Phonology
Sound inventory and phonological rules
22 consonants
7 vowels
Consonant Inventory
| Manner | Bilabial | Labiodental | Alveolar | Postalveolar | Palatal | Velar | Glottal | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Plosive | pb | · | td | · | · | kg | · | |||||||
| Nasal | m | · | n | · | ɲ | ŋ | · | |||||||
| Tap/Flap | · | · | ɾ | · | · | · | · | |||||||
| Fricative | · | f | sz | ɕ | · | · | h | |||||||
| Affricate | · | · | ts | · | tɕdʑ | · | · | |||||||
| Approximant | · | · | · | · | j | w | · | |||||||
| Lateral approximant | · | · | l | · | · | · | · | |||||||
Vowel Inventory
| Height | Front | Central | Back |
|---|---|---|---|
| Close | i | · | ɯu |
| Near-close | ɪ | · | · |
| Close-mid | e | · | o |
| Open | a | · | · |
Syllable Structure
CVPhonological Rules
<z> and <l> cannot be placed at the beginning of words. Buffer vowels such as <o> and <u> serve to separate illegal consonant clusters. Allowed consonant clusters: <nt>, <nd>, <nk>, <ng>, <nb>, <np>, <nm>, <mn> Final consonants: <n>, <m> <ts> and <f> can be paired with any vowel.