Mûtsipsa'/Sound changes
Original phoneme inventory
- Stops /p, t, d, k, g, ʔ/
- Affricates /ts dz/
- Fricatives /s, ħ/
- Nasals /m, n/
- Approximants /w, j/
- Vowels: /i, a, u/
Sound changes
Depharyngealization:
ħu, ħa > hu, ha
ħi > xi
Tone-dependent lengthening or raising:
i u a > i: u: e / first vowel in HH word
Semi-vowel and diphthong shifts:
a i u aj uj aw iw wa wi wu waj wuj waw wiw ja ji ju jaj juj jaw jiw
become:
a i u e û o y o y uu we wû wo yy e ii û e û jo iy
(The above is in Mûtsipsa' orthography, so û = /ɯ/, and a doubled vowel indicates lengthening)
The above also only shows what happens to semi-vowel combinations and diphthongs with the old vowels. What about those vowels that arose because of HH conditions (e.g. /e/ and /i:/)? Well:
e ii uu ej uuj ew iiw we wii wuu wej wuuj wew wiiw je jii juu jej juuj jew jiiw
become:
e ii uu ej ûû y yy we wii wuu yj ûû yy yy je jii juu ij ûû iy iy
Plosive chain shift:
p t k ʔ > f s x h / V_V
d g > t k / V_V
Denasalisation:
m > w / V_V
m > Ø / _#
Loss or centralisation or shortening of final vowels:
i y u û a > Ø / _#
e o > a / _#
V: > V / _#
Vowel syncope:
V[+short] > Ø / #C₁_C₂V (where C₁ is less sonorous than C₂, e.g. kexa > kxa, sûjo > sjo)
Devoicing:
d g > t k / adjacent to voiceless consonants
dz > ts
Hiatus resolution:
Ø > ʔ / V_V
Glottal cluster simplification:
ʔ > Ø / _C
ʔ > Ø / C_#
Haplology:
any exactly reduplicated syllables collapse together (e.g. tatani > tani, xixitswa > xitswa)
More glottal cluster simplification:
Ch > C / _# (only on roots, not suffixes)