Latgalian phonology

• [ɨ] occurs in complementary distribution with [i], so that they can be regarded as allophones of a single /i/ phoneme.^[2]
• Long /ɛː, ɔː/ are rare and occur only in interjections. The phonological long counterparts of the short /ɛ, ɔ/ are the diphthongs /iɛ, uɔ/.^[1]
• There are very few minimal pairs for the /ɛ–æ/ opposition. In some dialects, [æ] is simply an allophone of /ɛ/.^[3]
• /a, aː/ are phonetically central [ä, äː].^[1]
• Apart from [iɛ] and [uɔ], there are also vowel+glide sequences [ɛɪ̯, æɪ̯, aɪ̯, iu̯, ɨu̯, au̯], which are very common. Rarer sequences include [uɪ̯], [ɔɪ̯] and [ɔu̯], with the last one occurring only in onomatopoeias and loanwords. Phonemically, they are all sequences of two phonemes, rather than proper diphthongs. In some dialects, [iu̯] and [ɨu̯] fall together as [ɛu̯]. [au̯] can also merge with [ɔu̯] as [ɔu̯].^[4]

Stress

The stress is most often on the first syllable.^[9]

Tonal accents

There are two phonemic tonal accents in Latgalian, which appear only on long syllables, i.e. those with a long vowel, a diphthong, or a sequence of a short vowel and a sonorant. These are falling (also called level) and broken (also called sharp). However, there are only a handful of minimal (or near-minimal) pairs, such as [rɛ̀ɪ̯tʲ] 'swallow' and [rɛ̂ɪ̯t] 'tomorrow', both written reit.^[9]

Phonetically, both of the tonal accents are falling; the falling accent is realized as an even decrease in intensity and pitch, whereas the broken accent is realized as a sudden decrease in intensity and pitch.^[9]