Phonemic inventory
Consonants
| | Labial | | Laminal alveolar | | Palatal | | Velar |
| Nasal | | | | m | | | | n̻ | | | | | | | | |
| Stop | | pʰ | p | ɓ̰ | | tʰ̻ | t̻ | ɗ̰̻ | | | | | | kʰ | k | |
| Fricative | | | f | | | | s̻ | | | | | | | | | |
| Resonant | | | | | | | | ɾ̻ | | | | j | | | | w |
Vowels
| | Front | | Central | | Back |
| High | | i | | | | | | u | |
| Mid-high | | e | ẽ | | | | | o | õ |
| Low | | | | | a | ã | | | |
Syllable structure
(C)(G)V
C: a consonant other than /j/
G: a semivowel; i.e. one of /j w/
V: a vowel
Allophony
- Unaspirated stops [p t̻ ɓ̰ ...] become aspirated [pʰ tʰ̻ ɓ ...] after an aspirated stop. Implosives become non-creaky-voiced unaspirated.
- Stops [pʰ t̻ ɓ ...] assimilate in aspiration to a following obstruent or nasal. Before an aspirated stop, creaky-voiced implosives become non-creaky-voiced unaspirated; [ɓ ɗ̻] become [m n̻].
- Semivowels [j w] become near-high [ɪ̯ ʊ̯] after a lax vowel.
- Semivowels [j ɪ̯ w ʊ̯] assimilate in laxity to a preceding vowel or semivowel.
- Non-pharyngeal unrounded non-palatal consonants [m t̻ ɗ̻ ...] become front [mʲ t̻ʲ ɗ̻ʲ ...] after a front vowel or semivowel.
- Nasals [m mʲ n̻ n̻ʲ] become nasals and assimilate in place of articulation to a following obstruent or nasal.
- Stops [pʰ tʰ̻ʲ ɓ̰ ...] assimilate in glottalisation to a preceding obstruent. After a creaky-voiced implosive, aspirated stops become unaspirated.
- Consonants [m tʰ̻ ɓ̰ʲ ...] persistently assimilate in voice to a following obstruent or nasal. Before a voiceless obstruent, nasals become non-nasal; creaky-voiced implosives become non-implosive. Before a voiced stop or nasal, aspirated stops become unaspirated; non-palatal or velar ejective stops become non-glottalised implosives; [cʼ kʼ] become [j ɰ]; fricative sibilants become stops or nasals; [f fʲ] become [b bʲ].
- Central vowels [a ã] become non-low front [ɛ ɛ̃] before a front consonant.
- [ɰ u o õ] become non-back before a non-retroflexed alveolar consonant.
- Between a voiced phone and a voiced phone, fricatives become short non-glottalised voiced stops or nasals; [f fʲ] become [b bʲ].
- Non-ejective voiced vowels and non-glottal stop voiced consonants other than tense semivowels [m ɟ i ...] become creaky-voiced [ɓ j ḭ ...] after a creaky-voiced implosive. Consonants other than stops become non-glottalised; nasals become non-nasal; non-implosive non-palatal or velar stops become non-glottalised implosives; [ɟ g] become [j ɰ]; taps become stops or nasals; [ɲ ŋ] become [j ɰ]; labiodental nasals become bilabial; semivowels become tense.
- Non-nasal vowels [i ṵ o ...] become nasal [ĩ ṵ̃ õ ...] after a nasal vowel.
- Non-ejective voiced vowels and non-glottal stop voiced semivowels other than tense semivowels [ɪ̯ u o ...] become creaky-voiced [j ṵ o̰ ...] before a creaky-voiced implosive. Semivowels become non-glottalised; semivowels become tense.
- Non-back vowels and non-velarised semivowels [j̥ ʉ ɵ̃ ...] assimilate in frontness or palatalisation to a preceding consonant. After a front consonant, low vowels become non-low.
- Unrounded non-low vowels and unrounded semivowels other than palatal semivowels [ɰ̥̟ ɨ ɘ̃ ...] become rounded [w̥ ʉ ɵ̃ ...] after a rounded semivowel. Semivowels other than [ɰ] become velar.
- Unrounded non-front non-labial consonants [n̻ k s̻ ...] become rounded [nʷ̻ kʷ sʷ̻ ...] before a rounded semivowel. Semivowels other than [ɰ] become velar.
Some words
| /pʰowa/ | [pʰowa] |
| /t̻os̻we/ | [t̻ɵd͡zʷ̻wɵ] |
| /ɗ̰̻au/ | [ɗ̰̻a̰u] |
| /s̻os̻a/ | [s̻ɵd͡z̻a] |
| /t̻ewo/ | [t̻ɘwo] |
| /n̻eakwo/ | [n̻ɘakʷwo] |
| /iwa/ | [iwa] |
| /s̻wãa/ | [sʷ̻wãã] |
| /wẽ/ | [wɵ̃] |
| /fai/ | [fai] |
| /t̻eɾ̻a/ | [t̻ɘɾ̻ʲɛ] |
| /it̻a/ | [it̻ʲɛ] |
| /n̻umwat̻o/ | [n̻umwat̻o] |
| /ãpa/ | [ãpa] |
| /woɾ̻o/ | [wɵɾ̻o] |
| /maɗ̰̻a/ | [ma̰ɗ̰̻a̰] |
| /t̻as̻we/ | [t̻ad͡zʷ̻wɵ] |
| /ɓ̰iwa/ | [ɓ̰ɨ̰wa] |
| /tʰ̻oɓ̰ot̻wo/ | [tʰ̻o̰ɓ̰ɵ̰tʷ̻wo] |
| /mome/ | [momɘ] |
| /matʰ̻jei/ | [matʰ̻ɰ̟ɘi] |
| /ɓ̰õs̻aɗ̰̻o/ | [ɓ̰ɵ̰̃d͡z̻a̰ɗ̰̻o̰] |
| /t̻omami/ | [t̻omamɨ] |
| /pẽn̻o/ | [pɘ̃n̻ʲo] |
| /n̻ekja/ | [n̻ɘcjɛ] |
| /pʰawi/ | [pʰaʊ̯ʉ] |
| /ka/ | [ka] |
| /ɓ̰ãmã/ | [ɓ̰ã̰mã] |
| /ɗ̰̻jan̻ewe/ | [ɗ̰̻ɰ̟a̰n̻ɘwɵ] |
| /t̻waa/ | [tʷ̻waa] |
Generated by Gleb version 0.3.2 / 5.0a with seed 59620340370.