Phonemic inventory
Consonants
| | Labial | | Alveolar | | Pal. / vel. |
| Nasal | | | m | m̰ | | n̥ | n | n̰ | | ŋ̥ | ŋ | ŋ̰ |
| Stop | | | b | b̰ | | t | d | d̰ | | k | g | g̰ |
| Fricative | | f | | | | | | | | | | |
| Trill | | | | | | | r | | | | | |
| Resonant | | | β̞ | | | | ɾ | | | | j | |
Vowels
| | Front | | Central | | Back |
| High | | i | | | | u |
| Mid-high | | e | | | | o |
| Low | | | | a | | |
Syllable structure
(C1)V(C2)
C1: a consonant
V: a vowel
C2: a consonant other than /r/
Allophony
- Consonants other than [m̰ n̰ ŋ̰], i.e. [m b̰ g̰ ...], persistently assimilate in voice to a preceding obstruent or nasal. After a voiceless obstruent or nasal, [b b̰] become [f f]; [m] become [β̞̥̃].
- Non-ejective voiced vowels and non-glottal stop voiced consonants other than [v], i.e. [m g i ...], become creaky-voiced [m̰ g̰ ḭ ...] before a creaky-voiced stop or nasal.
- Non-ejective voiced vowels and non-glottal stop voiced consonants other than [v], i.e. [m g i ...], persistently become creaky-voiced [m̰ g̰ ḭ ...] before a creaky-voiced consonant.
- Stops [b tʼ k ...] assimilate in glottalisation to a preceding obstruent or nasal.
- Non-pharyngeal non-palatal consonants [m t β̞̥̃ ...] become front [mʲ tʲ β̞̥ʲ̃ ...] before a palatal semivowel.
- Non-pharyngeal consonants other than palatal consonants [m t r̥ ...] assimilate in palatalisation to a following consonant.
- Nasals [m n ɲ̥ ...] persistently become nasals and assimilate in place of articulation to a following obstruent or nasal. Before a labial obstruent or nasal, voiceless nasals become bilabial approximants.
- Labiodental voiced fricatives [v vʲ] assimilate in resonancy and nasality and vibrancy and laterality to a preceding bilabial approximant.
- Obstruents [b tʲ k ...] persistently assimilate in voice to a following obstruent. Before a voiceless obstruent, bilabial stops become labiodental fricatives; [b̰ bʲ̰] become [f fʲ].
- Non-glottalised non-glottal fricative obstruents [b tʲ g ...] persistently assimilate in voice to a preceding obstruent. After a voiceless obstruent, bilabial stops become labiodental fricatives.
- Voiceless stops [t tʲ cʼ ...] become aspirated [tʰ tʲʰ cʰ ...] before a voiceless fricative. Ejective stops become non-glottalised.
- Labial obstruents or nasals [m ɱ̰ bʲ ...] assimilate in dorsality and uvularity and palatalisation and whether palatal or palatalised velar to a following obstruent or nasal. Before a palatal or velar stop or nasal, fricatives become bilabial stops or nasals.
- Non-front tense vowels [u ṵ o o̰] persistently become unrounded central [ɨ ɨ̰ ɘ ɘ̰] before a semivowel.
- [ɲ͡m ŋ͡m ɲ͡ɱ ŋ͡ɱ m mʲ ɱ ɱʲ n̥ n n̥ʲ nʲ ɲ̥ ɲ ŋ̥ ŋ c͡p ɟ͡b ɟ͡b̰ k͡p g͡b g͡b̰ b b̰ bʲ bʲ̰ tʰ t tʼ d d̰ tʲʰ tʲ tʼʲ dʲ dʲ̰ cʰ c cʼ ɟ ɟ̰ kʰ k kʼ g g̰ f v fʲ vʲ β̞̥̃ β̞̥ʲ̃ ʋ̃ ʋʲ̃ r̥ r r̥ʲ rʲ ɾ̥ ɾ ɾ̥ʲ ɾʲ β̞̥ β̞ β̞̥ʲ β̞ʲ ʋ ʋʲ j̥ j] persistently assimilate in voice to a following obstruent or nasal. Before a voiceless obstruent or nasal, non-palatal or velar bilabial stops become labiodental fricatives; [ɱ ɱʲ] become [β̞̥̃ β̞̥ʲ̃]; [b̰ bʲ̰] become [f fʲ]; [m mʲ] become [β̞̥̃ β̞̥ʲ̃].
- Consonants other than [ɲ͡m̰ ŋ͡m̰ ɲ͡ɱ̰ ŋ͡ɱ̰ m̰ mʲ̰ ɱ̰ ɱʲ̰ n̰ nʲ̰ ɲ̰ ŋ̰ r̰ rʲ̰ ɾ̰ ɾʲ̰ β̞̰ β̞ʲ̰ j̰], i.e. [ɲ͡m̥ b v ...], assimilate in voice to a following obstruent or nasal and become voiceless word-finally. Before a voiceless obstruent or nasal or pause, non-palatal or velar bilabial stops become labiodental fricatives; [m mʲ] become [β̞̥̃ β̞̥ʲ̃]; [b̰ bʲ̰] become [f fʲ]; [ɱ ɱʲ] become [β̞̥̃ β̞̥ʲ̃].
- Central vowels [ɨ ɘ a ...] become front [i e ɛ ...] before a semivowel. Lax vowels become non-low.
- Back vowels [u ṵ o o̰] become unrounded central [ɨ ɨ̰ ɘ ɘ̰] after a front consonant.
- Central vowels [ɨ ɘ a ...] become front [i e ɛ ...] before a front consonant. Lax vowels become non-low.
Some words
| /tid̰e/ | [tḭd̰e] |
| /tidb̰o/ | [tḭd̰b̰o] |
| /dedtu/ | [deddu] |
| /kuti/ | [kuti] |
| /tebta/ | [tebda] |
| /die/ | [die] |
| /g̰udi/ | [g̰udi] |
| /in̰ig/ | [ḭn̰ik] |
| /kab̰e/ | [ka̰b̰e] |
| /kokda/ | [kokta] |
| /ag̰ge/ | [a̰g̰g̰e] |
| /kokn̥o/ | [kokn̥o] |
| /ka/ | [ka] |
| /kite/ | [kite] |
| /keted̰i/ | [ketḛd̰i] |
| /d̰afda/ | [d̰afta] |
| /kakat/ | [kakat] |
| /n̥ikki/ | [n̥ikki] |
| /tefe/ | [tefe] |
| /teka/ | [teka] |
| /n̥in̥u/ | [n̥in̥u] |
| /kigeg̰/ | [kigḛkʼ] |
| /kige/ | [kige] |
| /kid̰i/ | [kḭd̰i] |
| /duɾɾu/ | [duɾɾu] |
| /fid̰a/ | [fḭd̰a] |
| /tab/ | [taf] |
| /tika/ | [tika] |
| /kogag̰/ | [koga̰kʼ] |
| /ite/ | [ite] |
Generated by Gleb version 0.3.2 / 5.0a with seed 11705705975.