Phonemic inventory

Syllable structure

(C)V

C: a consonant
V: a vowel

Allophony

• Back vowels [u o õ] become unrounded central [ɨ ɘ ɘ̃] before a palatal semivowel.
• Unrounded palatal or velar consonants [ɲ ŋ k j] become rounded [ŋʷ ŋʷ kʷ w] after a rounded vowel or semivowel. Palatal consonants become velar.
• Consonants [m ŋʷ kʷ ...] persistently assimilate in voice to a preceding consonant other than an approximant. After a voiceless consonant, nasals become non-nasal; [j w] become [c kʷ]; [l] become [t͡ɬ]. After a nasal, [h] are deleted.
• Non-pharyngeal unrounded non-palatal consonants [m b g ...] become front [mʲ bʲ ɟ ...] before a palatal consonant.
• Non-pharyngeal non-palatal or velar consonants [m pʲ t͡ɬ ...] persistently assimilate in palatalisation to a following consonant.
• Non-pharyngeal unrounded non-front consonants [m b g ...] become front [mʲ bʲ ɟ ...] after a front consonant except a semivowel.
• [j] become [w] before a rounded semivowel.
• Consonants [m pʲ kʷ ...] persistently assimilate in voice to a following consonant other than an approximant and become voiceless word-finally. Before a voiced stop or nasal, glottal fricatives become non-glottal fricative palatal or velar. Before a voiceless consonant or pause, nasals become non-nasal; approximants become stops.
• Consonants [m bʲ gʷ ...] assimilate in voice to a preceding stop. After a voiced stop, glottal fricatives become non-glottal fricative palatal or velar. After a voiceless stop, nasals become non-nasal; approximants become stops.
• Central vowels [ɨ ɘ ɘ̃] persistently become front [i e ẽ] before a front consonant.
• Nasals [m n ɲ ...] become nasals and assimilate in place of articulation to a following stop or nasal.
• Voiceless stops [p tʲ kʷ ...] become aspirated [pʰ tʲʰ kʷʰ ...] after a glottal fricative.
• Aspirated stops [pʰ tʲʰ kʷʰ ...] persistently become unaspirated [p tʲ kʷ ...].
• Non-prenasalised voiced stops [b dʲ gʷ ...] become prenasalised [^mb ⁿdʲ ^ŋgʷ ...] after a nasal.
• Unaspirated voiceless stops [p tʲ kʷ ...] persistently become aspirated [pʰ tʲʰ kʷʰ ...] before a glottal fricative.
• Consonants other than [j w], i.e. [m p g ...], persistently assimilate in voice to a following non-nasal consonant other than an approximant and become voiceless word-finally. Before a voiceless consonant or pause, prenasalised stops become non-prenasalised; nasals become non-nasal; approximants become stops. Before a voiced stop, aspirated consonants become unaspirated; [hʲ] become [j].
• Short non-nasal voiced consonants [^mb b ⁿd͡ɮ ...] become voiceless [p p t͡ɬ ...] after a voiceless aspirated consonant. Prenasalised stops become non-prenasalised; consonants other than stops become stops.
• Unaspirated voiceless stops [p tʲ kʷ ...] become aspirated [pʰ tʲʰ kʷʰ ...] after a glottal fricative.
• Back vowels [u o õ] become unrounded central [ɨ ɘ ɘ̃] after a palatal semivowel.
• Consonants other than [j w], i.e. [m p g ...], persistently assimilate in rounding to a following consonant. Before a rounded consonant, bilabial stops or nasals become non-bilabial velar; bilabial palatalised stops or nasals become velar; palatal stops or nasals become velar; [b bʲ] become [kʷ kʷ].
• Unrounded consonants [m b k ...] become rounded [ŋʷ kʷ kʷ ...] after a rounded consonant. Bilabial stops or nasals become non-bilabial velar; palatal consonants become velar; bilabial palatalised stops or nasals become velar; [b bʲ] become [kʷ kʷ].
• Between a vowel or an approximant and a vowel or semivowel, aspirated consonants other than stops become short non-glottal stop unaspirated non-bilabial non-alveolar palatal or velar voiced; [hʷ] become [w]; [hʲʷ] become [w].

Some words

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