| Articulatory Location | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lip | Tongue | Nasal | Larynx | Glottis | ||||||||
| front | back | retracted | ||||||||||
| tip up | tip down | tip up | tip down | |||||||||
| Stricture Type | dental | palatal | alveolar | velar | pharyngeal | |||||||
| Con- son- ants |
Ob- stru- ents |
Affricates | č | [vls] | ||||||||
| ǰ | ||||||||||||
| Stops | p | t | ṭ | k | q | [vls] | ||||||
| b | d | ḍ | g | |||||||||
| Spirants | f | s | š | x | [vls] | |||||||
| z | ž | ǧ | ||||||||||
| Sono- rants |
Vibrants | trill | r | |||||||||
| flap | ṛ | |||||||||||
| Laterals | ɬ | [vls] | ||||||||||
| l | ||||||||||||
| Nasals | stops | m | n | [nas] | ||||||||
| flap | ṇ | |||||||||||
| Approx- imants |
w | y | ||||||||||
| Vowels | Tense | Close | û | î | ||||||||
| Open | ô | ê | â | |||||||||
| Lax | o | e | a | |||||||||
| Pitch | Accent | primary | ʹ | |||||||||
| secondary | ` | |||||||||||
|
Terminal Contours |
full drop | . | ||||||||||
Phonemic Inventory. The symbols in Table 1 stand for the distinctive speech processes that produce the sounds of the Degânʹo Pashaʹî dialect spoken in Gorʹayk, on the east bank of the Kunaṛ River in Kuz Kunaṛ District of Nangarhâr Province in eastern Afghânistân.
Vowels. The lax vowels e and o are slightly more open in final position ([ɛ] and [o]) than in interior position ([ɪ] and [ʊ]). a is centralized [ɐ].
Tense vowels are articulated more forcefully than lax vowels. They are fully articulated before the release of a preceding consonant, while the lax vowels are not noticeably articulated before the release of a preceding consonant. Final tense vowels ê and ô are slightly closer than their lax counterparts.
Examples of Vowel Contrasts. Table 2 shows minimal-pair examples of contrasts between various vowels in Degâno.
| Lax Vowel | Tense Vowel | Nearby Vowel | |
|---|---|---|---|
| a | âskʹar 'soldier' | âskʹâr 'coal' | |
| âmʹa 'we' | amʹâ 'our' | ||
| ʹay 'this [deictic]' | ʹây 'mother!' | ||
| dʹân 'tooth' | ḍʹan 'pond; lake' | ||
| ǧorʹa 'person with goiter [m.]' | ǧôrʹâ 'single grape' | ||
| ǰʹan 'snake' | ǰʹân 'body' | ||
| pʹanǰ 'five' | pʹânǰ 'husband' | ||
| talabʹay 'bitch in heat' | tâlabʹay 'tâlibs' dance' | ||
| târʹa 'star' | tʹâra 'look!' | ||
| o | tʹo 'you' | tʹô [call for a dog] | |
| dʹo 'two' | dʹô 'yesterday' | ||
| kʹo 'what' | gʹô 'lizard' | ||
| pʹo 'adobe clay' | bʹô 'much; many' | ||
| pʹol 'bridge' | pʹûl 'son' | ||
| lʹon 'field border' | lʹôn 'salt' | ||
| mʹoṭ 'upper arm' | mʹôṭ 'tree' | ||
| dʹôr 'mouth' | dʹûr 'far' | ||
| gʹôm 'wheat' | dʹûm 'smoke' | ||
| e | osʹe 'that' | osʹê 'gazelle' | |
| šʹe 'six' | šʹê 'it is' | ||
| tʹe 'those' | tʹê 'those [obl.]' | ||
| korʹek 'heel' | gorʹêk 'taking' | gorʹayk 'Goraik' | |
| somanʹek 'eyebrow' | nʹêk 'taking away' | nʹîk 'sitting down' | |
| tʹê 'those [obl.]' | tʹî 'him' | ||
| weʹâ (or wyʹâ?) 'score [20]' | woyʹâ '[one's own] children' | ||