The Gitxsan inventory is as follows: The mid and high vowels are nearly in complementary distribution, suggesting that Gitxsan once had a three-vowel system. Short mid vowels are emerging. Schwa only occurs in unstressed syllables. /eː/ and /oː/ have short allophones [e] and [o] in certain positions. Voiceless stops have voiced allophones . The pre-velar obstruents become velar before and . The lax glottalized stops "display a creaky voice quality at the margin of the vowel in pretonic (and syllable-final) environments." The glottalized consonants may be
ejective in word-initial position, but otherwise "are characterized by glottal closure preceding the oral closure." The ejective allophones are
lenis, and are therefore sometimes perceived as voiced. Lenis ejectives are unusual for the area, but are also found in neighboring
Witsuwitʼen. The glottalized sonorants are preglottalized even in word-initial position. Glottalization ranges from a full glottal stop to creaky voice . ==References==