Phonemic inventory

Syllable structure

(C₁)(C₂)(j)V

C₁: a consonant
C₂: one of /f ɾ j/
V: a vowel

Allophony

• Prenasalised stops [^mb ⁿd ^ŋg] become non-prenasalised [b d g] after an obstruent.
• Back vowels [u uː o oː] become central [ʉ ʉː ɵ ɵː] before a palatal semivowel.
• Consonants [m b ʔ ...] persistently assimilate in voice to a following consonant other than a resonant. Before a voiceless consonant, [b] become [f]. Before a voiced stop or nasal, [ʔ h] are deleted; fricatives become stops or nasals; [f] become [b].
• Stops [^mp ^ŋk d ...] become glottalised [^mpʼ ^ŋkʼ ɗ̰ ...] after a non-nasal glottal stop. [^mb ⁿd ^ŋg b d] become [^mɓ̰ ⁿɗ̰ ^ŋɠ̰ ɓ̰ ɗ̰]; [g] become [kʼ]; [d͡z] become [ɾ].
• Non-glottalised voiceless stops [^mp ⁿt t ...] become aspirated [^mpʰ ⁿtʰ tʰ ...] after a glottal fricative.
• Consonants other than [kʼ], i.e. [m̥ ^ŋkʰ k ...], persistently assimilate in voice to a preceding obstruent or nasal. After a voiced stop or nasal, aspirated consonants become unaspirated; glottalised consonants other than implosives become implosives; fricatives become stops or nasals; [f] become [b]. After a voiceless obstruent or nasal, implosives become non-glottalised voiced; [b] become [f].
• Back vowels [u uː o oː] become central [ʉ ʉː ɵ ɵː] after a semivowel.
• Stops [^mpʰ ^ŋg d ...] assimilate in glottalisation to a following non-nasal consonant other than a resonant. Before a glottalised consonant, [^mb ⁿd ^ŋg b d] become [^mɓ̰ ⁿɗ̰ ^ŋɠ̰ ɓ̰ ɗ̰]; aspirated stops become unaspirated; [g] become [kʼ]; [d͡z] become [ɾ].
• Non-palatal non-nasal consonants other than [kʼ], i.e. [^mpʰ ^mɓ̰ ʔ ...], persistently assimilate in voice to a following obstruent. Before a voiced stop, aspirated consonants become unaspirated; non-implosive ejective stops other than [t͡sʼ] become implosives; fricatives become stops; [f] become [b]; [ʔ] are deleted; [t͡sʼ] become [ɾ]. Before a voiceless obstruent, creaky-voiced implosives become non-glottalised voiced; [b] become [f]; [ɓ] become [β̞].
• Short non-nasal voiced consonants [^mb ⁿɗ̰ ɓ̰ ...] persistently become voiceless [^mp ⁿɗ ɓ ...] after a voiceless aspirated consonant. Creaky-voiced implosives become non-glottalised voiced; [b] become [f]; [ɓ] become [β̞].
• Aspirated stops [^mpʰ ⁿtʰ tʰ ...] become unaspirated [^mp ⁿt t ...].
• Voiced vowels [i u ɵː ...] become creaky-voiced [ḭ ṵ ɵː̰ ...] before a glottalised consonant.
• Non-pharyngeal non-palatal consonants [m̥ ^mɓ̥ g ...] persistently become front [m̥ʲ ^mɓ̥ʲ ɟ ...] before a palatal semivowel.
• High semivowels [j̥ j] persistently become mid-high [e̯̥ e̯] before a non-high vowel.
• Non-glottalised consonants [m̥ ^mɓ̥ ɓʲ ...] assimilate in voice to a preceding nasal. After a voiced nasal, aspirated consonants become unaspirated; fricatives become stops or nasals; labiodental fricatives become bilabial. After a voiceless nasal, [b bʲ] become [f fʲ]; [ɓ ɓʲ] become [β̞ β̞ʲ].
• Nasals [m̥ m̥ʲ n ...] persistently become nasals and assimilate in place of articulation to a following obstruent or nasal.

Some words

Generated by Gleb version 0.3.2 / 5.0a with seed 12422351885.