Phonemic inventory

Syllable structure

(C)V

C: a consonant
V: a vowel

Allophony

• Voiceless obstruents other than [p], i.e. [t̻ k ʃ ...], persistently become ejective [tʼ̻ kʼ ʔ ...] before a glottal stop. Fricative sibilants become glottal stops; [x] become [ʔ].
• Nasals [m n̻ ɲ ŋ] become nasals and assimilate in place of articulation to a following obstruent or nasal.
• [ɨ] become [i] before a palatal nasal.
• Non-pharyngeal consonants other than [ɲ ɭ], i.e. [m t̻ ʔ ...], become front [mʲ tʲ̻ ʔʲ ...] before a palatal nasal.
• Voiced consonants [m ṉ r̻ ...] become voiceless [^mb ⁿḏ r̥̻ ...] before an obstruent. Nasals become non-nasal voiced.
• Consonants [m p s̻ ...] persistently assimilate in voice to a following consonant other than a resonant and become voiceless word-finally. Before a voiced stop or nasal, non-palatal or velar ejective consonants other than [ʔʲ] become implosives; [cʼ kʼ] become [ʔʲ ʔ]; [ʔʲ] become [j]. Before a voiceless consonant other than a resonant or pause, nasals become non-nasal voiced.
• Front vowels and semivowels [j i e ɛ] persistently become non-front [ɰ̟ ɨ ɘ ɜ] after a retroflex approximant.
• Consonants [m b ɗ̰̱ ...] persistently assimilate in voice to a preceding consonant other than a resonant. After a voiceless consonant other than a resonant, nasals become non-nasal voiced. After a voiced obstruent or nasal, non-palatal or velar glottalised consonants other than implosives or [ʔʲ] become implosives; [cʼ kʼ] become [ʔʲ ʔ]; [ʔʲ] become [j].
• Stops or nasals [m ⁿṯʲ ḏ ...] are persistently deleted between an obstruent or nasal and a stop or nasal.
• Before a retroflex approximant, trills become retroflex apical approximant laterals; [r̥ʲ̻ rʲ̻] become [ɭ ɭ]; [r̥̻] become [ɭ].
• Coronal consonants [n̻ tʲ̻ ɗ̥̱ʲʼ ...] persistently assimilate in laminality to a following coronal consonant. Before a retroflex approximant, palatoalveolar obstruents or nasals become alveolar laminal.
• Coronal consonants other than approximants or [r̥̻ r̻], i.e. [n̻ tʲʼ̻ ɗ̥̱ʼ ...], persistently become retroflex [ɳ̻ ʈ̻ʼ ɗ̢̥̻ʼ ...] after a retroflex approximant. Palatalised consonants become non-front; trills become non-retroflex alveolar; apical trills become laminal.
• [^mb ^mbʲ ⁿd̻ ⁿdʲ̻ ⁿd ⁿdʲ ^ɳɖ̻ ^ɳɖ ⁿḏ ⁿḏʲ ^ɲɟ ^ŋg b bʲ ɟ g] persistently become fricatives between a vowel or semivowel and a vowel or semivowel. Coronal stops become stops or nasals; coronal stops become nasal; non-coronal prenasalised stops become nasal stops or nasals.
• Short glottal stops [ʔ ʔʲ] are deleted between a vowel or resonant and a vowel or semivowel.

Some words

Generated by Gleb version 0.3.2 / 5.0a with seed 30431975914.