Nambikwara phonology

Vowels

Oral vowels Front Back unrounded rounded unrounded rounded Close i ɯ u Mid e ø o Open a œ ʌ ɒ

Creaky Front Back ḭ ṵ ḛ o̰ a̰

Nasal Front Back ĩ ũ ẽ ã

Creaky Nasal Vowels Front Back ḭ̃ ṵ̃ ḛ̃ ã̰

Adapted from Kroeker (2001)

Consonants

		Bilabial	Alveolar		Palatal	Velar		Glottal
			Central	Lateral		Plain	Labialized
Plosives	Voiced	b	d			ɡ	ɡʷ‹gw›
	Plain	p	t			k	kʷ‹kw›	ʔ‹x›
	Aspirated	pʰ‹ph›	tʰ‹th›			kʰ‹kh›	kʷʰ‹kwh›
	Glottalized		tʔ‹tx›			kʔ‹kx›
Affricate	Voiceless				tʃ‹j›
	Voiced				dʒ‹r›
Fricatives	Voiced	β‹v›	z	ɮ‹ð›	ʒ	ɣ
	Plain	ɸ‹f›	s	ɬ‹þ›	ʃ	x‹c›		h
	Glottalized	ɸʔ‹fx›	sʔ‹sx›	ɬʔ‹þx›	ʃʔ‹ʃx›	xʔ‹cx›		hʔ‹hx›
Sonorants	Plain	m	n	l	j‹y›	ŋ	w
	Aspirated						ʍʰ‹wh›
	Glottalized	ʔm‹mx›	ʔn‹nx›	ʔl‹lx›	ʔj‹yx›	ʔŋ‹ŋx›	ʔw‹wx›

Adapted from Kroeker (2001) and Lowe (1999)

[m] is shown in parentheses because according to Kroeker (2001), it appears only in loanwords or following the diphthong /au/. In addition to the segments shown above, Nambikwara also has [bm], which appears following the diphthong /ãu/, [ŋ], which appears before a velar stop and after a nasal vowel, [gŋ], which appears before a velar stop and after an oral vowel, and [r], which is an allophone of /l/ that appears following front vowels. Kroeker notes the existence of the voiced alveolar implosive /ɗ/, but argues that it is falling out of use.

Tones

Southern Nambikwara is a tonal language with three tones: a falling tone marked with a superscript "1," a rising tone marked "2," and a low tone marked "3." Examples:

• ˈhot³su² 'monkey'
• ˈḛ³rhʔu² 'cashew'
• ˈʔwḭ̃¹su² 'toad'

External links

• Nambikwara language