Læntixu phonology

Main article: Læntixu

This page gives an extensive description of Læntixu phonological features.

Consonants

The consonant system distinguishes 26 phonemes, traditionally arranged in the following scheme:

		IPA			Transcription
plosive	voiceless	[p]	[k]	[t]	p	k	t
	voiced	[b]		[g]	b		g
	palatal		[c]			c
nasal		[m]	[n]	[ɲ]	m	n	ñ
liquid		[r]	[l]	[ʎ]	r	l	ʎ
fricative	dental		[θ]			θ
	sibilant		[s]			s
	post-alveolar	[ʃ]		[ʒ]	š		ž
	labio-dental	[f]		[v]	f		v
	glottal		[h]			h
	palatal		[ç]			ç
	bilabial		[ɸ]			ɸ
	velar	[x]		[ɣ]	x		ɣ
approximant		[j]		[w]	j		w
affricate			[ʧ]			č

The group of the plosive consonants distinguishes three sub-groups: voiceless, voiced, and palatal, even though the palatal sub-group includes only the phoneme [c].

The groups of the nasal and of the liquid consonants are slighty poorer, but anyway quite developed.

The group of the fricative consonants is overall well developed and rich in points of articulation, with a limited distinction between some voiced and voiceless phonemes. The phonemes [j] and [w] can have both a semivocalic and a full consonantal value.

Vowels

There are 7 vocalic phonemes. No vowel makes any distinction either in length or in tone:

IPA					Transcription
[i]				[u]	i				u
[e]				[o]	e				o
	[ɛ]					ɛ
	[æ]					æ
		[a]					a