Phonemic inventory
Consonants
| | Bilabial | | Alveolar | | Pal. / vel. | | Rounded velar | | Glottal |
| Nasal | | | m | | | n | | | ŋ | | | | | | |
| Stop | | p | b | | t | d | | k | g | | | | | ʔ | |
| Fricative | | | | | s | z | | x | ɣ | | xʷ | | | h | |
| Approximant | | | | | | | | | j | | | w | | | |
Vowels
| | Front | | Back |
| High | | i | | u |
| Mid-high | | e | | o |
| Low | | | | ɑ |
Syllable structure
(C1)V(C2)
C1: a consonant
V: a vowel
C2: a consonant other than a voiced stop (/b d g/)
Allophony
- [j] become [w] before a rounded vowel or semivowel.
- Non-palatal or velar obstruents or nasals [m p d ...] persistently become velar [ŋ͡m k͡p g ...] before a velar obstruent or nasal. Non-bilabial obstruents or nasals become non-alveolar.
- Non-back vowels and non-velarised semivowels [j i e] become central [ ɨ ɘ] after a non-palatal consonant. [j] are deleted.
- Nasals [ŋ͡m m n ŋ] become nasals and assimilate in place of articulation between an obstruent or nasal and an obstruent or nasal.
- Non-front vowels [ɨ u o ...] assimilate in backness or velarisation to a following semivowel. Before [w], central vowels become central lax pharyngealised. Before [j], rounded vowels become unrounded.
- Obstruents [k͡p t s ...] assimilate in voice to a preceding non-nasal consonant other than a semivowel.
- Non-pharyngealised central vowels [ɨ ɘ a] persistently become front [i e ɛ] before a palatal semivowel. [a] become [ɛ].
- Obstruents [k͡p t z ...] persistently assimilate in voice to a following non-nasal consonant other than a semivowel.
- Consonants [ŋ͡m p z ...] persistently assimilate in voice to a preceding obstruent or nasal. After a voiceless obstruent, nasals become non-nasal. After a voiced obstruent or nasal, [ʔ h] are deleted.
- Unrounded non-palatal non-alveolar consonants [ŋ͡m g͡b g ...] become front [ɲ͡m g͡b̟ g̟ ...] before a palatal semivowel. [k͡p g͡b k g ʔ x ɣ] become [k͡p̟ g͡b̟ k̟ g̟ ɠ̟ x̟ ɣ̟]; [h] become [j̥].
- [k͡p̟ k͡p p pʲ t k̟ k kʷ ɠ̟ z ɣ̟ ɣ ɣʷ] become glottalised after a non-nasal glottal stop. Obstruents other than stops become non-glottalised; obstruents other than stops become implosives.
- Voiced stops [g͡b̟ d ɠ̰̟ ...] become nasals [ŋ͡m̟ n ɠ̟ ...] before a nasal. [ɠ̰̟] become [ɠ̟]; [ɗ͡z] become [n].
- Voiceless stops [k͡p̟ pʼ k̟ ...] become aspirated [k͡pʰ̟ pʰ kʰ̟ ...] after a glottal fricative. Ejective stops become non-glottalised.
- Nasals [ɲ͡m m ɲ ...] persistently become nasals and assimilate in place of articulation to a following obstruent.
- Non-front vowels [ɨ ɪ̈ˤ ɜˤ ...] become front [i ɪˤ ɛˤ ...] before a palatal semivowel. Rounded vowels become unrounded; low vowels become non-low.
- Consonants [ɲ͡m pʼ kʼʷ ...] persistently assimilate in voice to a following obstruent or nasal and become voiceless word-finally. Before a voiced obstruent or nasal, glottalised consonants other than [ɠ̰̟] become non-glottalised; aspirated consonants become unaspirated. Before a voiceless obstruent or pause, nasals become non-nasal; implosives become non-implosive; [ɲ͡m ɲ] become [k͡p̟ k̟].
- Aspirated stops [k͡pʰ̟ pʰ kʰ̟ ...] persistently become unaspirated [k͡p̟ p k̟ ...].
- Mid vowels [e o ɛˤ ...] become high [i u ɪˤ ...] before a nasal.
- Voiced vowels and semivowels [j ɪ o ...] become creaky-voiced [ɠ̟ ɪ̰ o̰ ...] before a creaky-voiced implosive. Semivowels become non-glottalised obstruents or nasals; [j] become [ɠ̟].
- Non-pharyngealised non-front vowels [ɨ ɘ a ...] persistently become front [i e ɛ ...] after a front consonant. Lax vowels become non-low; rounded vowels become unrounded.
- Non-ejective voiced vowels and non-glottal stop voiced semivowels [j ɪ o ...] become creaky-voiced [ɠ̟ ɪ̰ o̰ ...] before a glottalised phone. Semivowels become non-glottalised obstruents or nasals; [j] become [ɠ̟].
- Short alveolar stops or nasals [n t d ...] become trills [r r̥ r ...] between a vowel or semivowel and a vowel or semivowel. [n] become [r]; [tʼ] become [ɗ]; [tʰ] become [r̥].
- [j̥ j a a̰ ɑ ɑ̰] become rounded after a rounded consonant. Semivowels become velar; central vowels become back.
- [k͡p̟ k͡pʼ̟ k͡p k͡pʼ p pʼ pʲ pʼʲ t tʼ k̟ kʼ̟ k kʼ kʷ kʼʷ ɗ ɠ̟ ɠ̰̟ ɠ ɠʷ t͡s ɗ͡z z ɣ̟ ɣ ɣʷ] assimilate in glottalisation to a following non-nasal consonant other than a resonant. Before a glottalised consonant, obstruents other than stops become non-glottalised; obstruents other than stops become implosives.
- [k͡p̟ k͡pʼ̟ k͡p k͡pʼ p pʼ pʲ pʼʲ t tʼ k̟ kʼ̟ k kʼ kʷ kʼʷ ɗ̰ ɠ̰̟ ɠ̰ ɠ̰ʷ t͡s t͡sʼ ɗ͡z̰] persistently assimilate in glottalisation to a following non-nasal consonant other than a resonant.
Some words
| /mopgox/ | [mok͡pkox] |
| /bɑpnu/ | [bɑptu] |
| /ʔuthuxʷ/ | [ʔuthuxʷ] |
| /dɑje/ | [dɛje] |
| /tixek/ | [tɨxɘk] |
| /toxʷmux/ | [toxʷpux] |
| /zɑp/ | [zɑp] |
| /joxʷbɑp/ | [woxʷpɑp] |
| /hus/ | [hus] |
| /ix/ | [ix] |
| /ɑxme/ | [ɑxpɘ] |
| /zɑxʷɣɑw/ | [zɑxʷxɑw̥] |
| /sɑgoxʷ/ | [sɑgoxʷ] |
| /kesɣej/ | [kɘxxej̥] |
| /bispu/ | [bɨspu] |
| /muxduk/ | [muxtuk] |
| /biŋzuk/ | [bɨnzuk] |
| /hoh/ | [hoh] |
| /zɑxti/ | [zɑxtɨ] |
| /gejxez/ | [gej̥xɘs] |
| /zɑxi/ | [zɑxɨ] |
| /hoŋɣɑx/ | [huŋɣɑx] |
| /upbɑ/ | [uppɑ] |
| /gipɣej/ | [gɨk͡pxej̥] |
| /ne/ | [nɘ] |
| /wɑkbo/ | [wɒkpo] |
| /ʔɑkjoɣ/ | [ʔɑkw̥ox] |
| /zɑszex/ | [zɑssɘx] |
| /ukbɑp/ | [ukpɑp] |
| /wɑɑp/ | [wɒɑp] |
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