Phonemic inventory
Consonants
| | Labial | | Alveolar | | Palatal | | Velar | | Glottal |
| Nasal | | | | m | | | | n | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| Stop | | pʰ | p | b | | tʰ | t | d | | | | | | kʰ | k | | | | ʔ | |
| Fricative | | | f | | | | s | | | | | | | | x | ɣ | | | | |
| Approximant | | | | | | | | l | | | | j | | | | w | | | | |
Vowels
| | Front | | Central | | Back |
| High | | i | iː | | ɨ | ɨː | | u | uː |
| Mid-high | | e | eː | | | | | o | oː |
| Low | | | | | a | aː | | | |
Syllable structure
(C1)V(C2)
C1: a consonant
V: a vowel
C2: a consonant
Allophony
- Labial obstruents or nasals [m pʰ b ...] persistently become velar [ŋ͡m k͡pʰ g͡b ...] before a velar obstruent.
- Before an alveolar approximant lateral, [tʰ t d] become [t͡ɬʰ t͡ɬ d͡ɮ]; [s] become [ɬ].
- After a rounded semivowel, non-back tense vowels become back rounded; front vowels become back rounded.
- Non-nasal consonants [k͡pʰ d f ...] persistently assimilate in voice to a preceding consonant other than an approximant. After a voiced obstruent or nasal, aspirated stops become unaspirated; [ʔ] are deleted.
- Non-nasal consonants [k͡pʰ k ɮ ...] persistently assimilate in voice to a following obstruent or nasal. Before a voiced obstruent or nasal, aspirated stops become unaspirated; [ʔ] are deleted.
- Unrounded non-palatal non-labial consonants [n g ɮ ...] become rounded [nʷ gʷ ɮʷ ...] after a rounded semivowel.
- Unrounded non-palatal non-labial consonants [n g ɮ ...] become rounded [nʷ gʷ ɮʷ ...] after a rounded consonant.
- Nasals [ŋ͡m m n nʷ] become nasals and assimilate in place of articulation to a following obstruent.
- Mid-high vowels [e eː o oː] become high [i iː u uː] before a semivowel.
- Velar semivowels [w̥ w] become unrounded velar fronted [ɰ̟̥ ɰ̟] before a palatal semivowel.
- [k͡pʰ k͡p pʰ p tʰ t tʰʷ tʷ kʰ k kʰʷ kʷ t͡ɬʰ t͡ɬ t͡ɬʰʷ t͡ɬʷ ɣ͡v v ɮ ɮʷ z zʷ ɣ ɣʷ] become ejective before a non-nasal glottal stop. Obstruents other than stops become non-ejective; aspirated stops become unaspirated; alveolar obstruents other than stops become resonants; velar obstruents other than stops become resonants; [v] become [w]; [ɣ͡v] become [ɰ].
- Unaspirated obstruents [k͡p kʼ f ...] persistently assimilate in voice to a preceding non-nasal consonant other than a resonant. After a voiced obstruent, ejective stops become non-ejective.
- Non-affricate alveolar stops [tʰ tʼ tʷ ...] become affricate sibilants [t͡sʰ t͡sʼ t͡sʷ ...] before a high tense semivowel.
- Vowels and semivowels [j̥ w uː ...] become nasal [ŋʲ ŋʷ uː̃ ...] after a nasal. Semivowels become nasals; voiceless semivowels become voiced.
- Stops [k͡pʰ tʷ t͡ɬʼ ...] persistently assimilate in voice to a following non-nasal consonant other than a resonant and become voiceless word-finally. Before a voiced obstruent, ejective stops become non-ejective; aspirated stops become unaspirated.
- [ŋ͡m ŋ͡ɱ m ɱ ŋʲ ŋ̟ ŋ k͡pʰ k͡p k͡pʼ g͡b pʰ p pʼ b kʰ k kʼ g ʔ ʔʷ x͡f ɣ͡v f v x ɣ] assimilate in palatalisation to a preceding consonant other than a semivowel. After a consonant other than a semivowel, [ŋʲ] become [ŋ].
- [c͡pʰ c͡p k͡pʰ k͡p pʰ p pʲʰ pʲ tʰ t tʰʷ tʷ cʰ c kʰ k kʰʷ kʷ t͡ɬʰ t͡ɬ t͡ɬʰʷ t͡ɬʷ t͡sʰ t͡s t͡sʰʷ t͡sʷ ʝ͡v ɣ͡v v vʲ ɮ ɮʷ z zʷ ʝ ɣ ɣʷ] become ejective before a glottal stop. Obstruents other than stops become non-ejective; aspirated stops become unaspirated; palatal or velar obstruents other than stops become resonants; alveolar obstruents other than stops become resonants; [v vʲ] become [w w]; [ʝ͡v ɣ͡v] become [j ɰ].
- Non-nasal vowels [i u o ...] persistently become nasal [ĩ ũ õ ...] before a nasal phone.
- Labial obstruents or nasals [ɲ͡m c͡pʼ pʲ ...] assimilate in labiodentality to a following labial obstruent or nasal.
- Non-ejective voiceless stops [c͡pʰ pʲ kʰ ...] persistently assimilate in aspiration to a following consonant other than a resonant and become unaspirated word-finally.
Some words
| /mape/ | [mãpe] |
| /lewit/ | [liwut] |
| /pae/ | [pae] |
| /a/ | [a] |
| /ɣade/ | [ɣade] |
| /wejaːtʰ/ | [wujaːt] |
| /idi/ | [idi] |
| /nuke/ | [nũke] |
| /oleː/ | [oleː] |
| /ina/ | [ĩnã] |
| /ɣiɣid/ | [ɣiɣit] |
| /ɣune/ | [ɣũnẽ] |
| /neːdni/ | [neː̃dnĩ] |
| /etɣa/ | [etxa] |
| /pʰixa/ | [pʰixa] |
| /ɣunwaː/ | [ɣũnŋʷaː̃] |
| /mixmo/ | [mĩɣmõ] |
| /dunɨː/ | [dũnɨː̃] |
| /sufun/ | [sufũn] |
| /pukaː/ | [pukaː] |
| /lukfa/ | [lukfa] |
| /silbaː/ | [silbaː] |
| /poleː/ | [poleː] |
| /e/ | [e] |
| /ɣilnɨːj/ | [ɣilnɨː̃ŋʲ] |
| /salme/ | [salmẽ] |
| /niː/ | [niː̃] |
| /bapʰi/ | [bapʰi] |
| /bunmɨː/ | [bũnmɨː̃] |
| /ponxi/ | [põŋɣi] |
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