Nkwu

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Revision as of 13:29, 23 April 2021 by Imralu (talk | contribs) (→‎Consonants)
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Nkwu (endonym: tembadu hānkwu [te̞ˈmbaɾu ˈhaːŋkwu]) is a language spoken by the Nkwu people of Bū.

Name

Phonology

Consonants

The usual phonemic analysis of Nkwu consonants devised by Trang (1958) comprises many phonemes that, on surface analysis, would appear to be clusters. These are analysed as phonemes for reasons of parsimony in describing phonotactics and morphophonology.

Labial/
Labio-dental/
Labio-velar
Dental/
Alveolar
Post-Alveolar/
Palatal
Velar Glottal Romanisation (Krauss)/
Romanisation (Harlowe)
Nasal m
[m]
n
[n]
ɲ
[ɲ]
ŋ
[ŋ]
⟨ m n ny ng ⟩
⟨ m n ñ ŋ ⟩
Glottalised
Prenasalised
Nasal
ⁿˀm
[m̆ʔm]
ⁿˀn
[n̆ʔn]
ⁿˀɲ
[ɲ̆ʔɲ]
ⁿˀŋ
[ŋ̆ʔŋ]
⟨ mpm ntn ntny nkng ⟩
⟨ mpm ntn ñcñ ŋkŋ ⟩
Plosive p b
[p] [b]
t d
[t~t̪] [d~d̪]
k ɡ
[k] [ɡ]
ʔ
[ʔ]
⟨ p b t d k g q ⟩
⟨ p b t d k g q ⟩
Prenasalised
Plosive
ⁿp ⁿb
[mp] [mb]
ⁿt ⁿd
[nt] [nd]
ⁿk ⁿɡ
[ŋk] [ŋɡ]
⟨ mp mb nt nd nk ngg ⟩
⟨ mp mb nt nd ŋk ŋg ⟩
Glottalised
Prenasalised
Plosive
ⁿˀb
[m̆ʔb]
ⁿˀd
[n̆ʔd]
ⁿˀɡ
[ŋ̆ʔɡ]
⟨ mpb ntd nkg ⟩
⟨ mpb ntd ŋkg ⟩
Affricate ts dz
[t͡s] [d͡z]
tʃ dʒ
[t͡ʃ] [d͡ʒ]
⟨ ts dz tx dj ⟩
⟨ ts dz tš dž ⟩
Prenasalised
Affricate
ⁿts ⁿdz
[nt͡s] [nd͡z]
ⁿtʃ ⁿdʒ
[nt͡ʃ] [nd͡ʒ]
⟨ nts ndz ntx ndj ⟩
⟨ nts ndz ntš ndž ⟩
Glottalised
Prenasalised
Affricate
ⁿˀdz
[n̆ʔd͡z]
ⁿˀdʒ
[n̆ʔd͡ʒ]
⟨ ntdz ntdj ⟩
⟨ ntdz ntdž ⟩
Fricative f v
[f] [v]
s z
[s] [z]
ʃ ʒ
[ʃ] [ʒ]
h
[h~ɦ]
⟨ f v s z x j h ⟩
⟨ f v s z š ž h ⟩
Prenasalised
Fricative
ⁿf ⁿv
[ɱf] [ɱv]
ⁿs ⁿz
[ns~nt͡s] [nz~nd͡z]
ⁿʃ ⁿʒ
[nʃ~nt͡ʃ] [nʒ~nd͡ʒ]
ⁿh
[ŋh~ŋɦ]
⟨ mf mv ns nz nx nj ngh ⟩
⟨ mf mv ns nz nš nž ŋh ⟩
Semivowel w
[w]
j
[j]
⟨ w y ⟩
⟨ w y ⟩
Glottalised
Prenasalised
Semivowel
ⁿˀw
[ŋkʷw]
ⁿˀj
[ŋkʲj~ɲcj]
⟨ nkw nky ⟩
⟨ ŋkw ŋky ⟩
Lateral l
[l~ɫ]
⟨ l ⟩
⟨ l ⟩
Prenasalised
Lateral
ⁿl
[nl~lː~l̃ː¨~ld~ɫd]
⟨ nl ⟩
⟨ nl ⟩

Vowels

Phonotactics

Prosody

Morphophonology

Morphology