Phonemic inventory
Consonants
| | Bilabial | | Alveolar | | Velar | | Glottal |
| Nasal | | | m | | | n | | | ŋ | | | |
| Stop | | pʰ | p | | tʰ | t | | kʰ | k | | | ʔ |
| Fricative | | | | | | s | | | x | | h | |
| Approximant | | | | | | l | | | w | | | |
Vowels
| | Front | | Back |
| High | | i | iː | y | yː | | | | u | uː |
| Mid-low | | ɛ | ɛː | œ | œː | | | | ɔ | ɔː |
| Low | | | | | | | ɑ | ɑː | | |
Syllable structure
(C1)(C2)V(C3)
C1: a consonant
C2: one of /k l w/
V: a vowel
C3: a consonant
Allophony
- [h] persistently become [x] before a non-bilabial voiceless obstruent.
- Unrounded vowels [i ɛ ɑ ...] become rounded [y œ ɒ ...] before a rounded semivowel.
- Non-nasal approximants [l w] become voiceless [l̥ w̥] before an obstruent.
- Nasals [m n ŋ] persistently become nasals and assimilate in place of articulation to a following obstruent or nasal.
- Consonants [m tʰ x ...] persistently assimilate in voice to a preceding consonant other than an approximant. After a nasal, aspirated consonants become unaspirated; [ʔ] are deleted.
- Low lax vowels [ɑ ɑː ɒ ɒː] become mid-low [ɜ ɜː ɔ ɔː] before a semivowel. Unrounded vowels become non-back.
- Alveolar stops [tʰ t d] become affricate sibilants [t͡sʰ t͡s d͡z] before a non-nasal alveolar fricative.
- Voiceless stops [pʰ tʰ k ...] persistently become ejective [pʼ tʼ kʼ ...] after a non-nasal glottal stop. Aspirated stops become unaspirated.
- Voiceless stops [pʰ t kʼ ...] assimilate in glottalisation to a preceding non-nasal consonant other than an approximant. After an ejective consonant, aspirated stops become unaspirated.
- Consonants [m̥ tʰ t͡sʼ ...] persistently assimilate in voice to a following obstruent or nasal. Before a voiced obstruent or nasal, ejective consonants become non-ejective; aspirated consonants become unaspirated.
- Non-ejective voiceless stops [pʰ tʰ k ...] persistently assimilate in aspiration to a following consonant other than an approximant and become aspirated word-finally.
- Unrounded non-bilabial consonants [n̥ kʰ d͡z ...] become rounded [nʷ̥ kʷʰ d͡zʷ ...] before a rounded semivowel. [ʔ] become [w]; [h] become [w].
- Non-ejective unaspirated voiceless stops [p tʷ kʷ ...] become aspirated [pʰ tʷʰ kʷʰ ...] after a glottal fricative.
- Non-ejective unaspirated voiceless stops [p tʷ kʷ ...] persistently become aspirated [pʰ tʷʰ kʷʰ ...] after a glottal fricative.
- Non-ejective unaspirated voiceless stops [p tʷ kʷ ...] become aspirated [pʰ tʷʰ kʷʰ ...] before a glottal fricative.
- Unaspirated consonants [m̥ d t͡sʷʼ ...] assimilate in voice to a preceding non-nasal consonant other than an approximant. After a voiced obstruent, ejective consonants become non-ejective.
- Front vowels [i y ɛː ...] become central [ɨ ʉ ɜː ...] before a consonant.
- Velar obstruents or nasals [ŋ̥ k kʷʼ ...] become uvular [ɴ̥ q qʷʼ ...] after a non-front non-high vowel.
- Velar obstruents or nasals [ŋ̥ k kʷʼ ...] become uvular [ɴ̥ q qʷʼ ...] after a back low vowel.
Some words
| /ɛssɔː/ | [ɜssɔː] |
| /nɑlkɛ/ | [nɑl̥kɛ] |
| /lɑːkhɔ/ | [lɑːqʰhɔ] |
| /ŋɔːpʰkuk/ | [ŋɔːpkukʰ] |
| /nɔtlɔː/ | [nɔtl̥ɔː] |
| /tʰyːsis/ | [tʰʉːsɨs] |
| /siːhsu/ | [sɨːxsu] |
| /kʰɑːtkɔː/ | [kʰɑːtkɔː] |
| /nɑtɑk/ | [nɑtɑqʰ] |
| /xipŋɑk/ | [xɨpŋ̥ɑqʰ] |
| /sɑːtɛk/ | [sɑːtɜqʰ] |
| /sɑtʰɔː/ | [sɑtʰɔː] |
| /kɑplɔ/ | [kɑpl̥ɔ] |
| /siːspɑːsɛ/ | [sɨːspɑːsɛ] |
| /tʰɑsnɑː/ | [tʰɑsn̥ɑː] |
| /xukŋuː/ | [xukŋ̥uː] |
| /tlutɑw/ | [tl̥utɔw] |
| /siːttʰuk/ | [sɨːtʰtʰukʰ] |
| /sɑtkʰɑh/ | [sɑtʰkʰɑh] |
| /ɑŋkʰɛ/ | [ɑŋgɛ] |
| /sɑːktki/ | [sɑːqtki] |
| /tkœːhu/ | [tkɞːhu] |
| /tɑː/ | [tɑː] |
| /unhyː/ | [unyː] |
| /nɑ/ | [nɑ] |
| /tɑːɑl/ | [tɑːɑl] |
| /lɔʔu/ | [lɔʔu] |
| /nywlɛ/ | [nʉwlɛ] |
| /kʰuːsɑp/ | [kʰuːsɑpʰ] |
| /xɑtku/ | [xɑtku] |
Generated by Gleb version 0.3.2 / 5.0a with seed 44264175491.