Khowar has a variety of dialects, which may vary phonemically. The following tables lay out the basic phonology of Khowar.
Vowels[]
| Front | Central | Back | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| unrounded | rounded | unrounded | rounded | ||
| Close | i | y | ɨ | u | |
| Close-mid | e | ø | ɤ | o | |
| Open-mid | ɛ | œ | ɜ | ɔ | |
| Open | æ | a | ɑ | ɒ | |
Khowar may also have nasalized vowels and a series of long vowels /aː/, /eː/, /iː/, /oː/, and /uː/. Sources are inconsistent on whether length is phonemic, with one author stating "vowel-length is observed mainly as a substitute one. The vowel-length of phonological value is noted far more rarely." Unlike the neighboring and related Kalasha language, Khowar does not have retroflex vowels.
Consonants[]
| Labial | Coronal | Retroflex | Palatal | Velar | Post- velar |
Glottal | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nasal | m | n | ||||||
| Stop | voiceless | p | t | ʈ | k | (q) | ||
| voiced | b | d | ɖ | g | ||||
| aspirated | pʰ | tʰ | ʈʰ | kʰ | ||||
| Affricate | voiceless | ts | ʈʂ | tʃ | ||||
| voiced | dz | ɖʐ | dʒ | |||||
| aspirated | tsʰ (?) | ʈʂʰ | tʃʰ | |||||
| Fricative | voiceless | f | s | ʂ | ʃ | x | h | |
| voiced | z | ʐ | ʒ | ɣ | ||||
| Approximant | l(ʲ) ɫ | j | w | |||||
| Rhotic | ɾ | |||||||
The phonemic status of /tsʰ/ is unclear in the sources
Tone[]
Khowar, like many Dardic languages, has either phonemic tone or stress distinctions.