Phonemic inventory

Syllable structure

(C₁)V(C₂)

C₁: a consonant
V: a vowel
C₂: a sonorant; i.e. one of /m n ŋ h/

Allophony

• Labial consonants [m p f ...] assimilate in labiodentality to a following labial consonant.
• Unaspirated non-implosive stops [p p̪ t k] become aspirated [pʰ pʰ̪ tʰ kʰ] after an aspirated consonant.
• Velar stops or nasals [ŋ kʰ k] become uvular [ɴ qʰ q] after a back vowel.
• [ŋ kʰ k] become non-back before a non-retroflexed alveolar consonant.
• Velar or uvular stops or nasals [ŋ̟ kʰ̟ k ...] assimilate in uvularity to a following dorsal consonant other than [j]. Before an uvular stop or nasal, fronted stops or nasals become uvular.
• Stops [pʰ t qʰ ...] assimilate in glottalisation to a following non-nasal consonant other than an approximant and become non-glottalised word-finally. Before an implosive, aspirated stops become unaspirated.
• Before a high tense vowel or semivowel, velar or uvular stops become non-nasal glottal fricatives; glottalised stops other than [tʼ] become non-glottalised non-nasal affricates; unaspirated velar or uvular stops become non-nasal glottal fricatives; labial voiceless stops become non-nasal fricatives; implosives become non-nasal resonants; back stops become non-back non-nasal glottal fricatives; bilabial stops become non-bilabial non-nasal affricates; non-sibilant coronal voiceless stops become non-nasal affricate sibilants; [pʰ pʰ̪] become [f f].
• Voiced vowels [i u ø ...] persistently become creaky-voiced [ḭ ṵ ø̰ ...] after a creaky-voiced implosive.
• [ɓ ɓ̪ ɗ i y u e ø o a] become creaky-voiced before a creaky-voiced implosive.
• Stops or nasals other than obstruent sibilants [m p̪ kʼ ...] are persistently deleted between an obstruent and an obstruent.
• Between a vowel or resonant and a vowel or semivowel, non-glottalised implosives become short non-glottalised non-nasal voiced resonants; [ɓ] become [ʋ].
• Non-pharyngeal non-back consonants other than [kʰ̟ k̟ kʼ̟ j], i.e. [m tʰ t͡s ...], persistently become front [mʲ tʲʰ t͡sʲ ...] before a palatal semivowel. [h] become [j].
• Consonants [m t ɗʲ ...] persistently assimilate in voice to a following obstruent or nasal. Before a voiced stop or nasal, aspirated consonants become unaspirated; non-implosive ejective stops become non-glottalised; fricatives become stops or nasals; [f fʲ] become [b bʲ]. Before an obstruent, implosives become non-implosive; nasals become non-nasal; [ɲ] become [k̟].
• Labial obstruents or nasals [m pʼʲ ɓ̰ ...] assimilate in dorsality and uvularity and palatalisation and whether palatal or palatalised velar to a following obstruent or nasal. Before a palatal or velar stop or nasal, [mʲ ɱ ɱʲ b pʲʰ pʲ pʼʲ bʲ pʰ̪ p̪ pʼ̪ b̪ pʲʰ̪ pʲ̪ pʼʲ̪ bʲ̪ ɓʲ ɓ̰ʲ ɓ̪ ɓ̰̪ ɓʲ̪ ɓ̰ʲ̪ ɸ ɸʲ fʲ] become [m m m p pʰ p pʼ p pʰ p pʼ p pʰ p pʼ p ɓ ɓ̰ ɓ ɓ̰ ɓ ɓ̰ f f f]. Before a dorsal stop or nasal, labiodental stops or nasals become bilabial; non-implosive voiced stops become voiceless; [ɸ ɸʲ] become [f f]. Before an uvular stop or nasal, [mʲ ɱ ɱʲ b pʲʰ pʲ pʼʲ bʲ pʰ̪ p̪ pʼ̪ b̪ pʲʰ̪ pʲ̪ pʼʲ̪ bʲ̪ ɓʲ ɓ̰ʲ ɓ̪ ɓ̰̪ ɓʲ̪ ɓ̰ʲ̪ ɸ ɸʲ fʲ] become [m m m p pʰ p pʼ p pʰ p pʼ p pʰ p pʼ p ɓ ɓ̰ ɓ ɓ̰ ɓ ɓ̰ f f f].
• [h] are deleted before an obstruent.
• Before an alveolar approximant lateral, obstruent sibilants become non-sibilant coronal alveolar obstruent laterals; non-sibilant coronal non-implosive stops become alveolar affricate laterals; non-labial implosives become alveolar approximant laterals; [ɗ̰ ɗ̰ʲ] become [l lʲ].
• Non-glottalised consonants [m dʲ d͡zʲ ...] persistently assimilate in voice to a preceding non-nasal consonant other than a resonant. After a voiced stop, aspirated consonants become unaspirated; fricatives become stops or nasals; [f fʲ] become [b bʲ]. After a voiceless consonant other than a resonant, nasals become non-nasal; implosives become non-implosive; [ɲ] become [k̟].
• Non-nasal consonants [pʰ kʼ t͡sʲʰ ...] persistently assimilate in voice to a following non-nasal consonant other than a resonant. Before a voiced stop, aspirated consonants become unaspirated; ejective stops become non-glottalised; fricatives become stops; [f fʲ] become [b bʲ]. Before a voiceless consonant other than a resonant, implosives become non-implosive.
• Short non-nasal voiced consonants [b ɓʲ d͡ɮʲ ...] become voiceless [p pʲ t͡ɬʲ ...] after a voiceless aspirated consonant. Implosives become non-implosive.
• Short non-nasal voiced consonants [b ɓʲ d͡ɮʲ ...] become voiceless [p pʲ t͡ɬʲ ...] after a voiceless aspirated consonant. Implosives become non-implosive.
• Front vowels and semivowels [j̥ ḭ e ...] become non-front [ɰ̟̥ ɨ̰ ɘ ...] before an uvular stop or nasal.
• Front vowels and semivowels [j̥ ḭ e ...] become non-front [ɰ̟̥ ɨ̰ ɘ ...] before an uvular stop or nasal.
• Nasals [m ɱʲ ɲ ...] become nasals and assimilate in place of articulation to a following obstruent.

Some words

Generated by Gleb version 0.3.2 / 5.0a with seed 1656685592.