[rom ә] roma ‘house’
[ton ә] tona ‘soak’
lr [ler
ә] lera ‘sun’ [rer
ә] rera ‘postpole’ [ral
ә] rala ‘they give’ [rar
ә] rara ‘blood’ yglmh
[yer ә] yera ‘sister-in-law’
[ger ә] gera ‘water’
[ler ә] lera ‘sun’
[mer ә] mera ‘but’
[her ә] hera ‘port’
2.1.4 Vowels
2.1.4.1 Description
i [i] is a high close front unrounded vocoid. It occurs word medially and finally. It occurs in stressed, and post-stressed syllables. It can also occur in pre-stressed syllables when there are more than two
syllables.
[ ʔinә]
ʔina ‘mother’
[ ʔidә]
ʔida ‘one’
[wolim ә]
wo-lima ‘five’ [pipi]
pipi ‘goat’
[woki] woki
‘cold’ [garni]
gar-ni ‘his younger sibling’
[ihini] ihi-ni
‘its-insides’ e [e] is a mid close front unrounded vocoid. It generally occurs word finally although it can
sometimes occur word medially in a CV syllable pattern depending on the speaker. It occurs in both stressed and post-stressed syllables.
[wotelu] wo-telu
‘three’ [re]
re ‘those’
[m ԑre]
mere ‘but’
[hade] hade
‘that’ [hare]
hare ‘they’
[ ԑ] is a mid open front unrounded vocoid. It occurs word medially in closed syllables. It occurs in
stressed and pre-stressed syllables. [
ʔԑmkade] ʔemkade ‘like that’ [
ʔԑnu] ʔenu
‘sea turtle’ [t
ԑrnu] ternu
‘egg’ [m
ԑhə̆rә] mehra
‘sick’ The rule for e is: e -
→ [
ԑ] ʔ__, ___C [e] Elsewhere
a [a] is a low open central unrounded vocoid. It occurs word medially. It occurs in stressed syllables. It also occurs in pre-stressed syllables when the word has more than two syllables.
[ ʔahu]
ʔahu ‘dog’
[ ʔaßu]
ʔawu ‘dust’
[watu] watu
‘rock’ [man
ә] mana
‘also’ [aßrieh
ә] awrieha ‘uncooked rice’
[ ә] is a mid open central unrounded vocoid. It occurs word finally. It occurs in stressed and post-
stressed syllables. [pipar
ә] pipara
‘cook’ [ger
ә] gera
‘water’ [p
ә] pa
‘to’ The rule for a is: a -
→ [ә] ___ [a] ___
o [o] is a mid close back rounded vocoid. It occurs word medially.
15
It occurs in stressed syllables and in pre-stressed syllables if there are more than two syllables in the word.
[ ʔorә]
ʔora ‘k.o. bamboo’
[ ʔokeʔә]
ʔokeʔa ‘a little’
[woll ә]
wolla ‘moon’
[woki] woki
‘cold’ [kohu]
kohu ‘tie’
u [u] is a high close back rounded vocoid. It occurs word medially and finally. It occurs in stressed and post-stressed syllables. It can also occur in pre-stressed syllables when there are more than two
syllables in the word.
[ ʔuhu]
ʔuhu ‘breast’
[ ʔupә]
ʔupa ‘grandchildparent’
[tutu] tutu
‘point’ [ruri]
ruri ‘thorn’
[petu] petu
‘k.o. bamboo’ [
ʔahu] ʔahu
‘dog’ [nunuhru]
nunuhru ‘runny nose’ 2.1.4.2
Contrasts aeiou
[ ʔanni]
ʔanni ‘wind’
[ ʔԑnni]
ʔen-ni ‘his findingscatch’
[ ʔinni]
ʔin-ni ‘his mother’
[ ʔonni]
ʔon-ni ‘tree’
[ ʔunnu]
ʔun-nu ‘cluster’
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o only occurs word finally when it functions as a phrase level enclitic indicating emphasis see §2.1.5.1 below. [kalwedә] → [kalwedo]
‘emphasized greeting’ [handelә] → [handelo]
‘way over there’
ae [
ʔati] ʔati
‘liver’ [
ʔԑti] ʔeti
‘very’ [marmar
ә] mar-mara ‘yellow’ [m
ԑrmerә] mer-mera ‘red’ [
ʔidә] ʔida
‘one’ [hade]
hade ‘that’
au [
ʔahu] ʔahu
‘dog’ [
ʔuhu] ʔuhu
‘breast’ [rarni]
rar-ni ‘his blood’
[rurni] rur-ni
‘his bone’ [noh
ә] noha
‘island’ [nuhu]
nuhu ‘heshe nurses’
uo [
ʔutu] ʔutu
‘louse’ [
ʔotnә] ʔotna
‘rain’ [nuhu]
nuhu ‘heshe nurses’
[noh ә]
noha ‘island’
ie [
ʔirnu] ʔirnu
‘nose’ [
ʔԑrnu] ʔernu
‘go down’ [nih
ә] niha
‘tooth’ [n
ԑhu] nehu
‘jump’ [hadi]
hadi ‘this’
[hade] hade
‘that’ eo
[ ʔeʔә]
ʔeʔa ‘heshe’
[ ʔoʔә]
ʔoʔa ‘you sg.’
[ler ә]
lera ‘sun’
[lor ә]
lora ‘ocean’
2.1.5 Supra-segmental features