Appendix:Shu pronunciation

Shu Language Navigation: Home, Phonology, Grammar, Vocabulary, Orthography, Dialogue

The Shu language has 21 consonants, 6 vowels and 2 glides.

Standard Romanization

Letter	IPA	English example	Notes
a	ə	sofa	Always pronounced [ə], even when occurring in stressed position.
aa	a	father
ao	au	cow
b	b	bog
d	d	dog
e	ɛ	bet
g	ɡ	good
gh	ɣ	—	Pronounced like the g in Spanish lago or rouɡhly like the r in French rouge.
h	h	ham
i	i	machine
j	dʒ	jam
k	kʰ	kite
l	l	left
m	m	man
mh	m̥	—	Pronounced roughly like the mh in "I'm hot". This sound can occur at the beginning of a word, and is just like a regular m, but with air allowed to pass through unperturbed. It feels a lot like pronouncing an m followed by a very breathy h.
n	n	no
ng	ŋ	sing
nh	n̥	—	Pronounced roughly like the nh in "inherit". This sound can occur at the beginning of a word, and is just like a regular n, but with air allowed to pass through unperturbed. It feels a lot like pronouncing an n followed by a very breathy h.
o	o	tote
p	pʰ	pike
r	ɾ	battle
s	s	see
sh	ʃ	sheep
t	tʰ	take
u	u	rude
v	v	voice
w	w	walk
y	j	yes
z	z	zoo
zh	ʒ	usual

Phonetics

Consonants

		Labial	Alveolar	Palatal	Velar	Glottal
Nasal	voiceless	mh [m̥]	nh [n̥]
	voiced	m	n		ng [ŋ]
Plosive	voiceless	p [pʰ]	t [tʰ]		k [kʰ]
	voiced	b	d	j [dʒ]	g
Fricative	voiceless		s	sh [ʃ]		h
	voiced	v	z	zh [ʒ]	gh [ɣ]
Approximants		w	l	y [j]
Tap			r [ɾ]

Vowels

Shu has 6 phonetically distinct vowels:

	Front	Central	Back
Close	i		u
Mid	e [ɛ]	a [ə]	o
Open		aa [a]

There is one diphthong, ao ([au]).

Phonotactics

Shu's syllables are (C)V(C). [ə] only appears in open syllables.

Stress

Stress generally falls on a word's last syllable, or sometimes on the penult. Instances of non-final stress are marked with an acute accent.