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| ! colspan="2" style="" |Nasal | | ! colspan="2" style="" |Nasal |
| | ({{spell-nv|'''m'''}} /m/) | | | ({{spell-nv|'''m'''}} /m/ |
| | {{spell-nv|'''n'''}} /n/ | | | {{spell-nv|'''n'''}} /n/ |
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| | {{spell-nv|'''ni, ń'''}} /nʲ/ | | | {{spell-nv|'''ni, ń'''}} /nʲ/ |
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| | {{spell-nv|'''ng'''}} /ŋ/ | | | |
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| | | All consonants are long, compared to English: with plain stops the hold is longer, with aspirated stops the aspiration is longer, and with affricates the frication is longer. The [[voice onset time]] of the aspirated and ejective stops is twice as long as that found in most other languages. |
| All consonants are long, compared to English: with plain stops the hold is longer, with aspirated stops the aspiration is longer, and with affricates the frication is longer. The [[voice onset time]] of the aspirated and ejective stops is twice as long as that found in most non-Athabaskan languages. {{Harvcoltxt|Young|Morgan|1987}} described Navajo consonants as "doubled" between vowels, but in fact they are equally long in all positions.{{sfnp|McDonough|Ladefoged|1993|p=?}} | |
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| ;Stops and affricates | | ;Stops and affricates |
| All stops and affricates, except for the bilabial and glottal, have a three-way laryngeal contrast between unaspirated, aspirated, and ejective. The labials {{IPA|/p, m/}} are found in only a few words. Most of the contrasts in the inventory lie within coronal territory at the alveolar and palatoalveolar places of articulation. | | All stops and affricates, except for the bilabial and glottal, have a three-way laryngeal contrast between unaspirated, aspirated, and ejective. The labials /p, pʰ, m/ are found mainly in loanwords. Most of the contrasts in the inventory lie within coronal territory at the alveolar and palatoalveolar places of articulation. |
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| The aspirated stops {{IPA|/tʰ, kʰ/}} (orthographic {{angbr|{{spell-nv|t}}}}, {{angbr|{{spell-nv|k}}}}) are typically aspirated with velar frication {{IPA|[tx, kx]}} (they are phonetically [[affricate]]s — [[homorganic]] in the case of {{IPA|[kx]}}, heterorganic in the case of {{IPA|[tx]}}).<ref>{{Harvcoltxt|McDonough|2003}} and {{Harvcoltxt|McDonough|Ladefoged|1993}} find these to be affricates and not clusters. The acoustic difference between an affricate and a stop + fricative consonant cluster is the rate of increase in the [[amplitude]] of the frication noise (i.e. the ''rise time''); affricates have a short rise time, consonant clusters have a longer rise time between the stop and fricative {{Harvcoltxt|Johnson|2003|pp=144–145}}.</ref> The velar aspiration is also found on a labialized velar {{IPA|[kxʷ]}} (orthographic {{angbr|{{spell-nv|kw}}}}). There is variation within Navajo, however, in this respect: some dialects lack strong velar frication having instead a period of aspiration.<ref>{{Harvcoltxt|Reichard|1945}} reports that this variation is salient to Navajo speakers and that speakers with aspirated stops called the speakers with velar frication {{spell-nv|''x da’ání''}} ('{{angbr|x}}-speakers').</ref><ref>The velar frication on {{IPA|/tʰ, kʰ/}} is also seen in the closely related [[Chiricahua Apache language]]; however, the [[Western Apache language]] does not typically have this velar aspiration.{{Harvcoltxt|Hoijer|1942|p=?}}</ref>
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| Similarly the unaspirated velar {{IPA|/k/}} (orthographic {{angbr|{{spell-nv|g}}}}) is realized as with optional voiced velar frication following the stop burst: {{IPA|[k] ~ [kɣ]}}.{{citation needed|date=August 2015}} The unaspirated lateral {{IPA|/tɬ/}} (orthographic {{angbr|{{spell-nv|dl}}}}) typically has a voiced [[lateral release (phonetics)|lateral release]], {{IPA|[tˡ]}}, of a duration comparable to the release of the {{IPA|/k/}} and much shorter than the unaspirated fricatives {{IPA|/ts/, /tʃ/}}. However, the aspirated and ejective laterals are true fricatives.
| | The aspirated stops /tʰ, kʰ/ (orthographic {{angbr|{{spell-nv|t}}}}, {{angbr|{{spell-nv|k}}}}) are typically aspirated with velar frication [tx, kx] (they are phonetically [[affricate]]s — [[homorganic]] in the case of [kx], heterorganic in the case of [tx]). The acoustic difference between an affricate and a stop + fricative consonant cluster is the rate of increase in the [[amplitude]] of the frication noise (i.e. the ''rise time''); affricates have a short rise time, consonant clusters have a longer rise time between the stop and fricative. There is variation within Boot Polish, however, in this respect: some dialects lack strong velar frication having instead a period of aspiration. |
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| While the aspiration of stops is markedly long compared to most other languages, the aspiration of the affricates is quite short: the main feature distinguishing {{IPA|/ts/}} and {{IPA|/tʃ/}} from {{IPA|/tsʰ/}} and {{IPA|/tʃʰ/}} is that the frication is half again as long in the latter: {{IPA|[tsˑʰ], [tʃʰˑ]}}. {{IPA|/tɬʰ/}} is similarly long, {{IPA|[tɬˑʰ]}}. The ejectives {{IPA|/tsʼ/, /tɬʼ/, /tʃʼ/}}, on the other hand, have short frication, presumably due to the lack of [[airstream mechanism|pulmonic airflow]]. There is a period of near silence before the glottalized onset of the vowel. In {{IPA|/tɬʼ/}} there may be a double glottal release, or a [[creaky voice|creaky]] onset to the vowel not found in the other ejective affricates.
| | Similarly the unaspirated velar /k/ (orthographic {{angbr|{{spell-nv|g}}}}) is realized as with optional voiced velar frication following the stop burst: [k] ~ [kɣ]. The unaspirated lateral /tɬ/ (orthographic {{angbr|{{spell-nv|dl}}}}) typically has a voiced [[lateral release (phonetics)|lateral release]], [tˡ], of a duration comparable to the release of the /k/ and much shorter than the unaspirated fricatives /ts/, /tʃ/. However, the aspirated and ejective laterals are true fricatives. |
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| ;Continuants
| | While the aspiration of stops is markedly long compared to most other languages, the aspiration of the affricates is quite short: the main feature distinguishing /ts/ and /tʃ/ from /tsʰ/ and /tʃʰ/ is that the frication is half again as long in the latter: [tsˑʰ], [tʃʰˑ]. /tɬʰ/ is similarly long, [tɬˑʰ]. The ejectives /tsʼ/, /tɬʼ/, /tʃʼ/, on the other hand, have short frication, presumably due to the lack of [[airstream mechanism|pulmonic airflow]]. There is a period of near silence before the glottalized onset of the vowel. In /tɬʼ/ there may be a double glottal release, or a [[creaky voice|creaky]] onset to the vowel not found in the other ejective affricates. |
| Navajo voiceless continuants are realized as [[fricative]]s. They are typically noisier than the fricatives that occur in English. The palato-alveolars {{IPA|/ʃ, ʒ/}} are not labialized unlike English and other European languages.{{sfnp|McDonough|2003|p=130}}
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| Navajo also does not have consistent phonetic voicing in the "voiced" continuant members. Although {{IPA|/z, l, ʒ, ɣ/}} are described as voiced in impressionist descriptions,<ref>For example, {{Harvcoltxt|Hoijer|1945a}}</ref> data from [[spectrogram]]s shows that they may be partially devoiced during the constriction. In stem-initial position, {{IPA|/l/}} tends to be fully voiced, {{IPA|/ʒ/}} has a slight tendency to be voiceless near the offset, {{IPA|/z/}} is often mostly voiceless with phonetic voicing only at the onset, {{IPA|/ɣ/}} is also only partially voiced with voicing at onset. A more consistent acoustic correlate of the "voicing" is the duration of the consonant: "voiceless" consonants have longer durations than "voiced" consonants. Based on this, {{Harvcoltxt|McDonough|2003}} argues that the distinction is better captured with the notion of a fortis/lenis contrast. A further characteristic of voicing in Navajo is that it is marginally contrastive (see the [[#Voicing assimilation|voicing assimilation section]]).
| | ;Fricatives |
| | Boot Polish fricatives are noisier than the fricatives that occur in English. |
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| Navajo lacks a clear distinction between phonetic [[fricative]]s and approximants. Although the pair {{IPA|[ɬ]}}~{{IPA|[l]}} has been described as a fricative and an approximant, respectively, the lack of a consistent contrast between the two phonetic categories and a similar patterning with other fricative pairs suggests that they are better described as continuants. Additionally, observations have been made about the less fricative-like nature of {{IPA|[ɣ, ɣʷ]}} and the more fricative-like nature of {{IPA|[j]}}.
| | Boot Polish also does not have consistent phonetic voicing in the "voiced" fricative members: /z, ʐ, ʑ, ɣ/ may be partially devoiced during the constriction. In stem-initial position, /ʐ/ has a slight tendency to be voiceless near the offset, /z/ and /ʑ/ are often mostly voiceless with phonetic voicing only at the onset, /ɣ/ is also only partially voiced with voicing at onset. A more consistent acoustic correlate of the "voicing" is the duration of the consonant: "voiceless" consonants have longer durations than "voiced" consonants. |
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| ;Sonorants
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| A more abstract analysis of Navajo posits two different {{IPA|/j/}} phonemes (see the [[#Velar /ɣ/, palatal /j/|below]] for elaboration).
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| The glottalized sonorants are the result of [[#D-effect|''d''-effect]] on the non-glottalized counterparts. A strict structuralist analysis, such as that of {{Harvcoltxt|Hoijer|1945a}} and {{Harvcoltxt|Sapir|Hoijer|1967}}, considers them phonemic.
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| ;Glottal(ized) consonants | | ;Glottal(ized) consonants |
| Consonants involving a glottal closure — the glottal stop, ejective stops, and the glottalized sonorants — may have optional [[creaky voice]] on voiced sounds adjacent to the glottal gesture. Glottal stops may also be realized entirely as creaky voice instead of single glottal closure.<ref>Similar observations have been noted for the closely related [[Western Apache language]].</ref> Ejectives in Navajo differ from the ejectives in many other languages in that the glottal closure is not released near-simultaneously with the release of the oral closure (as is common in other languages) — it is held for a significant amount of time following oral release. The glottalized sonorants {{IPA|/mʼ, nʼ/}} are articulated with a glottal stop preceding the oral closure with optional creaky voice during the oral closure: {{IPA|[ʔm ~ ʔm̰, ʔn ~ ʔn̰]}}. | | Consonants involving a glottal closure — the glottal stop, ejective stops, and the glottalized sonorants — may have optional [[creaky voice]] on voiced sounds adjacent to the glottal gesture. Glottal stops may also be realized entirely as creaky voice instead of single glottal closure. Ejectives in Boot Polish differ from the ejectives in many other languages in that the glottal closure is not released near-simultaneously with the release of the oral closure (as is common in other languages) — it is held for a significant amount of time following oral release. The glottalized sonorants /mʼ, nʼ/ are articulated with a glottal stop preceding the oral closure with optional creaky voice during the oral closure: [ʔm ~ ʔm̰, ʔn ~ ʔn̰]. |
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| ;Labialized consonants
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| Consonants {{IPA|/kʰʷ, xʷ, ɣʷ, hʷ/}} are predictable variants that occur before the rounded oral vowel {{IPA|/o/}}. However, these sounds also occur before the vowels {{IPA|/i, e, a/}} where they contrast with their non-labialized counterparts {{IPA|/kʰ, x, ɣ, h/}}.
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| ===Vowels=== | | ===Vowels=== |