Phonology
The Nganasan language includes 10 vowels and about 20 consonant phonemes.
| Front | Central | Back | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Close | i, y | ɨ | u |
| Mid | e | ə | o |
| Open | ⁱa | ɐ | ᵘa |
Several bisyllabic sequences of vowels are possible:
| -i | -y | -ɨ | -u | -ə | -ɐ | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| i- | ii | iə | iɐ | |||
| y- | yy | yə | yɐ | |||
| ɨ- | ɨɨ | ɨə | ɨɐ | |||
| u- | ui | uu | uə | uɐ | ||
| e- | ei | ey | ||||
| ə- | əi | əu | əə | |||
| o- | oi | ou | oɐ | |||
| ⁱa- | ⁱai | |||||
| ɐ- | ɐi | ɐy | ɐu | ɐɐ | ||
| ᵘa- | ᵘaɐ |
One of the main features of Nganasan is the consonant gradation, which concerns the consonant phonemes b, t, k, s (sʼ) and their nasal combinations mb, nt, ŋk, ns.
Read more about this topic: Nganasan Language