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Kisaangan phonology

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Jatú Ojikisáoka

This public article was written by [Deactivated User], and last updated on 4 Dec 2017, 20:36.

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1. Kisaangan phonology ? ?

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3. Kisáangan Verb Morphology ? ?

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Menu 1. Phoneme inventory & orthography 2. Nasal insertion and assimilation 3. Phonation changes 4. Miscellaneous changes Kisaangan has a ~~relatively small~~ moderately sized phonemic inventory, and fairly simple phonological changes. There are really only three main sound change processes in Kisaangan: nasal insertion, nasal assimilation, and phonation assimilation. However these few changes can combine to make a wide variety of surface forms, and although very predictable, the orthography combined with the sound changes can lead to some misleading spellings, like in the name of the language itself - Kisáoka - as [kɪsáɑ̃ŋga].

[edit] [top]Phoneme inventory & orthography

	Pre-alv.	Alveolar	Lateral	~Palatal	Labiovlear	Velar	Uvular	Glottal
Nasal	[m]	n		[ɲ]		[ŋ]	[ɴ]
Stop		t [tʰ d]	t͡ɬ	t͡s	kʷ [kʰʷ gʷ]	k [kʰ g]	[q]	ʔ
Ejective		t'	t͡ɬ'		kʷ'	k'	[q']
Fricative	θ [ð]	s [z]	ɬ [ɮ]	[ʃ] ʒ	[xʷ] ɣʷ	x [ɣ]	χ [ʁ]	h
Liquid		ɾ	l	j	w [ʍ]

The /ts/ affricate is not actually palatal or postalveolar, but did arise from historical /tj/.

	Front	Mid	Back
High	ɪ ɪ́		o ó
Mid	ɛ̃ ẽ́ ɛ̰̃̀	ə̥ [ɨ̥]	[ɔ̃ ɔ̰̃̀]
Low	a á		ɑ̃ ɑ̃́ ɑ̰̃̀

Vowels can also be long, which allows for falling and rising tone.
The voiceless schwa may be voiced in some positions and/or by some speakers.

Orthography, where different from IPA:

/kʷ/ - qu, q
/ɣʷ/ - gu, g
/ʔ/ - ɂ
/t' s' t͡ɬ' k' kʷ'/ - ṫ ṡ ḷ ḳ q̇u
/θ/ - ŧ
/ɬ/ - ş
/t͡ɬ/ - ţ
/t͡s/ - ç
/ʒ/ - z
/x/ - j
/χ/ - x
/j/ - y
/ɪ ɪ́/ - i í
/ɛ̃ ẽ́ ɛ̰̃̀/ - e é è
/ə̥/ - '
/o ó/ - u ú
/ɑ̃ ɑ̃́ ɑ̰̃̀/ - o ó à

[edit] [top]Nasal insertion and assimilation

A nasal stop is inserted between a nasal vowel /ɛ̃ ẽ́ ɑ̃ ɑ̃́/ and a plosive. oku [ɑ̃nku], iteta [ɪtɛ̃nta].
There is only one phonemic nasal stop in Kisaangan, /n/, however it may appear as [m ɲ ŋ ɴ] depending on context. Before labiovelars, it becomes [m] ; before palatals and postalveolars, it is [ɲ] ; and before plain velars it is [ŋ]. anwa [amwa], inju [ɪŋxo], unji [uɲji].
This is also true of the nasal inserted after nasal vowels. kisáoka [kɪsáɑ̃ŋka], nzír [ɲʒɪ́ɾ]. Remember that labiovelars /kʷ ɣʷ/ trigger [m], not [ŋ].
In nasal-glide clusters, the glide deletes after nasal assimilation. owa /ɑ̃wa/ → [ɑ̃mwa] → [ɑ̃ma].

[edit] [top]Phonation changes

The stops /t k kʷ/ become aspirated /tʰ kʰ kʰʷ/ word-initially or after another obstruent and before a high-tone vowel. tásu [tʰáso], astí [astʰɪ́].
Between two vowels (except /ə̥/), stops become voiced. aki [agɪ], uto [udɑ̃].
All non-affricate obstruents /t k kʷ θ s ɬ x χ/ voice [d g gʷ ð z ɮ ɣ ʁ] after a word-initial nasal, or after a stop and a nasal. nkuts' [ŋgot͡sə̥], nquil [mgʷɪl], atnsúta [atnzóda].
The two naturally-voiced fricatives, /ʒ ɣʷ/, devoice [ʃ xʷ] after plosives. kzúnwa [kʃóma], átgui [átxʷɪ]. The /txʷ/ cluster may be realized as [tχʷ].
/w/ becomes voiceless [ʍ] before the voiceless vowel ' /ə̥/ or in contact with /h/.
/ə̥/ may be voiced [ə] by some speakers, especially near the segments /ʒ ɣʷ/ or in a cluster with another vowel. In other instances it may be realized as a syllabic [h], long fricative, or as exaggerated aspiration.

[edit] [top]Miscellaneous changes

/ɪ:/ and /o:/ become /ɪj/ and /ow/ respectively before another vowel.
/o/ is [u] finally and before /wC/
/ə̥/ becomes /ɨ̥/ before voiceless fricatives.
/ɑ ɑ̰̃̀/ becomes [ɔ̰̃ ɔ̰̃̀] after /a á/
/j/ is often realized as [ɥ] when touching labiovelars.
/s/ may become /ʃ/ word-finally after /ɪ/.
Velars /k x/, labiovelars /kʷ ɣʷ/ and /n/ assimilate [q χ qʷ ʁʷ ɴ] to adjacent uvular /χ/

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