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/.