Txabao language

Txabao is spoken by the Txabao people on Damta. It is the proto-language for the Txabaoic languages.

Phonemic inventory
Consonants:

m /m/ n /n/ p /p/ t /t/ k /k/ ' /ʔ/ th /tˤ/ b /b/ d /d/ g /g/ dh /dˤ/ s /s/ x /ʃ/ q /x/ hh /ħ/ sh /sˤ/ z /z/ zh /zˤ/ ts /ts/ tx /tʃ/ dz /dz/ r /ɾ/

Vowels:

i /i/ u /u/ e /e/ o /o/ a /a/

Diphthongs:

ei /ei̯/ eu /eu̯/ oi /o̯i/ ou /ou̯/ au /au̯/ ai /ai̯/ ao /ao̯/ ae /ae̯/

Stress

Txabao has a stress accent system. The primary stress falls on the penult if the word ends in a single vowel, and on the final syllable if the word ends in a consonant or diphthong.

Allophony

/n/ becomes [ɴ] at before /ʔ/ or /ħ/, and [ŋ] before /k/, /g/, or /x/. /b/, /d/ and /g/ become [β], [ð], and [ɣ] respectively intervocalically. /dˤ/ becomes [ðˤ] intervocalically. /ħ/ becomes [ç] before /i/. /a/ becomes [ɐ] when unstressed.

Phonotactics

C(C)V(C)

Syllables may begin with any single consonant (including /ʔ/), or the following clusters:

pr /pɾ/ tr /tɾ/ kr /kɾ/ br /bɾ/ dr /dɾ/ gr /gɾ/ sr /sr/ xr /ʃɾ/ zr /zr/ tsr /tsr/ txr /tʃɾ/ dzr /dzɾ/ ps /ps/ ks /ks/ px /pʃ/ kx /kʃ/ psh /psˤ/ ksh /ksˤ/ qs /xs/ qx /xʃ/ qsh /xsˤ/ sp /sp/ st /st/ sk /sk/ sq /sx/

V can mean either a single vowel or a diphthong.

Syllables may be open, or may end with any single consonant except the pharyngealized ones or the pharyngeal /ħ/.

Sandhi

/n/ will morph into /m/ (which may mean one of /n/'s allophones) if the following phoneme is /p/ or /b/.