1. Phonemic inventory

1.1. Consonants

      t     k     ʔ
m     n     ŋ
      s
      l     w

/t n l/ are dental, while /s/ is laminal alveolar.

1.2. Vowels

i      u
    ə
       ɔ
   a

2. Phonotactics

2.1. Syllable structure

The basic syllable structure of January 6th is (C)V(C). The onset can be any consonant except /ʔ/. The coda can be any nasal or either of /k ʔ/. Syllables with nasal codas only occur word-finally and before syllables with an /s/ onset. Plosive codas occur word-finally and before syllables with any onset except /l w/.

2.1.1. Syllabification

January 6th prefers CV syllables whenever possible, and will rearrange its syllable structure accordingly. Cf. kug /kuŋ/ 'forest', kuga /ku.ŋa/ 'forest (ergative)'.

2.2. Phonological processes and alternations

2.2.1. Vowels

  • Two or more adjacent identical vowels are realized as a long vowel.

  • Stressed /ə/ is raised to [ɨ] when the following syllable contains [i].

  • [ə] is elided immediately preceding a different vowel, elongating it.

  • /i u ɔ/ are realized as [e o ə] in unstressed non-final syllables in polysyllabic words (thus the contrast between /ɔ/ and /ə/ is neutralized in those conditions). The exception is when the phonetic context would make this vowel long, such as in the word sagoumòa 'you will love me', which is pronounced [ˈsaŋuːməʔa] (from underlying /saŋəuməʔa/ < //saŋɔumɔʔa//).

2.2.2. Consonants

  • /ŋ/ is realized as [g] word-initially.

  • /s/ is realized as [ɕ] before [i].

  • /l/ is realized as [ɾ] before /ə u ɔ/ in final syllables in words with three or more syllables.

2.2.3. Consonant clusters across syllable boundaries

Of these assimilations and alternations, all of them apply to word-internal clusters, while only the first two happen regularly (and are mandatory) also across word boundaries.

  • A cluster of /ʔ/ and any nasal is realized as a long nasal, and /ʔs/ is realized as [sː] ([ɕː] before [i]).

  • /ʔ/ followed by either of /t k/ is realized merely as creaky voice on the preceding vowel.

  • /kŋ/ is realized as [ŋː].

  • A cluster of /k/ and a plosive simplifies to the second plosive, geminated.

3. Prosody

Stress is on the first syllable of a word.

4. Ortography

The orthography of January 6th is largely phonemic, that is, there is a 1:1 correspondence between phonemes and letters.

4.1. Consonants

The consonants are represented by their IPA symbols, except:

  • /ʔ/ is indicated by a grave accent on the preceding vowel. However, in the interlinear glosses, it will be represented by its IPA symbol for clarity when necessary.

  • /ŋ/ is represented by <g>.

4.2. Vowels

The vowels are represented by their IPA symbols, except:

  • /ə/ is represented by <e>.

  • /ɔ/ is represented by <o>.

5. Morphophonemic alternations

The absence of /t/ in syllable codas is due to a shift from [t] to [k] in those positions. There are thus bare stems ending in -k that change this consonant to (an onset) -t- when a morpheme starting with a vowel is appended to it.

A syllable with a nasal coda elides this consonant when a morpheme with an onset consonant other than /s/ is appended to it (such as the plural suffix -ne).