Tsa'in

Phonology

Initials

p	t				k
	s	ʃ	ɬ
	ts	tʃ	tɬ
m	n				ŋ
	ɹ	j	l	w	ɫ

"Zero" initials are not allowed. Foreign borrowings usually take /j/ or /w/ initials, depending on the vowel.

Vowels

There are nine vowels, laid out in a fairly unusual "X" shape instead of the more familiar "V" shape.

i				u
	ɪ		ʊ
		ə
	ɛ͕		ʌ͔
æ				ɑ

The above vowels may be short or long.

The following diphthongs are considered long vowels.

ɪj				ʊw
	əj		əw
	ɛ͕w		ʌ͔j
æw				ɑj

"Zero" vowels are not allowed.

Finals

p b	t d	k g
m	n	ŋ
mb	nd	ŋg
	l	ɫ
	ld	ɫg

"Zero" finals are completely allowed, and are about as common as any non-zero final.

Phonation

A syllable may be perfect (plain), broken (glottalized), or heavy (faucalized).

"Perfect"

Perfect syllables have glottal tension of zero (voiceless) for the onset, of three (fully voiced) on the peak, and either zero or three on the coda (if present).

"Broken"

Broken syllables have an underlying glottal tension of 7 (fully closed) inserted in one of two places:

• Before short or long vowels
  • Initial stop, affricate or fricative becomes ejective
  • Other initial has /ʔ/ pronounced before it
• In the middle of a long vowel
  • /ɑː/ > /ɑʔɑ/ (and likewise)
  • /ɑj/ > /ɑʔi/ (and likewise)

Brokenness is marked with an apostrophe, placed either before the vowel letter, or between the two vowel letters.

"Heavy"

Heavy syllables are pronounced with faucal voice (that is, with overall expansion of the larynx, also known as hollow or yawny voice). It is marked with an h immediately after the vowel.

Orthography

Identical to IPA with the following exceptions

IPA

æ

ɑ

ɛ͕

ʌ͔

ə

ɪ

ʊ

ɬ

ɫ

ŋ

ɫg

ŋg

ʃ

Written

á

a

e

ǎ

ě

ǐ

ǔ

lh

ll

ñ

lg

ng

x

Non-diphthongal long vowels are written as doubled vowels. As the first or last phonemes in a word, /w/ and /j/ are written w and y respectively; otherwise they are written u and i respectively. For example /tɬɛ͕w/ is written tlhew, but /tɬɛ͕wg/ is written tlheug.