Ubykh, an extinct Northwest Caucasian language, has the largest consonant inventory of all documented languages that do not use clicks, and also has the most disproportional ratio of phonemic consonants to vowels. It has consonants in at least eight, perhaps nine, basic places of articulation and 29 distinct fricatives, 27 sibilants, and 20 uvulars, more than any other documented language. Some Khoisan languages, such as ǃXóõ, may have larger consonant inventories due to their extensive use of click consonants, although some analyses view a large proportion of the clicks in these languages as clusters, which would bring them closer into line with the Caucasian languages.
Consonants[]
Standard Ubykh Phonology[]
Below is an International Phonetic Alphabet representation of the Standard Ubykh consonant inventory.
| Labial | Alveolar | Postalveolar | Palatal | Velar | Uvular | Glottal | ||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| laminal closed |
laminal | apical | ||||||||||||||||||||
| plain | phar. | plain | lab. | lat. | plain | lab. | plain | lab. | pal. | plain | lab. | phar. | pal. | plain | lab. | phar. | phar. & lab. | |||||
| Plosive | voiceless | p | pˤ | t | tʷ | kʲ | k | kʷ | qʲ | q | qʷ | qˤ | qˤʷ | (ʔ) | ||||||||
| voiced | b | bˤ | d | dʷ | ɡʲ | ɡ | ɡʷ | |||||||||||||||
| ejective | pʼ | pˤʼ | tʼ | tʷʼ | kʲʼ | kʼ | kʷʼ | qʲʼ | qʼ | qʷʼ | qˤʼ | qˤʷʼ | ||||||||||
| Affricate | voiceless | t͡s | t̠͡ʃ | ȶ͡ɕ | ȶ͡ɕʷ | ʈ͡ʂ | ||||||||||||||||
| voiced | d͡z | d̠͡ʒ | ȡ͡ʑ | ȡ͡ʑʷ | ɖ͡ʐ | |||||||||||||||||
| ejective | t͡sʼ | t̠͡ʃʼ | ȶ͡ɕʼ | ȶ͡ɕʷʼ | ʈ͡ʂʼ | |||||||||||||||||
| Fricative | voiceless | f | s | (sʷ) | ɬ | ʃ | ʃʷ | ɕ | ɕʷ | ʂ | x | χʲ | χ | χʷ | χˤ | χˤʷ | h | |||||
| voiced | v | vˤ | z | (zʷ) | ʒ | ʒʷ | ʑ | ʑʷ | ʐ | ɣ | ʁʲ | ʁ | ʁʷ | ʁˤ | ʁˤʷ | |||||||
| ejective | ɬʼ | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Nasal | m | mˤ | n | |||||||||||||||||||
| Approximant | l | j | w | wˤ | ||||||||||||||||||
| Trill | r | |||||||||||||||||||||
Karacalar Ubykh Phonology[]
A divergent dialect of Ubykh spoken by Osman Güngör, an inhabitant of Karacalar in Balıkesir province was investigated by Georges Dumézil in the 1960s. Below is an International Phonetic Alphabet representation of the Karacalar Ubykh consonant inventory.
| Labial | Alveolar | Postalveolar | Palatal | Velar | Uvular | Glottal | |||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| laminal closed |
laminal | apical | |||||||||||||||||||||
| lenis | fortis | phar. | lenis | lab. | lat. | lenis | lab. | lenis | lab. | lenis | fortis | lab. | fortis lab. | lenis | fortis | lab. | fortis lab. | phar. lab. | |||||
| Plosive | voiceless | p | pː | t | k | kː | kʷ | q | qː | qʷ | qːʷ | (qˤʷ) | (ʔ) | ||||||||||
| voiced | b | bː | (bˤ) | d | ɡ | ɡː | ɡʷ | ||||||||||||||||
| ejective | pʼ | pːʼ | tʼ | kʼ | kːʼ | kʷʼ | qʼ | qːʼ | qʷʼ | qːʷʼ | |||||||||||||
| Affricate | voiceless | t͡s | t̠͡ʃ | ȶ͡ɕ | ȶ͡ɕʷ | ʈ͡ʂ | |||||||||||||||||
| voiced | d͡z | d̠͡ʒ | ȡ͡ʑ | ȡ͡ʑʷ | ɖ͡ʐ | ||||||||||||||||||
| ejective | t͡sʼ | t̠͡ʃʼ | ȶ͡ɕʼ | ȶ͡ɕʷʼ | ʈ͡ʂʼ | ||||||||||||||||||
| Fricative | voiceless | f | s | ɬ | ʃ | ʃʷ | ɕ | ʂ | x | χ | χː | χʷ | χːʷ | h | |||||||||
| voiced | v | vː | z | ʒ | ʒʷ | ʑ | ʐ | ʁ | ʁː | ʁʷ | ʁːʷ | ||||||||||||
| ejective | ɬʼ | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Nasal | m | mː | n | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Approximant | l | j | w | wː | |||||||||||||||||||
| Trill | r | ||||||||||||||||||||||