Phonemic inventory

Syllable structure

(C₁)(C₂)V(C₃)(C₄)

C₁: a consonant other than /d̻ ɣ/
C₂: a consonant
V: a vowel
C₃: one of /m n̻ b l̻/
C₄: a consonant

Allophony

• Obstruents [^mb b k ...] assimilate in voice to a preceding obstruent. After a voiced obstruent, aspirated stops become unaspirated.
• Obstruents other than [f s̻ x], i.e. [^mp pʰ kʰ ...], become glottalised [^mpʼ pʼ kʼ ...] before a non-nasal glottal stop. [^mb ⁿd̻ ^ŋg b d̻ g v] become [^mɓ̰ ⁿɗ̰̻ ^ŋɠ̰ ɓ̰ ɗ̰̻ ɠ̰ ɓ]; obstruents other than stops become non-glottalised; obstruents other than stops become stops; aspirated stops become unaspirated.
• Voiced vowels [i u ø ...] become creaky-voiced [ḭ ṵ ø̰ ...] before a creaky-voiced implosive.
• Nasals [m n̻] become nasals and assimilate in place of articulation to a following obstruent or nasal.
• Obstruents [^mp ^ŋɠ̰ g ...] persistently assimilate in voice to a following non-nasal consonant other than [l̻]. Before a voiceless consonant, implosives other than [ɓ] become non-glottalised. Before a voiced obstruent, non-implosive ejective stops become implosives; aspirated stops become unaspirated.
• Voiceless implosives [^mɓ̥ ^ŋɠ̥ ɗ̻̥ ...] persistently become non-implosive [^mp ^ŋk t̻ ...].
• Non-ejective voiced vowels and non-glottal stop voiced consonants [m b l̻ ...] become creaky-voiced [ɓ ɓ̰ d͡ɮ̻ ...] after a creaky-voiced implosive. Non-implosive obstruents other than [z̻ ɣ] become implosives; nasals become non-glottalised non-nasal; fricatives become non-glottalised stops or nasals; labiodental obstruents or nasals become bilabial; [l̻] become [d͡ɮ̻].
• Non-pharyngeal alveolar consonants [n̻ tʰ̻ d͡ɮ̻ ...] become palatalised [n̻ʲ tʰ̻ʲ d͡ɮ̻ʲ ...] before a front high vowel.
• Back vowels [u ṵ o o̰] become central [ʉ ʉ̰ ɵ ɵ̰] after a palatalised consonant.
• Short non-glottalised non-implosive non-prenasalised voiced stops other than obstruent sibilants [b d̻ʲ d͡ɮ̻ ...] become fricatives [β ðʲ ɮ̻ ...] between a vowel and a vowel.
• Non-high vowels [e ø̰ o ...] become nasal [ẽ ø̰̃ õ ...] before a nasal.
• Central vowels [ʉ ɵ̰ a ...] become front [y ø̰ ɛ ...] before a palatalised consonant. Lax vowels become non-low.
• Non-nasal consonants [^mp b ɠ̰ ...] persistently assimilate in voice to a preceding obstruent or nasal. After a voiceless consonant other than [ʔ], creaky-voiced implosives become non-glottalised; [ⁿɗ̰̻ʲ ɗ̰̻ʲ ɗ͡z̰̻ ɗ͡z̰̻ʲ] become [ⁿt̻ʲ t̻ʲ t͡s̻ t͡s̻ʲ]. After a voiced obstruent or nasal, ejective consonants become implosives; aspirated stops become unaspirated.
• Non-nasal consonants [^mp tʰ̻ d͡ɮ̻ʲ ...] persistently assimilate in voice to a following consonant other than an approximant and become voiceless word-finally. Before a voiced obstruent or nasal, non-implosive ejective stops become implosives; aspirated stops become unaspirated; [ʔ] are deleted. Before a voiceless consonant other than an approximant or pause, creaky-voiced implosives become non-glottalised; [ⁿɗ̰̻ʲ ɗ̰̻ʲ ɗ͡z̰̻ ɗ͡z̰̻ʲ] become [ⁿt̻ʲ t̻ʲ t͡s̻ t͡s̻ʲ].
• Aspirated stops [pʰ tʰ̻ tʰ̻ʲ kʰ] become unaspirated [p t̻ t̻ʲ k].
• Short non-nasal voiced consonants [^mb d̻ d͡z̻ʲ ...] become voiceless [^mp t̻ t͡s̻ʲ ...] after a voiceless aspirated stop. Creaky-voiced implosives become non-glottalised; [ⁿɗ̰̻ʲ ɗ̰̻ʲ ɗ͡z̰̻ ɗ͡z̰̻ʲ] become [ⁿt̻ʲ t̻ʲ t͡s̻ t͡s̻ʲ].
• Obstruents other than [^mɓ̥ ⁿɗ̻̥ ^ŋɠ̥ ɓ̥ ɗ̻̥ ɠ̥ ɸ f θ ɬ̻ θʲ ɬ̻ʲ s̻ s̻ʲ x], i.e. [^mp pʰ ɗ̰̻ʲ ...], assimilate in glottalisation to a preceding non-nasal consonant other than an approximant. After a glottalised consonant, [ⁿɗ̻̥ʲ ɗ̻̥ʲ] become [ⁿt̻ʲ t̻ʲ]; [^mb ⁿd̻ ⁿd̻ʲ ^ŋg b d̻ d̻ʲ g d͡ɮ̻ d͡ɮ̻ʲ d͡z̻ d͡z̻ʲ β v ð ðʲ] become [^mɓ̰ ⁿɗ̰̻ ⁿɗ̰̻ʲ ^ŋɠ̰ ɓ̰ ɗ̰̻ ɗ̰̻ʲ ɠ̰ ɗ͡ɮ̰̻ ɗ͡ɮ̰̻ʲ ɗ͡z̰̻ ɗ͡z̰̻ʲ ɓ ɓ ɗ̻ ɗ̻ʲ]; obstruents other than stops become non-glottalised stops; aspirated stops become unaspirated.
• Non-glottalised voiced obstruents [^mb d̻ʲ ɗ͡z̻ ...] become creaky-voiced [^mɓ̰ ɗ̰̻ʲ ɗ͡z̰̻ ...] before a glottal stop. [^mb ⁿd̻ ⁿd̻ʲ ^ŋg b d̻ d̻ʲ g d͡ɮ̻ d͡ɮ̻ʲ d͡z̻ d͡z̻ʲ β v ð ðʲ] become [^mɓ̰ ⁿɗ̰̻ ⁿɗ̰̻ʲ ^ŋɠ̰ ɓ̰ ɗ̰̻ ɗ̰̻ʲ ɠ̰ ɗ͡ɮ̰̻ ɗ͡ɮ̰̻ʲ ɗ͡z̰̻ ɗ͡z̰̻ʲ ɓ ɓ ɗ̻ ɗ̻ʲ]; obstruents other than stops become non-glottalised stops.
• Alveolar obstruents [ⁿt̻ t̻ʲʼ d͡z̻ʲ ...] assimilate in laterality to a following alveolar consonant other than a stop or nasal. Before a consonant lateral other than a stop, non-affricate stops become affricates; obstruent sibilants become non-sibilant coronal; non-sibilant coronal non-glottalised implosives become non-implosive. Before an alveolar fricative, non-nasal affricate laterals become sibilants.

Some words

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