Ka'mpang

Ka'mpang /kaʔmkam/ [kəʔmpə̃ŋ] is a language with only four phonemes, but extensive allophony with a wide variety of phones.

Phonology

Inventory

Phonemic

The phonemic inventory is very simple, but due to the allophony, it becomes more useful to interpret the phonemes as phonological operations rather than phonetic ranges. The articulator category describes a basic articulation, clusters of which produce simple allophony. The phonator category describes a phoneme that, in cluster allophony, changes the pronunciation of the articulator rather than adding a new element in a series. The phonator /ʔ/ can modify /m/ and /k/, but not the vowel /a/.

The underlying form of the voiced articulator has been determined to be /m/ because it has only nasal and/or labial voiced allophones, as well as causing only nasalization or labialization in other phonemes. The underlying form of the voiceless articulator has been determined to be /k/ because it has only oral stop and/or velar voiceless allophones, with [k] being the most common, as well as causing only raising or velarization in other phonemes. The underlying form of the phonator has been determined to be /ʔ/ because that is its only phonetic realization outside of clusters, and it does not result in allophony outside of its modification of a consonant. The underlying form of the vowel has been determined to be /a/ because [a] is its realization in the absence of other phonemes and in the strict presence of the phonator.

		Articulator	Phonator
Consonant	Voiced	m	ʔ
	Voiceless	k
Vowel		a

There is a romanization representing only the phonemes, but it is rarely used. /m k ʔ a/ is ⟨m k ’ a⟩ (though /ʔʔ/ and /ʔʔʔ/ are written ⟨-⟩ and ⟨’-⟩, respectively).

Phonetic

The phonetic inventory is much more useful in understanding the pronunciation of the language.

		Labial	(Pre-)alveolar		Postalveolar		Palatal	Velar		Uvular	Glottal
			Plain	Labial	Plain	Palatal		Plain	Labial
Nasal		m	n					ŋ
Plosive		p	t d	ⁿ͡ᵐt͡p				k ɡ	ᵑ͡ᵐk͡p		ʔ
Glottalic		ɓ		ɗ͡ɓ				kʼ	ɠ͡ɓ
Click	Tenuis	ᵏʘ	ᵏǀ
	Glottalized	ᵏʘˀ	ᵏǀˀ
Fricative		v	s		ʂ	ɕ	ç	x		χ
Glide							j		w

A phonetic romanization is more common for Ka'mpang. The consonants are [m n ŋ p t d ⁿ͡ᵐt͡p k ɡ ᵑ͡ᵐk͡p ʔ ɓ ɗ͡ɓ kʼ ɠ͡ɓ ᵏʘ ᵏǀ ᵏʘˀ ᵏǀˀ v s ʂ ɕ ç x χ j w] ⟨m n ng p t d np k g ngp ’ b db f c f’ c’ v s sr sh ch x q y w⟩. Like in the phonemic romanization, /ʔʔ/ and /ʔʔʔ/ are written ⟨-⟩ and ⟨’-⟩, respectively.

		Front		Center			Back
				Unround		Round
		Oral	Nasal	Oral	Nasal		Oral	Nasal
Close		i		ɨ		ʉ	u
Mid	Short	e	ẽ	ə	ə̃	ɵ	o	õ
	Long	eː	ẽː	əː	ə̃ː		oː	õː
Open	Short			a	ã
	Long			aː	ãː

Nasalization is not written in the phonetic romanization since it can easily be predicted to occur before any nasal. The vowels are [i ɨ ʉ u e ə ɵ o eː əː oː a aː] ⟨i î û u e a ô o ē ā ō â á⟩.

Allophony

The allophony rules phonemes must go through to produce the phonetic pronunciation are as follows:

T: [n t tʼ d ⁿ͡ᵐt͡p ɗ͡ɓ ᵏǀ ᵏǀˀ]

K: [ŋ k kʼ ɡ ᵑ͡ᵐk͡p ɠ͡ɓ ᵏʘ ᵏʘˀ]

1. ka ma → kə mo
2. km ʔm → kw ɓ / %_
3. mk ʔk → mp ɡ / %_
4. kʔ mʔ → kʼ v / %_
5. a ə o → ã ə̃ õ / _m
6. a ə o → ɵ ʉ u / _{ɓ, v}
7. a ə o → ə ɨ u / _{k, ɡ, k’}
8. m → ŋ / ã_{V,#}
9. kw k kʼ ɓ v → ᵏʘw ᵏʘ ᵏʘˀ b w / m_
10. ə ə̃ → e ẽ / w_
11. kmp kɓ → ᵑ͡ᵐk͡p ɠ͡ɓ
12. m → N[+POA1] / _C[+POA1 -glottal -palatal]
13. K → T / %_(C)V(V)KV(V)(%)_
14. K → T / %_(C)V(V)K%
15. ɡ → j / C_
16. ɨ ə → i e / {T[-click], j}_[±any]
17. Va Vã → Vː Ṽː
18. t k → s x / _#
19. s x → ɕ ç / {i, e}[±any]_
20. s x → ʂ χ / {u, o}[±any]_

Phonotactics

The syllable structure of the phonemes is (C)(C)V(C).