Tsa'in

Phonology

Initials

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

Vowels

i		u
e		o
ɛ
	ɑ

The above vowels may be short or long.

The following diphthongs are considered long vowels.

ei		ou
ɛi
	ɑi ɑu

Finals

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

Phonation

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

"Perfect"

Perfect syllables have glottal tension of zero (voiceless) for the onset, and of three (fully voiced) for the peak, and 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 fricate becomes ejective
  • Other initial has /ʔ/ pronounced before it
• In the middle of a long vowel
  • /ɑː/ > /ɑʔɑ/ (and likewise)
  • /ɑi/ > /ɑ?i/ (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).

Orthography

Identical to IPA with the following exceptions

IPA	ɑ	ɛ	ɬ	ɫ	ŋ	ʃ
Written	a	ê	lh	ll	ñ	x

Non-diphthongal long vowels are written as doubled vowels.