Phonology

Vowel phonemes

There are 6 vowel phonemes:

┌─────────────┐┌─────────────┐  
│ IPA         ││ Spelling    │  
├─────────────┤├─────────────┤  
│  i   ɨ   u  ││  ı   ï   u  │  
│  e̞       o̞  ││  e       o  │  
│      ä      ││      a      │  
└─────────────┘└─────────────┘  

There are 6 diphthongs:

┌──────────────┐┌──────────────┐  
│ IPA          ││ Spelling     │  
├──────────────┤├──────────────┤  
│  e̞i̯      o̞i̯  ││  eı      oı  │  
│  e̞o̞̯          ││  eo          │  
│  äi̯  äɨ̯  äo̞̯  ││  aı  aï  ao  │  
└──────────────┘└──────────────┘  

/äi̯/ may be pronounced [äe̯] in a closed syllable, or [äj] when the next syllable begins with the consonant /j/, in which case the approximant is geminated at the syllable boundary: /äi̯.jä/ → [äj.jä].
Similarly, /äo̯/ may be optionally pronounced [äw] when immediately preceding a syllable beginning with /w/: /äo̯.wä/ → [äw.wä]. /e̞o̯/ behaves similarly.

Vowels immediately preceding the uvular plosive /q/ may optionally undergo slight lowering and backening, as shown below:
[i] → [ɪ]
[e̞] → [ɛ]
[ɨ] → [ɘ]
[ä] → [ɑ]
[u] → [ʊ]
[o̞] → [ɔ]

Prominent syllables are indicated in the Latin orthography with acute accent marks. In the case of diphthongs, the first vowel member bears the acute accent. The letter ⟪ï⟫ becomes ⟪ı̋⟫ when prominent (i.e. bearing a double-acute accent mark).

Consonant phonemes

There are 36 consonant phonemes:

┌──────────────────────────┐┌──────────────────────────┐  
│ IPA                      ││ Spelling                 │  
├──────────────────────────┤├──────────────────────────┤  
│  pʼ t͇ʼ          kʼ qʼ    ││  pʼ tʼ          kʼ qʼ    │  
│  pʰ t͇ʰ          kʰ qʰ    ││  pʰ tʰ          kʰ qʰ    │  
│  p  t͇           k  q  ʔ  ││  p  t           k  q  ʼ  │  
│     t͡s̻ʼ t͡ʃʼ t͡ɬʼ          ││     cʼ  čʼ  ƛʼ           │  
│     t͡s̻ʰ t͡ʃʰ t͡ɬʰ          ││     cʰ  čʰ  ƛʰ           │  
│     t͡s̻  t͡ʃ  t͡ɬ           ││     c   č   ƛ            │  
│                          ││                          │  
│   θ s̻   ʃ   ɬ ç~x~h      ││   θ s   š   ł   h        │  
│                          ││                          │  
│  m  n͇   ɲ       ŋ        ││  m  n   ñ       ŋ        │  
│     l͇   ʎ                ││     l   ʎ                │  
│     ɾ͇                    ││     r                    │  
│         j       w        ││         y       w        │  
│                          ││                          │  
└──────────────────────────┘└──────────────────────────┘  

Word-initial glottal stops are not written explicitly in the romanization orthography.

Consonant allophony:

• /j/, when immediately preceding /i/, may be realized as [j̝] (semi-fricatized palatal approximant) or even [ʝ] (voiced palatal fricative), for increasing the contrast with the following /i/.
• /w/, likewise, may be pronounced as [w̝]/[ɰ̝ʷ] or even [ɣʷ] when immediately preceding /u/.
• /h/ is realized as [ç] before /i/, or after /i/ if no vowel is following this /h/; similarly, it is realized as [ç̱] (prevelar fricative) before /ɨ/ or after it if no vowel is following this /h/, and likewise [x] before /u/, or after it if no vowel follows. In other situations, it remains realized as [h].
• /t͡ɬ/ and its variants (aspirated, ejective) are realized as [k͡ʟ̝̊] (and aspirated and ejective variants, respectively) when between a /u/ and a consonant or word break; the same realization may optionally occur immediately before a /u/ vowel.
  Optionally, in similar environments with /i/ instead of /u/, it may be rendered palatally as [c͡ʎ̝̥].
• /w/, when occurring immediately after a consonant, especially a velar or uvular one, is realized as labialization of that consonant.