Phonemic inventory

Syllable structure

(C₁)V(C₂)

C₁: a consonant
V: a vowel
C₂: a consonant

Allophony

• Stops [p t̻ g ...] become ejective [pʼ t̻ʼ kʼ ...] before a glottal stop. Voiced stops become ejective.
• Coronal consonants other than affricates or [ʃ], i.e. [n̻ t̻ʼ r̻ ...], become palatoalveolar [ṉ t͡θʼ d͡ð ...] after a palatoalveolar fricative. Stops become alveolar; stops become affricates; taps or trills become alveolar obstruents or nasals; [l̻] become [j].
• Consonants other than [pʼ t̻ʼ kʼ t͡θʼ], i.e. [m d̻ ʃ ...], assimilate in voice to a following consonant other than a resonant. Before a voiceless consonant, nasals become non-nasal; [ṉ] become [t͡θ]. Before a voiced stop or nasal, [ʔ] are deleted; [h] are deleted.
• Unrounded non-nasal consonants other than [pʼ t̻ʼ kʼ t͡θʼ j̥ j], i.e. [p t͡θ x ...], assimilate in voice to a following non-nasal consonant other than a resonant. Before a voiced obstruent, [ʔ] are deleted; [h] are deleted.
• Non-ejective obstruents [p k s̻ ...] persistently assimilate in voice to a following non-nasal consonant other than a resonant.
• Coronal stops or nasals [n̻ t̻ t͡θ ...] are persistently deleted between a stop or nasal and a stop.
• Non-pharyngeal unrounded non-palatal consonants [m kʼ ʃ ...] persistently become front [mʲ cʼ ɕ ...] before a palatal consonant. Taps or trills become approximants.
• Mid-low vowels [ɛ ɔ] become high [ɪ ʊ] before a semivowel.
• Stops other than [ɟ], i.e. [p t̻ʼ kʼ ...], persistently assimilate in glottalisation to a preceding consonant other than a resonant. After an ejective consonant, palatalised voiced stops become non-ejective; non-front voiced stops become ejective; palatalised voiced stops become implosives; [d͡ðʲ] become [ɗ̻ʲ].
• Coronal consonants other than non-front affricates [n̻ ɗ̻ʲ ʑ ...] persistently assimilate in anteriority and retroflexion to a following coronal consonant other than a non-affricate stop or nasal. Before a palatoalveolar fricative, [t̻ t̻ʼ d̻ r̻ ɾ̻] become [t͡θ t͡θʼ d͡ð d͡ð d͡ð]; non-affricate stops become affricates; approximants become non-coronal palatal or velar; approximant laterals become non-lateral; taps or trills become obstruents or nasals; [l̥̻ l̻] become [j̥ j]; [ɗ̻ʲ] become [d͡ð̱ʲ].
• Non-lateral non-sibilant coronal palatoalveolar affricates [t͡θ̱ t͡θ̱ʲ t͡θ̱ʲʼ d͡ð̱ʲ] persistently become sibilants [t͡ʃ t͡ɕ t͡ɕʼ d͡ʑ].
• Consonants other than [pʼ t̻ʼ kʼ t͡θʼ], i.e. [m ʔʲ ʃ ...], persistently assimilate in voice to a preceding consonant other than a resonant. After a voiced obstruent or nasal, ejective consonants other than [ʔ] become non-ejective; [ʔ] are deleted; [pʲʼ t̻ʲʼ t͡θʲʼ] become [ɓʲ ɗ̻ʲ ɗ̻ʲ]; glottal fricatives become non-glottal fricative palatal or velar; [ʔʲ] become [j]; [t͡ɕʼ] become [ʑ˂]; [t͡θ̱ʲʼ] become [d͡ʑ]. After a consonant other than a resonant, [t͡θ̱] are deleted. After a voiceless consonant other than a resonant, nasals become non-nasal; implosives become non-implosive; [ṉ ṉʲ] become [t͡θ t͡ɕ].
• Nasals [m n̻ ṉ ...] become nasals and assimilate in place of articulation to a following obstruent or nasal.
• Voiced phones other than [ɟ ʑ˂], i.e. [m ɗ̻ʲ r̻ ...], become creaky-voiced [ɓ ɗ̻̰ʲ ɗ̻ ...] after a glottal stop. Non-bilabial front consonants other than non-sibilant coronal stops or nasals become non-glottalised; nasals other than [ɲ] become non-glottalised non-nasal; [bʲ d̻ʲ β βʲ z̻ ʒ] become [ɓʲ ɗ̻ʲ ɓ ɓʲ z̻˂ ʒ˂]; non-front stops other than [d͡ʒ] become ejective; front approximants become obstruents or nasals; palatalised obstruent sibilants become implosive; [ʝ] become [ɟ]; taps or trills become non-glottalised obstruents or nasals; [ṉ ṉʲ] become [d͡ʒ d͡ʑ]; [l̻] become [ɗ̻ˡ]; [d͡ð̱ʲ] become [d͡ʑ]; [d͡ʑ] become [ʑ˂]; [w] become [gʷ]; [ɲ] become [ɟ]; [d͡ʒ] become [ʒ˂]; [d͡ðʲ] become [ɗ̻ʲ]; [ɣ] become [g].
• Velar semivowels [w̥ w] become non-velar unrounded non-front non-palatal or velar alveolar [ɹ̥̻ ɹ̻] before a palatal semivowel.
• [p pʼ b pʲ pʲʼ bʲ t̻ t̻ʼ d̻ t̻ʲ t̻ʲʼ d̻ʲ c cʼ k kʼ g ɓ ɓʲ ɓ̰ʲ ɗ̻ ɗ̻ˡ ɗ̻ʲ ɗ̻̰ʲ ɗ̻ˡʲ t͡θ t͡θʼ d͡ð t͡θʲ t͡θʲʼ d͡ðʲ t͡θ̱ t͡θ̱ʲ t͡θ̱ʲʼ d͡ð̱ʲ t͡ʃ d͡ʒ t͡ɕ t͡ɕʼ d͡ʑ β βʲ z̻ z̻ʲ ʒ ʑ ʝ ɣ] assimilate in glottalisation to a following consonant other than a resonant. Before a consonant other than a resonant, [t͡θ̱] are deleted. Before a glottalised consonant, non-implosive voiced obstruents other than non-sibilant coronal stops or affricates or [b g] become non-glottalised; non-implosive non-palatal or velar voiced obstruents other than non-sibilant coronal stops or affricates or [b] become implosive; [b d̻ g d͡ð] become [pʼ t̻ʼ kʼ t͡θʼ]; non-coronal obstruents other than stops become stops; [d͡ʒ d͡ʑ] become [ʒ˂ ʑ˂]; [d̻ʲ d͡ðʲ] become [ɗ̻ʲ ɗ̻ʲ]; [d͡ð̱ʲ] become [d͡ʑ].
• Non-back vowels and non-velarised semivowels [j̥ ḭ ɛ ...] assimilate in frontness or palatalisation to a following consonant. Before a consonant, semivowels become non-palatal or velar alveolar.
• Non-ejective voiced vowels and non-glottal stop voiced consonants other than [ɟ gʷ z̻˂ z̻˂ʲ ʒ˂ ʑ˂], i.e. [m ɗ̻ʲ ɹ̻ ...], become creaky-voiced [ɓ ɗ̻̰ʲ ɗ̻ ...] after a creaky-voiced implosive. Non-bilabial consonants other than non-sibilant coronal stops or nasals or [g] become non-glottalised; resonants become obstruents or nasals; non-palatal or velar nasals become non-glottalised non-nasal; obstruent sibilants become implosive; [b d̻ g d͡ð] become [pʼ t̻ʼ kʼ t͡θʼ]; [d͡ʒ d͡ʑ] become [ʒ˂ ʑ˂]; [β βʲ] become [ɓ ɓʲ]; [ṉ ṉʲ] become [d͡ʒ d͡ʑ]; [bʲ d̻ʲ] become [ɓʲ ɗ̻ʲ]; [ɲ ŋ] become [ɟ g]; [ʝ ɣ] become [ɟ g]; [d͡ð̱ʲ] become [d͡ʑ]; [d͡ðʲ] become [ɗ̻ʲ].
• Velar semivowels [w̥ w] become non-velar unrounded non-front non-palatal or velar alveolar [ɹ̥̻ ɹ̻] after a palatal semivowel.

Some words

Generated by Gleb version 0.3.2 / 5.0a with seed 63676015961.