User:MikeGasser/draft9

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[edit] Phonology

In the charts below each of the Mam phonemes is represented by the character or set of characters that denote it in the standard orthography developed by the Guatemalan Academy of Mayan Languages (ALMG) and sanctioned by the Guatemalan government. Where different, the corresponding symbol in the International Phonetic Alphabet appears in brackets.

[edit] Vowels

Mam has five short and five long vowels.

Short	Long
i	ii	close front unrounded vowel
e	ee	mid front unrounded vowel
a	aa	open central unrounded vowel
u	uu	close back rounded vowel
o	oo	mid back rounded vowel

[edit] Consonants

Like other Mayan languages, Mam does not distinguish voiced and voiceless stops and affricates but instead distinguishes plain and glottalized stops and affricates. The plain stops and affricates (technically "pulmonic egressive") are usually voiceless and are aspirated at the ends of words and unaspirated elsewhere. The glottalized stops and affricates are usually ejective in the case of k', tz', ch', tx', and ky' and implosive in the case of b' and q'; either is possible for t'.

	Bilabial		Alveolar		Postalveolar		Retroflex		Palatal		Velar		Uvular		Glottal
	plain	glottalized	plain	glottalized	plain	glottalized	plain	glottalized	plain	glottalized	plain	glottalized	plain	glottalized	plain
Stops	p	b'  [ɓ]	t	t'  [t'],[ɗ]					ky  kʲ	ky'  kʲ'	k	k'	q	q'  [ʠ]	'   [ʔ]
Affricates			tz  [ʦ]	tz'  [ʦ’]	ch  [ʧ]	ch'  [ʧ’]	tx  [ʈʂ]	tx'  [ʈʂ’]
Fricatives			s		xh  [ʃ]		x  [ʂ]								j  [X]
Nasals	m		n
Liquids			l   r
Glides									y  [j]		w