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In terms of phonology, the most notable thing is a 3-way vowel phonation contrast on stressed syllables (which is not present on unstressed syllables). Kämpya distinguishes words with harsh voice (marked with a tilde e.g. /a̰/), from breathy voice (marked with a pair of dots either above or below the vowel e.g. /a̤/ or /ä/), from glottalisation (marked with a glottal stop after the vowel e.g. /aʔ/. | In terms of phonology, the most notable thing is a 3-way vowel phonation contrast on stressed syllables (which is not present on unstressed syllables). Kämpya distinguishes words with harsh voice (marked with a tilde e.g. /a̰/), from breathy voice (marked with a pair of dots either above or below the vowel e.g. /a̤/ or /ä/), from glottalisation (marked with a glottal stop after the vowel e.g. /aʔ/. | ||
There are many minimal pairs of words that only contrast stress and phonation e.g. /síˈtâ̰/ - "wing" vs. /ˈsíʔtà/ - "guardian" vs. /ˈsì̤tà/ - "sister | There are many minimal pairs of words that only contrast stress and phonation e.g. /síˈtâ̰/ - "wing" vs. /ˈsíʔtà/ - "guardian" vs. /ˈsì̤tà/ - "sister". | ||
In addition to this, there is also a tone contrast, but this is only used for grammatical purposes (e.g. to change between different parts of speech, or to mark alienable / inalienable possession), never for lexical purposes. For example, from the nouns /síˈtâ̰/ - "wing" and /áˈlôṵn/ - "that which is alone", which both have High Tone on the first syllable and Low Tone on the second (with harsh voice), we can derive the non-restrictive adjectives /sìˈtá̰/ - "wing" and /àˈlóṵn/ - "by itself / solitary", which both have Low Tone on the first syllable and High Tone on the second (with harsh voice). | In addition to this, there is also a tone contrast, but this is only used for grammatical purposes (e.g. to change between different parts of speech, or to mark alienable / inalienable possession), never for lexical purposes. For example, from the nouns /síˈtâ̰/ - "wing" and /áˈlôṵn/ - "that which is alone", which both have High Tone on the first syllable and Low Tone on the second (with harsh voice), we can derive the non-restrictive adjectives /sìˈtá̰/ - "wing" and /àˈlóṵn/ - "by itself / solitary", which both have Low Tone on the first syllable and High Tone on the second (with harsh voice). | ||
It is usually written using a script based on the Burmese alphabet. | It is usually written using a script based on the Burmese alphabet. | ||
==Phonology== | ==Phonology== |
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