Kola

Kola (Native: ጅቆለ /d͡ʒɨkʼolə/, Latin script: Jïqolä) is a Bantu language spoken in Eritrea and the Tigray Region of Ethiopia.

Phonology

Consonants

Kola consonant phonemes

		Labial	Alveolar	Retroflex	Palatal/ Postalveolar	Velar	Pharyngeal	Glottal
Nasal		m	n		ɲ	ŋ
Stop	ejective	pʼ	tʼ	(ʈʼ)1		kʼ
	aspirated	pʰ	tʰ	(ʈʰ)1		kʰ		ʔ
	voiced	b	d	(ɖ)1		ɡ
Affricate	ejective		t͡sʼ		t͡ʃʼ
	aspirated				t͡ʃʰ
	voiced				d͡ʒ
Fricative	voiceless	f	s	(ʂ)1	ʃ	χ	ħ	h
	voiced	v	z	(ʐ)1	(ʒ)2	ʁ	ʕ
Approximant/Liquid		w	l	r	j

Notes:

¹ The "retroflex" consonants /ʈʼ, ʈʰ, ɖ, ʂ, ʐ/ are not truly retroflex but rather apical alveolar or post-alveolar. They occur dialectally and correspond to standard /t͡ʃʼ, t͡ʃʰ, d͡ʒ, ʃ, d͡ʒ/ respectively.

² The distinction between /d͡ʒ/ and /ʒ/ has been lost in the standard language (where they occur in free variation), but is still present in some dialects.

Vowels

Vowel phonemes

	Front	Central	Back
High	i	ɨ	u
Mid	e	ə	o
Low		a

Phonotactics

The maximum allowed syllable structure is CVCC word-finally and CVC otherwise. Consonant clusters with more than two consonants are broken up by inserting the epenthetic vowel /ɨ/.

Vowels cannot occur in hiatus. When this would occur, they are separated with epenthetic consonants such as /j/, /w/, or /ʔ/.