Sohainesian phonology

This article is a technical description of the sound system of the Sohainesian language, including phonetics and phonology. It has 25 consonant phonemes, and 11 vowels.

Initials

 * {| class="wikitable"

! colspan="2" | ! Labial ! colspan="2" | Dental/Alveolar ! Retroflex ! Palatal ! velar ! glottal ! rowspan="4" | Plosive ! colspan="2" | Nasal ! rowspan="2" | Affricate ! rowspan="2" | Fricative ! colspan="2" | Approximant ! colspan="2" | Lateral
 * style="background: #efefef;" | tenuis
 * p ⟨p⟩
 * t ⟨t⟩
 * ʈ ⟨ť⟩
 * c ⟨c⟩
 * k ⟨k⟩
 * ʔ
 * style="background: #efefef;" | voiced
 * b ⟨b⟩
 * d ⟨d⟩
 * ɖ ⟨ď⟩
 * ɟ ⟨gy⟩
 * g ⟨ɡ⟩
 * style="background: #efefef;" | aspirated
 * pʰ ⟨ph⟩
 * tʰ ⟨th⟩
 * kʰ ⟨kh⟩
 * style="background: #efefef;" | glottalized
 * ɓ ⟨b'⟩
 * ɗ ⟨d'⟩
 * ʄ ⟨gy'⟩
 * ɠ ⟨g'⟩
 * kʰ ⟨kh⟩
 * style="background: #efefef;" | glottalized
 * ɓ ⟨b'⟩
 * ɗ ⟨d'⟩
 * ʄ ⟨gy'⟩
 * ɠ ⟨g'⟩
 * ɓ ⟨b'⟩
 * ɗ ⟨d'⟩
 * ʄ ⟨gy'⟩
 * ɠ ⟨g'⟩
 * ʄ ⟨gy'⟩
 * ɠ ⟨g'⟩
 * m ⟨m⟩
 * n ⟨n⟩
 * ɳ ⟨ň⟩
 * ɲ ⟨ny⟩
 * ŋ ⟨ń⟩
 * ŋ ⟨ń⟩
 * style="background: #efefef;" | tenuis
 * ts ⟨ts⟩
 * ʈʂ ⟨č⟩
 * tɕ ⟨ç⟩
 * style="background: #efefef;" | voiced
 * dz ⟨dz⟩
 * ɖʐ ⟨ǰ⟩
 * dʑ ⟨j⟩
 * style="background: #efefef;" | voiced
 * dz ⟨dz⟩
 * ɖʐ ⟨ǰ⟩
 * dʑ ⟨j⟩
 * dz ⟨dz⟩
 * ɖʐ ⟨ǰ⟩
 * dʑ ⟨j⟩
 * style="background: #efefef;" | voiceless
 * f ⟨f⟩
 * s ⟨s⟩
 * ʂ ⟨š⟩
 * ɕ ⟨ş⟩
 * x ⟨x⟩
 * h ⟨h⟩
 * style="background: #efefef;" | voiced
 * v ⟨v⟩
 * z ⟨z⟩
 * ʐ ⟨ž⟩
 * ɣ ⟨ğ⟩
 * z ⟨z⟩
 * ʐ ⟨ž⟩
 * ɣ ⟨ğ⟩
 * ɣ ⟨ğ⟩
 * w ⟨w⟩
 * ɹ ⟨r⟩
 * j ⟨y⟩
 * ɰ ⟨ğ⟩
 * j ⟨y⟩
 * ɰ ⟨ğ⟩
 * l ⟨l⟩
 * }
 * /w, j/ are the only initial consonants permitted to form consonant clusters with other consonants.
 * /p, ɓ, m/ are bilabial while /f, v/ are labiodental.
 * /t, tʰ, ɗ/ are denti-alveolar, /s, z/ are laminal, and /n, ɹ, l/ are apico-alveolar.
 * A glottal stop [ʔ] is inserted before words that begin with a vowel or semivowel.
 * }
 * /w, j/ are the only initial consonants permitted to form consonant clusters with other consonants.
 * /p, ɓ, m/ are bilabial while /f, v/ are labiodental.
 * /t, tʰ, ɗ/ are denti-alveolar, /s, z/ are laminal, and /n, ɹ, l/ are apico-alveolar.
 * A glottal stop [ʔ] is inserted before words that begin with a vowel or semivowel.
 * A glottal stop [ʔ] is inserted before words that begin with a vowel or semivowel.

Vowels and finals

 * {| class="wikitable nowrap" style="text-align: center;"

! ! Front ! Central ! Back ! Close ! Mid ! Centering ! Open
 * - style="height: 65px"
 * i
 * ɯ u
 * - style="height: 65px;"
 * - style="height: 65px;"
 * e
 * ə
 * ɤ o
 * - style="height: 65px"
 * jə
 * ɰə wɵ
 * - style="height: 65px;"
 * - style="height: 65px;"
 * a
 * }
 * All vowels are unrounded except for the three back rounded vowels: /u, o, wɵ/.
 * /ɯ/ is clse near-back, and palatalizes to /ɨ/ after palatal(ized) consonants.
 * /e, ɤ, o/ are mid /e̞, ɤ̞, o̞/.
 * /a/ is central /ä/.
 * /e, ɤ, o/ are mid /e̞, ɤ̞, o̞/.
 * /a/ is central /ä/.

When plosives /p, t, k, q/ occur at the end of words, they have no audible release ([p̚, t̚, k̚, q̚]);


 * {| cellpadding="5" style="line-height: 1.0em;"


 * 立
 * 'repeat'
 * /ləp/
 * [ləp̚]
 * 𠬠
 * 'one'
 * /mot/
 * [mot̚]
 * 逆
 * 'against'
 * /ŋɰək/
 * [ŋɰək̚]
 * 百
 * 'hundred'
 * /ɓjaq/
 * [ɓjaq̚]
 * }
 * 百
 * 'hundred'
 * /ɓjaq/
 * [ɓjaq̚]
 * }
 * [ɓjaq̚]
 * }

Tones
There are 5 phonetic tones in Sohainesian: high, mid, low, high-rising, and low-falling. Checked syllables only have three tones: high, mid, and low.

Unchecked syllables

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! Tone name ! Tone ID ! Contour ! Diacritic (Ping'am) ! Example
 * High
 * 5
 * 伯/bá (uncle)
 * High rise
 * 4
 * 簿/bâ (register)
 * Mid
 * 3
 * 𠀧/ba (three)
 * Low-fall
 * 2
 * 𥸿/bǎ (poison)
 * Low
 * 1
 * 婆/bà (grandmother)
 * }
 * 𠀧/ba (three)
 * Low-fall
 * 2
 * 𥸿/bǎ (poison)
 * Low
 * 1
 * 婆/bà (grandmother)
 * }
 * Low
 * 1
 * 婆/bà (grandmother)
 * }
 * 婆/bà (grandmother)
 * }
 * }

Checked syllables

 * {| class="wikitable" style="text-align: center;"

! Tone name ! Tone ID ! Contour ! Diacritic (Ping'am) ! Example
 * High
 * 5
 * 駁/bák (reject)
 * Mid
 * 3
 * 北/bak (north)
 * Low
 * 1
 * 白/byàq (white)
 * }
 * 北/bak (north)
 * Low
 * 1
 * 白/byàq (white)
 * }
 * 白/byàq (white)
 * }
 * 白/byàq (white)
 * }