Consonants The consonants of Cèmuhî are shown in the table below. Rivierre analyzes the contrasts of Cèmuhî along three
emic categories: nasal, semi-nasal (i.e.
prenasalized), and oral consonants. He uses the established term "
labiovelar" (reproduced in the table) for what can be described more exactly as
labial-velarized (protruded)
bilabial consonants.
Vowels The chart below shows Cèmuhî vowels, all of which can contrast in length. While all vowels are phonetically nasalized after a nasal consonant, only two
nasal vowels are reported to be contrastive: /ɛ̃ ~ ã/ and /õ ~ ũ/.
Tone Like its neighbour
Paicî, Cèmuhî is one of the few
Austronesian languages which have developed
contrastive tone. However, unlike other New Caledonian tonal languages, Cèmuhî has three tonal registers: high, mid, and low tones. ==See also==