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
Famous quotes containing the word sounds:
“If there is a man white as marble
Sits in a wood, in the greenest part,
Brooding sounds of the images of death,
So there is a man in black space
Sits in nothing that we know,
Brooding sounds of river noises....”
—Wallace Stevens (1879–1955)
“O to dream, O to awake and wander
There, and with delight to take and render,
Through the trance of silence,
Quiet breath;
Lo! for there, among the flowers and grasses,
Only the mightier movement sounds and passes;
Only winds and rivers,
Life and death.”
—Robert Louis Stevenson (1850–1894)
“Not many sounds in life ... exceed in interest a knock at the door.”
—Charles Lamb (1775–1834)