Sounds
The consonants are:
| Bilabial | Alveolar | Palatal | Velar | Glottal | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Plosives | (p) b | t d | (tʃ) (dʒ) | k ɡ | ʔ |
| Implosives | ɓ | ɗ | |||
| Ejectives | pʼ | tʼ | tʃʼ | kʼ | |
| Fricatives | f | (s) sʼ | (ʃ) | ||
| Approximants | w | l | j | ||
| Nasals | m | n | ŋ | ||
| Trills | r |
Consonants in parenthesis are not entirely phonemic according to Teferra (1995):
- and are in free variation
- and, and sometimes also, and, are in free variation, as in Majang; Teferra speculatively links this to the traditional practice of removing the lower incisors of men.
- and occasionally alternate.
Implosive consonants are common in languages of the area, but ejective consonants are not found in Majang.
Consonant length is found in several words, such as walla "goat", kutti "knee"; however, it is often unstable.
Teferra tentatively postulates 9 vowels: /i/ /ɨ/ /u/ /e/ /ə/ /o/ /ɛ/ /a/ /ɔ/, possibly with further distinctions based on advanced tongue root. Five of these, /a/ /e/ /i/ /o/ /u/, have long counterparts. Occasionally final vowels are deleted, shortening medial vowels: e.g. deego or deg "crocodile".
The syllable structure is (C)V(C); all consonants except /pʼ/ and /tʼ/ can occur syllable-finally.
The language is tonal, but its tonology is unclear. Two minimal pairs are cited by Teferra 1995, including há "kill" versus hà "meat".
Read more about this topic: Shabo Language
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