Phonology
Consonants • /t͡ʃʰ/ and /w/ only rarely occur, and with /t͡ʃʰ/ only occurring in word-initial position. • The pre-aspirated voiceless /ʰr̥/, may have a word-initial allophone of , [ʂ] rarely occurs phonemically. • [ɡ] only occurs marginally from loanwords. • /t̪, p͡f/ in word-initial position may be heard as [t̪ʰ, p͡fʰ] in free variation, rarely as phonemic. • /h/ may have an allophone of word-initially, word medially in free variation. [x] rarely occurs as a phoneme. • /m/ before a central vowel /ɨ/ can have an allophone of a labiodental . • /n/ before high vowel sounds can have an allophone of a palatalized . Vowels • [ə] only occurs inter-morphemically. • /ɨ/ can be heard as rounded [ʉ] in free variation. • In word-initial position, /i, u/ can be lowered to [ɪ, ʊ]. • /e, o/ can be lowered to [ɛ, ɔ] in word-final position. == References ==