Shina phonology

The following is a description of the phonology of the Drasi variety spoken in India.

Vowels

The Shina principal vowel sounds:

	Front	Mid	Back
			unrounded	rounded
High	i			u
Lower high	e			o
Higher low	ɛ	ə	ʌ	ɔ
Low		a

All vowels but /ɔ/ can be either long or nasalized, though no minimal pairs with the contrast are found.

Diphthongs

In Shina there are the following diphthongs:

• falling: ae̯, ao̯, eə̯, ɛi̯, ɛːi̯, ue̯, ui̯, oi̯, oə̯;
• falling nasalized: ãi̯, ẽi̯, ũi̯, ĩũ̯, ʌĩ̯;
• raising: u̯i, u̯e, a̯a, u̯u.

Consonants

		Labial	Coronal	Retroflex	Palatal	Velar	Glottal
Stop	Plain	p	t	ʈ		k
	Voiced	b	d	ɖ		ɡ
Affricate	Plain		ts	tʂ	tʃ
	Voiced		dz	dʐ	dʒ
Fricative	Plain	(f)	s	ʂ	ʃ	x	h
	Voiced		z	ʐ	ʒ	ɣ	ɦ
Nasal		m	n	ɳ		ŋ
Lateral			l
Rhotic			r	ɽ
Semivowel		ʋ~w			j

Tone

Shina words are often distinguished by three contrasting tones: level, rising, and falling tones. Here is an example that shows the three tones:

"The" has a level tone and means the imperative "Do!"

When the stress falls on the first mora of a long vowel, the tone is falling. Thée means "Will you do?"

When the stress falls on the second mora of a long vowel, the tone is rising. Theé means "after having done".

External links

• Shina language