Phonemic inventory

Syllable structure

(C₁)V(ʔ)

C₁: a consonant
V: a vowel

Allophony

• Back vowels and semivowels other than [w], i.e. [ɰ u ɔ ɔ̃], become central [ɰ̟ ʉ ɞ ɞ̃] after a palatal nasal.
• [m n̻ ŋ p t̻ k ʔ t͡ʃ f s̻ ʃ x l̻] become front before a palatal nasal.
• Nasals [m n̻ ɲ ...] persistently become nasals and assimilate in place of articulation to a following obstruent.
• Consonants other than [w], i.e. [m p fʲ ...], become rounded [mʷ pʷ fʷ ...] before a rounded semivowel. Front consonants become non-front; non-velar palatal or velar consonants become velar; glottal stops become non-glottal stop velar voiced.
• Palatoalveolar stops or nasals [ṉ ṉʲ t͡ʃʷ ...] become non-affricate non-coronal palatal [ɲ ɲ kʷ ...] before a palatal obstruent or nasal. Rounded stops or nasals become velar.
• Stops [p tʷ̻ kʷ ...] become ejective [pʼ tʷʼ̻ kʷʼ ...] before a non-nasal glottal stop.
• Front vowels [i ɛ ɛ̃] persistently become non-front [ɨ ɜ ɜ̃] before a semivowel.
• Non-pharyngeal unrounded non-front consonants other than [ɰ̟ ɰ], i.e. [m pʼ t͡ʃ ...], become front [mʲ pʲʼ t͡ɕ ...] after a front high vowel.
• Non-nasal vowels [i u ɞ ...] become nasal [ĩ ũ ɞ̃ ...] after a nasal vowel.
• Coronal consonants [n̻ tʷʼ̻ s̻ ...] persistently assimilate in anteriority and retroflexion to a preceding coronal consonant. After a palatoalveolar obstruent or nasal, non-sibilant coronal stops become affricate sibilants; approximants become non-lateral non-coronal palatal or velar; [l̻] become [j]; [lʷ̻] become [w].
• Consonants [m tʼ̻ t͡ʃʷʼ ...] persistently assimilate in voice to a preceding obstruent or nasal. After a nasal, ejective consonants become non-ejective; [ʔʲ] become [j].
• [mʲ̥ mʲ ɱʲ̥ ɱʲ n̥̻ n̻ nʲ̥̻ nʲ̻ ṉ̥ ṉ ṉʲ̥ ṉʲ pʲ pʲʼ bʲ t̻ tʼ̻ d̻ tʲ̻ tʲʼ̻ dʲ̻ t͡s̻ t͡sʼ̻ d͡z̻ t͡sʲ̻ t͡sʲʼ̻ d͡zʲ̻ t͡ʃ t͡ʃʼ d͡ʒ t͡ɕ t͡ɕʼ d͡ʑ s̻ z̻ sʲ̻ zʲ̻ ʃ ʒ ɕ ʑ] persistently assimilate in dorsality and uvularity and palatalisation and whether palatal or palatalised velar to a following obstruent or nasal. Before a palatal or velar obstruent or nasal, coronal obstruents or nasals become non-coronal; affricates become fricatives; voiced obstruents other than [bʲ] become voiceless; non-labial voiceless obstruents or nasals other than obstruents become voiced; ejective affricate sibilants become non-ejective.
• Unrounded non-low vowels and unrounded semivowels [j̥ ɰ̥ ɨ̃ ...] become rounded [w̥ w̥ ʉ̃ ...] before a rounded consonant. Non-velar semivowels become velar; palatal semivowels become velar.
• Coronal consonants [n̥̻ tʲʼ̻ d͡ʑ ...] persistently assimilate in anteriority and retroflexion to a following obstruent sibilant. Before a palatoalveolar obstruent, non-sibilant coronal stops become affricate sibilants; approximant laterals become non-lateral non-coronal palatal or velar; voiceless approximants become voiced; [lʷ̥̻ lʷ̻] become [w w]; [l̥̻ l̻] become [j j].
• Coronal voiced nasals [n̻ nʲ̻ ṉʷ ...] become non-nasal approximant laterals [l̻ lʲ̻ w ...] before an alveolar approximant. Palatoalveolar nasals become non-coronal semivowels; [ṉ] become [j]; [ṉʷ] become [w].
• Palatal obstruents or nasals [ɲ͡m̥ ɲ̥ c ...] become alveopalatal [mʲ ṉʲ̥ t͡ɕ ...] before a palatoalveolar obstruent or nasal. Labial stops or nasals become non-coronal; non-labial stops become affricates; [ɲ͡m̥ ɲ͡ɱ̥] become [mʲ mʲ]; labiodental nasals become bilabial; [ɟ͡b] become [pʲ].
• Voiced obstruents [ɟ͡b g vʲ ...] persistently become nasals [ɲ͡m ŋ j̃ ...] before a nasal. Affricates become non-sibilant coronal nasals; obstruent sibilants other than stops become approximants; palatoalveolar obstruents other than stops become non-coronal semivowels; palatal or velar obstruents other than stops become approximants; labiodental fricatives become non-labial semivowels; [vʷ ʒʷ] become [w̃ w̃]; [ʒ] become [j̃].
• Consonants [ɲ͡m̥ pʼ d͡ʑ ...] persistently assimilate in voice to a following obstruent or nasal and become voiceless word-finally. Before a voiced obstruent or nasal, ejective consonants become non-ejective; [ʔʲ] become [j].
• Unrounded consonants [ɲ͡m̥ p fʲ ...] become rounded [ŋ͡mʷ̥ pʷ fʷ ...] before a non-low rounded vowel or a rounded semivowel. Front consonants become non-front; non-velar palatal or velar consonants become velar; [ʔ ʔʲ] become [w w].
• Mid-low vowels [ɛ œ̃ ɞ ...] persistently become tense [e ø̃ ɵ ...] before a high semivowel.

Some words

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