Phonemic inventory

Syllable structure

(C₁)(C₂)V(C₃)

C₁: a consonant
C₂: one of /ʕ j/
V: a vowel
C₃: a consonant

Allophony

• Non-nasal consonants [p d̻ˤ s̻ ...] persistently assimilate in voice to a following consonant other than an approximant and become voiceless word-finally. Before a voiced consonant other than an approximant, ejective radicals become non-ejective.
• Palatal stops or nasals [ŋʲ͡n̻ ŋʲ ɟ͡d̻ ...] persistently assimilate in whether palatal or palatalised velar to a following palatal stop or nasal.
• Non-low vowels and semivowels [j̥ iː e̤ ...] assimilate in frontness or palatalisation to a preceding consonant. After a front consonant, back vowels and semivowels become unrounded. After a consonant, palatal semivowels become glottal fricatives.
• Non-back non-low vowels and non-velarised semivowels [j̥ ɨ eː ...] assimilate in frontness or palatalisation to a preceding consonant. After a consonant, semivowels become glottal fricatives.
• Alveolar consonants [ɲ͡n̻ gʲ͡d̻ d̻ˤ ...] become palatoalveolar [ɲ͡ṉ ʑ d͡ʒˤ ...] after a palatoalveolar obstruent. Palatal or velar stops become non-palatal or velar fricative sibilants; non-pharyngealised approximant laterals become non-lateral non-coronal palatal or velar; non-palatal or velar stops become affricate sibilants; velar stops become non-velar; [l̻̥ l̻] become [j̥ j]; [l̻ˤ̥ l̻ˤ] become [ħ ʕ].
• Short non-nasal voiced consonants [b ɟ ʒ ...] become voiceless [p c ʃ ...] after a voiceless glottal fricative.
• Non-low central vowels [ɨ ɨː ɘ̤ ...] become front [i iː e̤ ...] after a palatal semivowel.
• Obstruents [p t̻ t͡ʃ ...] persistently assimilate in voice to a following obstruent and become voiceless word-finally.
• Short non-affricate non-palatal or velar coronal stops or nasals [n̻ ṉ d̻ ...] become taps [ɾ̻̃ ɾ̻̃ ɾ̻ ...] between a vowel or an approximant and a vowel or an approximant. Palatoalveolar nasals become alveolar.
• [p b pˤ bˤ c͡t̻ ɟ͡d̻ kʲ͡t̻ gʲ͡d̻ k͡t̻ g͡d̻ k͡t̟̻ˤ g͡d̟̻ˤ k͡t̻ˤ g͡d̻ˤ t̻ d̻ t̻ˤ d̻ˤ c ɟ kʲ gʲ k g k̟ˤ g̟ˤ kˤ gˤ ʔˁ ʔ t͡ʃ d͡ʒ t͡ʃˤ d͡ʒˤ s̻ z̻ s̻ˤ z̻ˤ ʃ ʒ ʃˤ ʒˤ ɕ ʑ ħ ʕ h ɦ ɾ̻̃ ɾ̻̃ˤ ɾ̻̥ ɾ̻ ɾ̻ˤ̥ ɾ̻ˤ l̻̥ l̻ l̻ˤ̥ l̻ˤ l̻ʲ̥ l̻ʲ j̥ j w̥ w] persistently assimilate in voice to a preceding obstruent or nasal. After a voiced obstruent or nasal, ejective radicals become non-ejective.
• Non-low vowels and semivowels [j̥ ɨ̤ eː ...] persistently become lax [h ɜ̤ ɛː ...] before a pharyngealised consonant. High vowels become non-high; front high vowels become non-front; back high vowels become non-back unrounded; semivowels other than [j̥] become uvular stops; [j̥] become [h].
• Non-low central vowels [ɨ ɘ ɜ ...] persistently become front [i e ɛ ...] before a palatal semivowel.
• Glottals [ʔ h ɦ] become pharyngeals [ʔˁ ħ ʕ] before a pharyngealised consonant. Glottals other than [ʔ] become non-glottal fricative.
• Before a palatal semivowel, rounded vowels become unrounded central; [w̥ w] become [kʷ gʷ].
• Non-breathy-voiced voiced vowels [i e ɛː ...] become creaky-voiced [ḭ ḛ ɛ̰ː ...] before an ejective radical.
• Non-pharyngealised non-front non-dorsal consonants [m ʔ h ...] persistently become front [mʲ j j̥ ...] after a front consonant except a semivowel. Glottal fricatives become palatal; [ʔ] become [j]; [h] become [j̥].
• Stops [p k͡t̻ˤ kʷ ...] become aspirated [pʰ k͡t̻ʰˤ kʷʰ ...] before a glottal fricative.
• Unaspirated obstruents other than [z̻ z̻ˤ z̻ʲ ʒ ʒˤ ʑ], i.e. [p t̻ kˤ ...], become ejective [pʼ t̻ʼ kˤʼ ...] after an ejective radical. Voiced stops become ejective.
• [h] become stops and assimilate in place of articulation to a following obstruent or nasal. Before a palatoalveolar-palatal or velar nasal, [h] become [ʃ].
• Unaspirated voiced vowels and non-glottal fricative voiced semivowels [j e ɛː ...] persistently become breathy-voiced [j̤ e̤ ɛː̤ ...] before a breathy-voiced consonant. Creaky-voiced vowels become non-creaky-voiced.
• Unaspirated voiced vowels and non-glottal fricative voiced consonants other than fricatives or [ʕ], i.e. [m d̻ u ...], become breathy-voiced [m̤ d̻̤ ṳ ...] before a breathy-voiced consonant. Creaky-voiced vowels become non-creaky-voiced.
• Central low vowels [a a̰ aː̤ ...] become back [ɑ ɑ̰ ɑː̤ ...] before an uvular stop.
• Coronal consonants [ɲ͡n̻̤ k͡t̻ s̻ ...] persistently assimilate in anteriority and retroflexion to a following obstruent sibilant. Before a palatoalveolar obstruent sibilant, palatal or velar stops become non-dorsal fricative sibilants; taps become non-coronal semivowels; non-palatal or velar alveolar stops become affricate sibilants; [c͡t̻ʰ ɟ͡d̻̤ kʲ͡t̻ʰ gʲ͡d̻̤ k͡t̟̻ʰ k͡t̻ʰ g͡d̻̤ k͡t̟̻ʰˤ g͡d̟̻ˤ̤ k͡t̻ʰˤ g͡d̻ˤ̤ l̻ˤ̤] become [ɕ ʑ ɕ ʑ ʃ ʃ ʒ ʃˤ ʒˤ ʃˤ ʒˤ ʕ]; velar stops become non-back; non-pharyngealised non-front resonants become front; non-pharyngealised approximant laterals become non-lateral non-coronal dorsal; pharyngealised taps become non-pharyngealised front; pharyngealised approximants become radicals.
• Unaspirated voiced vowels and non-glottal fricative voiced consonants other than fricatives or [ʕ], i.e. [m ɟ u ...], persistently become breathy-voiced [m̤ ɟ̤ ṳ ...] after a breathy-voiced consonant. Creaky-voiced vowels become non-creaky-voiced.
• Non-ejective unaspirated obstruents other than [z̻ z̻ˤ z̻ʲ ʒ ʒˤ ʑ], i.e. [p t̻ˤ t͡s̻ ...], become ejective [pʼ t̻ˤʼ t͡s̻ʼ ...] before an ejective radical. Voiced stops become ejective.
• Unaspirated stops [p t̻ kˤ ...] persistently become aspirated [pʰ t̻ʰ kʰˤ ...] after an aspirated phone except a breathy-voiced vowel or resonant. Ejective stops become non-ejective.
• Short voiced fricatives [z̻ z̻ʲ ʒˤ ...] become resonants [ɾ̻ ɾ̻ʲ e̯ ...] between a vowel or semivowel and a vowel or semivowel. Palatoalveolar fricatives become non-coronal semivowels; [ʒ ʒˤ] become [j e̯].
• Palatoalveolar-palatal nasals [ɲ͡n̤̱ ɲ͡ṉ ŋʲ͡n̤̱ ŋʲ͡ṉ] persistently become alveopalatal [nʲ̤̱ nʲ̱ nʲ̤̱ nʲ̱] before a non-dorsal palatoalveolar obstruent or nasal.
• Aspirated stops [pʰ g͡d̻ˤ̤ g̟ˤ̤ ...] persistently become unaspirated [p g͡d̻ˤ g̟ˤ ...].
• Stops [pʰ g͡d̻ˤ g̟ˤ̤ ...] assimilate in aspiration to a following consonant other than a resonant. Before an aspirated consonant other than a resonant, ejective stops become non-ejective.
• Glottals [ʔ h ɦ] persistently become pharyngeals [ʔˁ ħ ʕ] after a pharyngealised consonant. Glottals other than [ʔ] become unaspirated.
• Unaspirated obstruents other than [z̻ z̻ˤ z̻ʲ ʒ ʒˤ ʑ], i.e. [p t̻ˤ t͡s̻ʼ ...], assimilate in glottalisation to a preceding non-nasal consonant other than a resonant. After an ejective consonant, voiced stops become ejective.
• Nasals [m̤ ɲ͡n̤̱ n̤̱ ...] become nasals and assimilate in place of articulation to a following obstruent or nasal. Before a palatal stop or nasal, pharyngealised nasals become velar. Before a palatalised velar stop or nasal, pharyngealised nasals other than [ŋ͡nˤ̤̱ ŋ͡nˤ̱] become non-palatalised velar velar. Before a palatalised obstruent or nasal, pharyngealised nasals other than [n̻ˤ̤ n̻ˤ] become non-front.
• Before an alveolar approximant, non-front taps other than [ɾ̻̃ ɾ̻] become radicals; [ɾ̻̃ ɾ̻̃ʲ̥ ɾ̻̃ʲ̤ ɾ̻̃ʲ ɾ̻ ɾ̻ʲ̥ ɾ̻ʲ̤ ɾ̻ʲ] become [ j̥ j̤ j j̥ j̤ j]; nasal taps other than [ɾ̻̃] become non-nasal alveolar approximants; [ɾ̻̥̃ ɾ̻̥] become [h h]; [ɾ̻̃ˤ̤ ɾ̻ˤ̤] become [ʕ ʕ].
• Tense vowels and semivowels [j̥̃ ḭ e̤ ...] persistently become lax [h ɜ̰ ɛ̤ ...] after a pharyngealised consonant. High vowels become non-high; front high vowels become non-front; high rounded vowels become non-back unrounded; velar semivowels become uvular stops or nasals; [j̥̃ j̥] become [h h]; [j̃ j] are deleted; [j̤̃] become [ɦ]; [j̤] become [ɦ].
• [j̥̃ j̤̃ j̃ ẽ̯̥ ẽ̯̤ ẽ̯ ɛ̯̥̃ ɛ̯̤̃ ɛ̯̃ j̥ j̤ j e̯̥ e̯̤ e̯ ɛ̯̥ ɛ̯̤ ɛ̯ ɨ ɨ̤ ɨ̰ ɨː ɨː̤ ɨ̰ː ɘ ɘ̤ ɘ̰ ɘː ɘː̤ ɘ̰ː ɜ ɜ̤ ɜ̰ ɜː ɜː̤ ɜ̰ː] persistently assimilate in frontness or palatalisation to a following consonant. Before a consonant, semivowels become radicals; [j̥̃ j̤̃ ẽ̯̥ ẽ̯̤ ɛ̯̥̃ ɛ̯̤̃] become [h ɦ h ɦ h ɦ]; voiceless semivowels become glottal fricatives.
• Non-back non-low vowels and non-velarised semivowels [j̥̃ i ɘ ...] assimilate in frontness or palatalisation to a following consonant. Before a consonant, semivowels become radicals; [j̥̃ j̤̃ ẽ̯̥ ẽ̯̤ ɛ̯̥̃ ɛ̯̤̃] become [h ɦ h ɦ h ɦ]; voiceless semivowels become glottal fricatives.
• Dorsal stops or nasals [ɲ͡n̻̤ ŋˤ̤ c ...] persistently assimilate in uvularity to a following non-affricate dorsal stop or nasal. Before an uvular rounded stop or nasal, non-back stops or nasals become uvular; palatal stops or nasals become uvular; palatalised velar stops or nasals become non-palatalised velar.

Some words

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