Consonants[]
| Labial | Alveolar | Palatal | Velar | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Plosive | p | b | t | d | k | ɡ | ||
| Nasal | m | n | ŋ | |||||
| Fricative | f | v | s | z | x | ɣ | ||
| Approximant | w | ɹ | j | ɰ | ||||
| Lateral | l | ʎ | ʟ | |||||
- /b/ is realized as [pʰ] word finally, as [p] in syllable-coda position before a consonant, and [b] elsewhere.
- /t/ is realized as [t] in syllable coda before a consonant and [tʰ] elsewhere.
- /d/ is realized as [ɾ] intervocalically, e.g. /didab/: [dɪˈɾʌpʰ] 'water container'.
- /k/ is [ɣ] intervocalically, [k] in syllable coda before consonants, and [kʰ] elsewhere.
- /s/ is realized as [ʂ] before /u/.
- /l/ is alveolar adjacent to back vowels and alveodental elsewhere.[1] One dialect realizes /l/ as [r] intervocalically.
Vowels[]
| Front | Central | Back | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Close | i iː | ʉ ʉː | u uː |
| Close-mid | e eː | o oː | |
| Close-mid | ɛ ɛː | ɔ ɔː | |
| Open | æ æː | ɐ ɐː | ɑ ɑː |
/o/ and /oː/ rarely contrast.[2]
| Phoneme | Condition | Allophone | Realization elsewhere |
|---|---|---|---|
| /i/ | word-initially and finally | [i] | [ɪ] |
| /a/ | [a] | [ʌ] | |
| /u/ | [u] | [ʊ] | |
| /eː/ | in open syllables, before /m/, and between /j/ and /p/ | [eː] | [ɛː] |
| /o/ | before /n/ or /ŋ/; between /t/ and /k/ | [ɔ] | [o] |
Phonotactics[]
Syllable structure is (C)V(ː)(C). The expression kwiin takan 'oh my!' may be an exception.
/d/ only occurs word-initially.[4] /f/ only occurs syllable-initially.[5] /ŋ/ is always syllable-final.[6]
Initial /l/ only occurs in some dialects. Initial /kw/ occurs in two dialects, and may usually be interpreted as C+V.
/w/ and /j/ occur syllable-initially.[7] Only one dialect allows syllable-coda /j/.[8]
Stress[]
In inflected words stress lies on the last syllable of the verb stem. Otherwise, if there are long vowels stress falls on the first in the word. If all vowels are short, stress falls on the last syllable if it is closed and the first syllable otherwise.