Phonemic inventory
Consonants
| | Bilabial | | Alveolar | | Alveolar sibilant | | Palatal | | Velar | | Uvular |
Nasal | | | | m | | | | n | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
Stop | | | | b | | tʰ | t | d | | t͡sʰ | t͡s | d͡z | | | | | | kʰ | k | g | | qʰ | q | ɢ |
Fricative | | | ɸ | β | | | | | | | s | z | | | | | | | x | ɣ | | | χ | ʁ |
Approximant | | | | | | | | l | | | | | | | | j | | | | w | | | | |
Vowels
| | Front | | Back |
High | | i | | u |
Mid-low | | ɛ | | ɔ |
Low | | | | ɑ |
Syllable structure
(C1)(R)V(C2)
C1: a consonant
R: one of /l w/
V: a vowel
C2: a consonant
Allophony
- Approximants [l j w] become voiceless [l̥ j̥ w̥] after a voiceless obstruent.
- Consonants [m qʰ x ...] persistently assimilate in voice to a following obstruent or nasal and become voiceless word-finally. Before a voiced obstruent or nasal, aspirated stops become unaspirated. Before a voiceless obstruent or pause, nasals are deleted.
- [z] become [l] before an alveolar approximant.
- Short non-glottal stop non-prenasalised voiced stops other than [d], i.e. [b g ɢ d͡z], become fricatives [β ɣ ʁ z] between a vowel or an approximant and a vowel or semivowel.
- Consonants [m qʰ x ...] persistently assimilate in voice to a preceding obstruent or nasal. After a voiceless obstruent, nasals are deleted. After a voiced obstruent or nasal, aspirated stops become unaspirated.
- Nasals [m n] become nasals and assimilate in place of articulation to a following obstruent or nasal.
- Front vowels [i ɛ] become central [ɨ ɜ] before a velar semivowel.
- Aspirated stops [tʰ kʰ qʰ t͡sʰ] persistently become unaspirated [t k q t͡s].
- Unaspirated voiceless stops [p t q ...] become aspirated [pʰ tʰ qʰ ...] after an aspirated stop.
- Non-pharyngeal non-dorsal consonants [m tʰ ɸ ...] persistently become front [mʲ tʰʲ ɸʲ ...] before a palatal semivowel.
- Velar or uvular obstruents or nasals [ŋ g x ...] persistently assimilate in uvularity to a following unrounded back obstruent or nasal.
- Tense vowels and semivowels [j̥ w̥ i ...] persistently become non-high [e̯̥ o̯̥ e ...] before a non-near-high vowel or an uvular consonant except a vowel.
Some words
/liɑ/ | [liɑ] |
/χɑ/ | [χɑ] |
/kut͡sʰɔl/ | [kut͡sʰɔl̥] |
/d͡zixt͡sʰun/ | [d͡zixt͡sʰu] |
/sɑ/ | [sɑ] |
/t͡sʰɑtχɔ/ | [t͡sʰɑtχɔ] |
/tud͡zid/ | [tuzit] |
/sɑχ/ | [sɑχ] |
/qɑ/ | [qɑ] |
/gɛjɔ/ | [gɛjɔ] |
/dɑdɑ/ | [dɑdɑ] |
/tʰlɛsɑ/ | [tʰl̥ɛsɑ] |
/tilwɔ/ | [tilwɔ] |
/siqʰitʰ/ | [seqʰitʰ] |
/ɸibi/ | [ɸiβi] |
/kɑɸɑ/ | [kɑɸɑ] |
/lɔt͡sʰɛɸ/ | [lɔt͡sʰɛɸ] |
/ɛɸsɑχ/ | [ɛɸsɑχ] |
/ɑɢɛχ/ | [ɑʁɛχ] |
/dɔɸlu/ | [dɔɸl̥u] |
/biqtʰɑ/ | [beqtʰɑ] |
/ɸuxqi/ | [ɸoχqi] |
/t͡sɔɸdu/ | [t͡sɔβdu] |
/lɛɸɑ/ | [lɛɸɑ] |
/χi/ | [χi] |
/tiɑβ/ | [tiɑɸ] |
/βisɑ/ | [βisɑ] |
/t͡sʰuɸ/ | [t͡sʰuɸ] |
/ɢibut/ | [ɢiβut] |
/xubɔt/ | [xuβɔt] |
Generated by Gleb version 0.3.2 / 5.0a with seed 60688257349.