of both CCV and CVC form appear (not necessarily for all C), where all Cs can be non-glides [2.5 marks if this is true but some Cs must be glides]
At least 10 vowels in total (including length and quality, but not syllable-specific tone or phonation)
No non-pulmonic consonants
No phonation distinctions other than voiced/voiceless
Phonemic voice distinction [2.5 marks if it is only one aspect of a distinction]
Fricatives and affricates, added together, outnumber plain non-nasal stops [2.5 marks if fricatives, affricates, liquids and glides together outnumber (nasals + stops), OR if the fricatives+affricates EQUALS non-nasal stops]
Ignoring stops and nasals: more fricatives than non-fricative consonants [2.5 marks if equal]
Calculate score
Score:
What does the score mean?
This test tends to give very high-looking numbers for non-European phonologies. If your language scores less than 70, you've probably designed something non-European (or at least non-SAE). It is also impossible to get a score of 0.