Biwdiw phonology

Main article: Biwdiw

This page gives an extensive description of Biwdiw phonological features.

Consonants

The consonant system distinguishes 24 phonemes, traditionally arranged in the following scheme:

		IPA			Transcription
plosive	voiceless	[p]	[k]	[t]	p	k	t
	voiced	[b]	[d]	[g]	b	d	g
	palatal	[c]		[ɟ]	c		ǰ
retroflex		[ʈ]		[ʂ]	ʈ		ʂ
nasal		[m]	[n]	[ɲ]	m	n	ň
liquid		[r]		[l]	r		l
fricative	velar		[x]			x
	sibilant		[s]			s
	alveolar		[ʃ]			š
	glottal		[h]			h
	palatal		[ç]			ç
	approximant	[j]	[w]	[ʎ]	j	w	ʎ
affricate			[ʧ]			č

The group of the plosive consonants distinguishes three sub-groups: voiceless, voiced, and palatal.

The groups of the nasal and of the liquid consonants are slighty poorer, but anyway quite developed. The presence of a group of retroflex consonants, although limited to only two phonemes, [ʈ] and [ʂ], is noteworthy.

The group of the fricative consonants is overall well developed and rich in points of articulation, but it displays no distinction between 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, which display other forms of distinction:

2 vowels have a short form and a long form. Other vowels make no such distinction, but they differ in backness and height. The vowels [aː], [eː], and [oː] are only long. The vocalic system noticeably lacks a short *[a].

IPA						Transcription
[i]	[iː]			[u]	[uː]	i	ī			u	ū
[eː]				[oː]		ē				ō
	[ɛ]						ɛ
		[aː]						ā