Sounds
No complete phonological study of Korandje, systematically justified by minimal pairs, has yet been made. According to Souag (2010), the vowel system consists of lax ə, ŭ, ə̣̣ and tense a, i, u, ạ, ụ, while the consonant system is as follows:
| Labial | Coronal | Palatal | Velar | Uvular | Pharyngeal | Glottal | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Plosives | b bʷ | t tˤ d dˤ | k kʷ ɡ ɡʷ | q qʷ | (ʔ) | ||
| Affricates | ts dz | ||||||
| Approximants | w | l lˤ | j | ||||
| Fricatives | f fʷ | s sˤ z zˤ | (ʃ ʒ) | x xʷ ɣ ɣʷ | ħ ʕ | h | |
| Nasals | m mʷ | n | |||||
| Trill | r rˤ |
Items in brackets are not normally used by older speakers. A bilabial click is attested in one baby-talk word.
An earlier proposal by Nicolaï (1981), based on a very limited corpus of recordings provided by Champault, suggested a smaller phoneme inventory:
| Labial | Coronal | Palatal | Velar | Labiovelar | Glottal | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Plosives | b | t d | k ɡ | kʷ ɡʷ | ||
| Affricates | ts dz | |||||
| Approximants | l | j | w | |||
| Fricatives | f | s z | ʃ ʒ | ɣ | h | |
| Nasals | m | n | ||||
| Trill | r |
alongside pharyngealized consonants ṭ ḍ ṣ ẓ ṇ ḥ as well as x q, found mainly in loanwords, and a six-vowel system: a, i, u, e, o, and ə (schwa).
Read more about this topic: Korandje Language
Famous quotes containing the word sounds:
“These were the sounds that issued from the wigwams of this country before Columbus was born; they have not yet died away; and, with remarkably few exceptions, the language of their forefathers is still copious enough for them. I felt that I stood, or rather lay, as near to the primitive man of America, that night, as any of its discoverers ever did.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)
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—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)
“Then sounds the voice of One who like the heart of man
Was once a child who among beasts has lain—
‘Still do I love, still shed my innocent light, my Blood, for thee.’”
—Dame Edith Sitwell (1887–1964)