Phonology
Sound inventory and phonological rules
21 consonants
5 vowels
Consonant Inventory
| Manner | Bilabial | Dental | Alveolar | Postalveolar | Palatal | Velar | Glottal | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Plosive | pb | · | td | · | · | kɡ | · | |||||||
| Nasal | m | · | n | · | · | ŋ | · | |||||||
| Tap/Flap | · | · | ɾ | · | · | · | · | |||||||
| Fricative | ɸ | θ | · | ɕ | ç | x | h | |||||||
| Lateral fricative | · | · | ɬɮ | · | · | · | · | |||||||
| Approximant | · | · | · | · | j | w | · | |||||||
Vowel Inventory
| Height | Front | Central | Back |
|---|---|---|---|
| Close | i | ɨ | u |
| Mid | · | ə | · |
| Open | · | ä | · |
Syllable Structure
(n,x,ɬ,θ)+C+(j,w)+V+(j,w)+(n,x,ɬ,θ)Phonological Rules
Phonological rules (apply in order) Obstruent aspiration: [-constricted glottis, -continuant, -voice] -> [+spread glottis] / [word_ [-constricted glottis, -continuant, -voice] -> [+spread glottis] / [-voice]_ Sonorant devoicing: [+sonorant, +voice] -> [-voice] / [-voice]_ [+sonorant, +consonantal, +voice] -> [-voice] / _[-voice] Obstruent devoicing: [-constricted glottis, -continuant, -nasal, +voice] -> [-voice] / #_ [-constricted glottis, -continuant, -nasal, +voice] -> [-voice] / [-voice]_ Nasal lengthening: [+nasal, +voice][+nasal, +voice] -> [+nasal, +long] Fricative voicing: [+continuant, -lateral, -voice, αplace, αmanner] -> [+voice] / [-voice, αplace, αmanner [+syllabic]_[+syllabic] Obstruent lenition: [-continuant, -nasal, -voice, αplace, αmanner] -> [+voice] / [-voice, αplace, αmanner][+syllabic]_[+syllabic] [-continuant, -nasal, +voice, αplace, αmanner] -> [+delayed release, +continuant] / [+voice, αplace, αmanner][+syllabic]_[+syllabic] Click nasalisation: [+constricted glottis] -> [+nasal] / [+nasal]_ Coronal assimilation: [-constricted glottis, +coronal, -continuant] -> [+distributed, +anterior] / [+distributed, +anterior]_ Rhotic deletion: [+tap] -> ∅ / [+lateral, +continuant]_ Lateral merging: [+lateral, +continuant][+lateral, +continuant] -> [+lateral, +continuant, -voice, +long] Velar fronting: [+dorsal, -coronal] -> [+front] / _[+dorsal, +coronal] Velar backing: [+dorsal, -coronal, +continuant] -> [+back, -high] / _[+syllabic,-high] [+dorsal, -coronal, +continuant] -> [+back, -high] / [+syllabic,-high]_# Schwa lowering: [+syllabic, -high, -low] -> [+low] / _[+syllabic, +low] [+syllabic, -high, -low] -> [+low] / [+syllabic, +low]_ Vowel lengthening: [+syllabic, αplace, αmanner][+syllabic, αplace, αmanner] -> [+syllabic, αplace, αmanner, +long] High vowel centralising: [+syllabic, +high, +front] -> [-front] / [-consonantal, +back]_ [+syllabic, +high, +back] -> [-back] / [-consonantal, +front]_ Schwa fronting: [+syllabic, -high, -low] -> [+front] / _[-consonantal, +front] Schwa backing: [+syllabic, -high, -low] -> [+back, +round] / _[-consonantal, +back] High vowel gliding: [+syllabic, +high] -> [-syllabic] / _[+syllabic] [+syllabic, +high] -> [-syllabic] / [+syllabic, -high]_ Schwa raising: [+syllabic, -high, -low, +long] -> [+high] n-assimilation: [+nasal] -> [αplace] / _[-syllabic, αplace] j-deletion: [+dorsal, +coronal, +sonorant] -> ∅ / [-syllabic, +dorsal, +coronal]_ [+dorsal, +coronal, +sonorant] -> ∅ / [+lateral]_ h-epenthesis: ∅ -> [h] / [word_[+syllabic] ∅ -> [h] / [+syllabic]_[+syllabic] h-deletion: [h] -> ∅ / [-syllabic]_ [h] -> ∅ / _[-syllabic]
Phoneme Frequency
Distribution of phonemes across 210 transcribed dictionary entries (944 total tokens)
/ä/
169 (17.9%)
/ə/
104 (11%)
/j/
92 (9.7%)
/h/
73 (7.7%)
/u/
50 (5.3%)
/i/
46 (4.9%)
/m/
41 (4.3%)
/ɾ/
40 (4.2%)
/w/
39 (4.1%)
/n̻/
35 (3.7%)
/b/
31 (3.3%)
/θ/
28 (3%)
/x/
23 (2.4%)
/ɮ/
23 (2.4%)
/ɬ/
19 (2%)
/k/
14 (1.5%)
/g/
14 (1.5%)
/ɕ/
12 (1.3%)
/ɸ/
11 (1.2%)
/p/
9 (1%)
/d̻/
9 (1%)
/tɬ/
9 (1%)
/ŋ/
8 (0.8%)
/ç/
7 (0.7%)
/iː/
7 (0.7%)
/t̻/
5 (0.5%)
/dɮ/
4 (0.4%)
/äː/
4 (0.4%)
/uː/
4 (0.4%)
/ɨː/
4 (0.4%)