Modern Figo phonology

Main article: Modern Figo

This page gives an extensive description of modern Figo phonological features.

Consonants

The consonant system distinguishes 28 phonemes, traditionally arranged in the following scheme:

		IPA			Transcription
plosive	voiceless	[k]		[t]	k		t
	voiced	[b]	[g]	[d]	b	g	d
	palatal		[c]			c
nasal	non-syllabic	[m]	[n]	[ɲ]	m	n	ñ
	syllabic	[m̍]		[n̍]	m		n
liquid	non-syllabic	[r]		[rʲ]	r		ř
	syllabic		[r̍]			r
fricative	dental		[θ]			θ
	sibilant		[s]			s
	post-alveolar	[ʃ]		[ʒ]	š		ž
	labio-dental	[f]		[v]	f		v
	glottal		[h]			h
	palatal	[ç]		[ʝ]	ç		ǧ
	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]. It is also noteworthy the missing voiceless bilabial plosive.

The group of the nasal consonants is well developed, while the group of the liquid consonant includes only rhotic phonemes, among which there is a palatalized variant, [rʲ], and a syllabic variant, [r̍]. Both groups have syllabic and non-syllabic consonants, which are always treated as independent phonemes, never as allophones.

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 6 vocalic phonemes. Each vowel makes a distinction in nasalization, displaying both a non-nasal and a nasal version.

IPA						Transcription
[i]	[ĩ]			[u]	[ũ]	i	ĩ			u	ũ
[e]	[ẽ]	[ə]	[ə̃]	[o]	[õ]	e	ẽ	ə	ə̃	o	õ
		[a]	[ã]					a	ã

The opposition in nasalization is fully distinctive:

šwo - šwõ
who? (acc.) - five