Phonology
Mwakai has 12 consonants and six vowels, shown in the tables below. This section follows Barlow (2020). [4]
Mwakai consonants | Labial | Coronal | Palatal | Velar |
|---|
| Obstruent | voiceless | /p/ | | /s/ | /k/ |
|---|
| voiced | /ᵐb/ | /ⁿd/ | /ⁿd͡ʒ/ | /ᵑɡ/ |
|---|
| Nasal | voiced | /m/ | /n/ | | |
|---|
| Sonorant | voiced | /w/ | /r/ | /j/ | |
|---|
The sound [t] only occurs in borrowings, with earlier */t/ having historically become /r/; this is belied by the realisation of word-final /r/ as [t~r~l]. /s/ patterns as a palatal consonant, with the optional allophone [ʃ]; there is some interplay between the sounds /s/ and /ⁿd͡ʒ/ in casual speech, with the contrast sometimes being neutralised in favour or either realisation. [ɲ] is a marginal phone which appears in borrowings and occasional as a realisation of /n/ before /i/. /r/ varies between [r ~ ɾ ~ l] and /p/ is occasionally realised as [ɸ].
/w/ and /j/ have a limited distribution, appearing mostly word-initially or -finally, and only rarely intervocalically. Some instances of /j/ and most instances of /w/ may be merely epenthetic, suggesting that Mwakai is in the process of losing its glide phonemes.
Mwakai vowels | Front | Central | Back |
|---|
| Close | /i/ | | /u/ |
|---|
| Mid | /e/ | /ə/ | /o/ |
|---|
| Open | | /a/ | |
|---|
/i u e/ are rarely realised as their cardinal qualities and may approach [ɨ~ɪ ɨ~ʊ ɛ~ə] especially when unstressed.
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