Himmaswa: Phonology: Vowel Quality Inventories: Large (7-14)
Nine basic vowel qualities: / a æ e ə i o œ u ʌ / Basic vowels undergo diphthongization (fronting, backing, closing, centring) and variations in phonation (length, tenseness, rhoticity, breathiness, creakiness)
Full vowel phoneme inventory (38 total) (followed by standard romanization):
a (6): /a a̰ː a̰ɪ̯ a̰ʊ̯ a̰˞ː a̤/ (a, aa, ai, ao, ar, ah)
æ (1): /æi̯/ (aiy)
e (4): /ɛ ej ɛə̯ ɛ̤ç/ (e, ey, ea, eh)
ə (3): /əi̯ ɚː ɚ̰ː/ (ay, ur, er)
i (7): /ɪ iː iə̯ iɔ̯ iə̯ʊ̯ ɪ̤ç i̤ə̯/ (i, ee, ia, io, iau, ih, iah)
o (6): /ɔ ɔ̰ ɔ̯o ɔ̰ɪ̯ ɔ̰˞ː ɔ̤/ (o, au, oa, oy, or, oh)
œ (3): /œ øœ̯ œɔ̯/ (eu, euu, euo)
u (6): /ʊ uː ʊɪ̯ uə̯ uə̯ɪ̯ ʊ̤/ (ou, oo, ui, ua, ooay, ooh)
ʌ (2): /ʌ ʌu̯/ (u, uoo)
Notes:
- both rhoticity and creaky voice appear only in /a/, /ə/ and /o/
- rhoticity does not occur without vowel lengthening
- Three of the four rhotic vowels also occur with creaky voice /ɚ̰ː/, /a̰˞ː/ and /ɔ̰˞ː/. Only /ɚː/ occurs without creaky voice.
- except in /a/, non-diphthongal, non-rhotic lengthening is always concurrent with a change in tenseness
- breathy voice does not occur with any other phonation type, and aside from the diphthong /i̤ə̯/, appears only in clear short vowels
- /ə/ and /æ/ do not appear as clear short vowels