Phonemic inventory
Consonants
| | Labial | | Alveolar | | Palatoalv. sibilant / palatal | | Velar | | Uvular |
| Nasal | | | | | m | | | | | | n | | | | | | ɲ | | | | | | ŋ | | | | | | ɴ | |
| Stop | | | | | b | ɓ̰ | | tʰ | t | tʼ | d | ɗ̰ | | t͡ʃʰ | t͡ʃ | t͡ʃʼ | d͡ʒ | | | kʰ | k | kʼ | g | ɠ̰ | | | | | | |
| Fricative | | | f | | v | | | | s | | z | | | | ʃ | | ʒ | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| Approximant | | | | | β̞ | | | | | | l | | | | | | j | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
Vowels
| | Front | | Back |
| High | | i | | u |
| Mid-high | | e | | o |
| Low | | | | ɑ |
Syllable structure
(C)(R)(j)V
C: a consonant other than /j/
R: one of /β̞ l/
V: a vowel
Allophony
- Non-glottalised voiceless stops [tʰ kʰ t͡ʃʰ ...] assimilate in aspiration to a preceding obstruent or nasal.
- Non-pharyngeal non-palatal consonants other than [ɴ], i.e. [m k d͡ʒ ...], persistently become front [mʲ c d͡ʑ ...] before a palatal consonant.
- Consonants other than [ɴ j], i.e. [m cʼ t͡ɕʼ ...], persistently assimilate in palatalisation to a following consonant and become non-front word-finally.
- Consonants other than implosives [m cʰ t͡ɕʼ ...] persistently assimilate in voice to a following obstruent or nasal. Before a voiceless obstruent, nasals become non-nasal. Before a voiced obstruent or nasal, aspirated stops become unaspirated; ejective stops other than [t͡ɕʼ] become implosives; [t͡ɕʼ] become [j].
- Voiceless stops [p cʰ kʼ ...] persistently assimilate in glottalisation to a preceding obstruent. After a glottalised stop, aspirated stops become unaspirated.
- [b bʲ d dʲ ɟ g̟ g ɓ̰ ɓ̰ʲ ɗ̰ ɗ̰ʲ ʄ̰ ɠ̟̰ ɠ̰ d͡ʒ d͡ʑ f v fʲ vʲ s z sʲ zʲ ʃ ʒ ɕ ʑ] become nasals after a nasal. Voiceless fricative sibilants become stops; implosives become non-glottalised; voiced obstruent sibilants other than stops become non-coronal semivowels; labiodental fricatives become bilabial approximants; affricates become non-sibilant coronal nasals.
- Non-implosive obstruents [p cʼ t͡ɕʰ ...] persistently assimilate in voice to a following obstruent or nasal and become voiceless word-finally. Before a voiced obstruent or nasal, ejective stops other than [t͡ɕʼ] become implosives; aspirated stops become unaspirated; [t͡ɕʼ] become [j].
- Coronal obstruents or nasals [n tʲʼ t͡ɕʼ ...] assimilate in anteriority and retroflexion to a following obstruent sibilant. Before a palatoalveolar obstruent, alveolar obstruents or nasals other than implosives become retroflex; non-implosive non-affricate stops become affricate sibilants; alveolar palatalised obstruents or nasals other than [ɗ̰ʲ] become non-front; implosives become alveolar.
- Non-ejective non-nasal voiced vowels and non-lateral non-glottal stop non-nasal voiced consonants other than fricatives or [β̞ β̞ʲ j], i.e. [b g d͡ʑ ...], become creaky-voiced [ɓ̰ ɠ̰ j ...] after a creaky-voiced implosive. Stops other than [d͡zʲ̻ d͡ʑ] become implosives; [d͡zʲ̻ d͡ʑ] become [j j].
- Coronal consonants [n̻ t͡s̻ d͡ʑ ...] assimilate in laminality to a following coronal consonant. Before an apical consonant, palatoalveolar obstruents or nasals become retroflex; alveopalatal obstruents or nasals become non-front.
- Voiced obstruents [b ɗ̰̻ ɖ͡ʐ ...] become nasals [m n̻ ɳ ...] before a nasal. Implosives become non-glottalised; obstruent sibilants other than stops become non-coronal semivowels; affricates become non-sibilant coronal nasals; [ʐ̻ ʐ] become [ɰ̟̃ ɰ̟̃]; labiodental fricatives become bilabial approximants.
- Non-retroflex coronal consonants [n̻ ɗ̰ʲ̻ t͡ɕʰ ...] persistently become retroflex [ɳ̻ ɗ̢̰̻ ʈ͡ʂʰ̻ ...] after a retroflex obstruent or nasal. Palatalised consonants become non-front.
- Consonants other than implosives [m c d͡ʑ ...] persistently assimilate in voice to a preceding obstruent or nasal. After a voiceless obstruent, nasals become non-nasal; [ṉ ṉʲ] become [t͡ʃ t͡ɕ]. After a voiced obstruent or nasal, aspirated stops become unaspirated; ejective stops other than [t͡sʲ̻ʼ t͡sʲʼ t͡ɕʼ] become implosives; [t͡sʲ̻ʼ t͡sʲʼ t͡ɕʼ] become [j j j].
- Aspirated stops [tʰ̻ ʈʰ t͡sʰ ...] persistently become unaspirated [t̻ ʈ t͡s ...].
- Non-glottalised unaspirated obstruents [p k f ...] assimilate in voice to a preceding obstruent.
- Dorsal stops or nasals [ɲ ɟ g ...] persistently assimilate in uvularity to a following non-affricate dorsal stop or nasal. Before an uvular stop or nasal, non-back stops or nasals become uvular; palatal stops or nasals become uvular.
- Labial obstruents or nasals [m b ɓ̰ʲ ...] 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, palatalised obstruents or nasals become non-back non-dorsal. Before an uvular stop or nasal, palatalised obstruents or nasals become non-back non-dorsal.
- Coronal consonants [n̻ ɗ̰̻ d͡ʒ ...] persistently assimilate in laminality to a following coronal consonant. Before an apical consonant, palatoalveolar obstruents or nasals become retroflex; alveopalatal obstruents or nasals become non-front.
- Alveopalatal stops or nasals [ṉʲ t͡ɕʰ t͡ɕʼ ...] become non-affricate non-coronal palatal [ɲ cʰ cʼ ...] before a palatal stop or nasal.
- Palatoalveolar stops or nasals other than stops [ṉ ṉʲ] persistently become non-affricate non-coronal palatal [ɲ ɲ] before a palatal stop or nasal.
- Non-affricate coronal stops or nasals [n̻ tʰʲ̻ ʈ̻ ...] are persistently deleted between an obstruent or nasal and a stop.
- Nasal consonants [m ɳ β̞̥̃ ...] assimilate in resonancy and nasality to a preceding non-nasal consonant other than [j̥ j]. After an obstruent, [ṉ ṉʲ] become [d͡ʒ d͡ʑ]. After an approximant, coronal nasals become non-coronal semivowels; [ŋ] become [ɑ̯]; [ɴ] become [ɑ̯].
- Nasals other than [ŋ̟], i.e. [m n ṉ ...], persistently become nasals and assimilate in place of articulation to a following obstruent or nasal.
Some words
| /mefjɑ/ | [mefʲj̥ɑ] |
| /llɑo/ | [llɑo] |
| /jute/ | [jute] |
| /sloti/ | [sl̥oti] |
| /sufu/ | [sufu] |
| /floŋji/ | [fl̥oɲji] |
| /lɑnjɑ/ | [lɑnʲjɑ] |
| /mee/ | [mee] |
| /seβ̞jo/ | [seβ̞ʲjo] |
| /fɑfɑ/ | [fɑfɑ] |
| /mjiʃi/ | [mʲjiʃi] |
| /lelotɑ/ | [lelotɑ] |
| /tjɑzi/ | [tʲj̥ɑzi] |
| /nekeli/ | [nekeli] |
| /fβ̞usɑ/ | [fβ̞̥usɑ] |
| /tʼife/ | [tʼife] |
| /nlɑslju/ | [nlɑsʲlʲ̥ju] |
| /tʼuloβ̞ɑ/ | [tʼuloβ̞ɑ] |
| /fuso/ | [fuso] |
| /ʃɑβ̞ɑ/ | [ʃɑβ̞ɑ] |
| /nlut͡ʃβ̞ji/ | [nlut͡ɕβ̞ʲ̥ji] |
| /ɗ̰ɑli/ | [ɗ̰ɑ̰li] |
| /ufu/ | [ufu] |
| /ʃifo/ | [ʃifo] |
| /llutʼo/ | [llutʼo] |
| /ljutʰβ̞o/ | [lʲjutʰβ̞̥o] |
| /tulɑ/ | [tulɑ] |
| /sutle/ | [sutl̥e] |
| /sɑβ̞ji/ | [sɑβ̞ʲji] |
| /t͡ʃʰoʒlɑ/ | [t͡ʃʰoʐɭɑ] |
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