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Tsan has a deceivingly shallow orthography, and it is important to note that there are a few consonantal processes that are not only commonplace in the language, but compulsory. | Tsan has a deceivingly shallow orthography, and it is important to note that there are a few consonantal processes that are not only commonplace in the language, but compulsory. | ||
===== | =====Debuccalisation of nasal stops===== | ||
The most common process is that of | {{red|THE TERMINOLOGY IN THIS SECTION IS PRELIMINARY - Maybe nasal absorption?}} | ||
:''The most common process is that of debuccalisation of nasal stops, that is, «m» /m/ and «n» /n/. In the language, these phonemes have been completely lost in all but the word initial positions. The nasal stops are debuccalised into a ''coup de glotte'', [ʔ]. The glottal stop is deleted in word final and pre-consonantal positions.'' | |||
:''In tandem with this debuccalisation, the vowels are mandatorily nasalised; sometimes influencing their articulation in manners close to what occurs in French.'' | |||
Émile does not represent the nasalisation and debuccalisation in his transcription of the language. Other linguists prefer to analyse the process as a nasalisation of the preceding vowels, after which the nasals are lost. D'Ivoire defends his assertion by pointing out the widespread glottalisation of intervocalic stops. | |||
{{gloss/indexable | {{gloss/indexable | ||
|phrase = kshin | |phrase = kshin | ||
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| index = 4 | | index = 4 | ||
}} | }} | ||
====Allophony of the velar approximant==== | |||
The velar approximant '''w''' /ɰ/ is a particularly elusive phoneme, and is subject to a great deal of allophony. Émile d'Ivoire describes this phoneme as a chameleon in the language. | |||
:''The semi-consonant commonly analysed as a velar approximant, is a true ''caméléon'' and has an impressive four different allophones, depending on the following vowel.'' | |||
==Grammar== | ==Grammar== |