Kara phonology

Consonants

Consonant Phonemes

		Labial		Alveolar		Velar		Uvular
Plosive		p ⟨p⟩	b ⟨b⟩	t ⟨t⟩	d ⟨d⟩	k ⟨k⟩	g ⟨g⟩	q ⟨q⟩	ğ ⟨ɢ⟩
Nasal			m ⟨m⟩		n ⟨n⟩		ŋ ⟨ŋ⟩		ň ⟨ɴ⟩
Trill			ḃ ⟨ʙ⟩		r ⟨r⟩				ř ⟨ʀ⟩
Fricative		f ⟨ɸ⟩	v ⟨β⟩	s ⟨s⟩	z ⟨z⟩	x ⟨x⟩	ɣ ⟨ɣ⟩	h ⟨χ⟩	j ⟨ʁ⟩
Approximant	central		ʋ ⟨ʋ⟩		c ⟨ɹ⟩		w ⟨ɰ⟩
	lateral				l ⟨l⟩		ł ⟨ʟ⟩

Kara contains fourteen consonants. Single consonants are found within the head of a word, intervocalically between two vowels, finally and in sequences of less than two words medially. Voiceless consonants /p, t, q, ɸ, s/ create a cluster on the second consonant. Voiced consonants /b, d, g, β, ɣ/ appear initially and intervocally. They appear as the second consonant of a cluster. An example would be [βalβal] 'tree sap'. It is notable that different dialects change the use of consonants. West Kara replaces /s/ with /z/ anytime it would proceed a vowel, and interpolate /ɸ/ with [h] before a vowel and [ʔ] at the end of a word.

Examples of Consonants Used

Consonant	Head (Initial)	Intervocalic	Final
p	[pʰabʊŋ] 'clan'	[ipʰʊl] 'surprise'	[lɛp] 'wave'
t	[tʰuɸ] 'sugar cane'	[xutʰat] 'crayfish'	[ɸat] 'stone'
q	[qʰɔɾ] 'raven'	[xɔqʰɔɸ] 'head cloth'	[laq] 'go up'
g	[gis] 'sick'	[gogon] 'sweep'	does not occur

Vowels

Vowel Phones

	Front		Central		Back
Close	i ⟨i⟩	ø ⟨y⟩	ɨ ⟨ɨ⟩		ɯ ⟨ɯ⟩	u ⟨u⟩
Near-Close	ï ⟨ɪ⟩					ʊ ⟨ʊ⟩
Close-Mid	e ⟨e⟩	ö ⟨ø⟩	ë ⟨ɘ⟩		y ⟨ɤ⟩	o ⟨o⟩
Open-Mid	ɛ ⟨ɛ⟩	œ ⟨œ⟩	ü ⟨ɜ⟩		ʌ ⟨ʌ⟩	ɔ ⟨ɔ⟩
Open	æ ⟨æ⟩		a ⟨a⟩		ä ⟨ɑ⟩	ÿ ⟨ɒ⟩

Kara contains ten vowels. Relative to their position in the IPA vowel chart, the vowels in Kara tend to contrast each other throughout the language. Central vowels [a] and [ə] contrast in both open and closed syllables. Example:

• [pʰa] 'east', [pʰɘ-] 'instrument/accompany'

Mid vowels [e] and [ɛ],and [o]and [ɔ] are complementary to each other in its respective pairs. Each pair occurs in open syllables, a syllable consisting of an onset and nucleus but no coda.

• [pʰe] 'locative' and [pʰɜt] 'betray', compared to [pʰo] 'mute' and [ɸɔt] 'type of fishing'

Higher vowels [i] and [ɪ], and [u] and [ʊ] contrast in closed syllables, a syllable consisting of an onset, nucleus, and coda.

• [pʰit] 'break (a rope)' and [pʰɪt] 'hit (inanimate object)'
• [pʰut] 'husk' and [pʰʊt] 'erupt/explode'

Stress

Kara has an unusual occurrence of stress, or relative emphasis of syllables. Stress in Kara occurs on any syllable in a word, but follows a system of rules that allow placement of stress in an ordered system in all words that contain two syllables or more. However, syllables stemmed from prefixes are never stressed regardless of the ordered system. Stress is determined by three factors: vowel quality, syllable closure, and position in the word, with vowel quality being the most important factor.

Syllables and Stress

A syllable with a nucleus of /a/ receives primary stress regardless of its position in the word.

• [′qʰa.pʰɪs] 'plant'
• ['qʰaq.sa.,ɤɘ] 'one-leg'
• [nɛ.'tʰa.ɾɘ] 'we'

A word with more than one syllable and a nucleus of /a/ has the stress fall on the last syllable..

• [,ɾʊɾu.βeəq] 'muddy'

A word with neither a syllable with a nucleus of /a/ or a closed syllable has the stress fall on the initial syllable.

• ['ja.mu] 'axe'

External links

• Kara language