Oburax

Consonants

	s	sʲ	ʃ
	t̪	tʲ	k
w- -b-	d̪	j- -dʲ-	-g-
mb	nd̪	ndʲ	ŋg
m	n̪	nʲ
	l	lʲ	r

The somewhat backwards distribution of initial glides vs. medial voiced stops originates in that the voiced stops (except /d/) originate from medial voicing of voiceless stops; modern medial voiceless stops come from former consonant clusters of sibilant+stop.

/w-/ does not occur before difthongs ending in /w/.

Vowels

i		ɯ	u
e	ø
æ		ɑ	ɔ~ɒ

Vowels are long in an initial syllable, except before a consonant cluster.

There are also the difthongs /ie iø iu eu au ou/. Before a consonant other than a velar or /ʃ/, /iu/ is realized as [y(ː)]. Distribution of the /iV/ difthongs and /ou/ is somewhat limited: they may only occur in monosyllables.

The Biru dialect has added a stop at the end of monosyllabic words ending in a high vowel, if no coda otherwise exists:

• /i/ → /idʲ/
• /ɯ/ → /ɯg/
• /u iu eu au ou/ → /ub ib eb ab ob/

Roots are either of the form (C)V(C) or (C)VC{ə, ɨ}C. In bisyllabic roots, the V2 arkiphonemes become /i e/ near palatals, and remain approximately [ɯ ə] otherwise; also, the coda must be either an obstruent or a liquid.