Bugan (buga1247-1)

Li, Jinfang. Bugan: a new Mon-Khmer language of Yunnan Province, China. 1996. sil16:37475

Consonants (33)

p b mb t d ⁿd k (g) ⁿg (ⁿq) q ʔ
tsʰ ts ⁿdz
f θ s ɕ ʑ x ɣ
m n ȵ ŋ
j w h
l

Vowels (23)

i y ɯ ɯ̠ u ũ̠
e ə {ə̃} o
ɛ ɛ̠ ɔ ɔ̠ {ɔ̃}
a ã̠

Tones (5)

˥ ˧ ˧˥ ˧˩ ˩˧

Notes

Initial clusters are all of the form mC: /md mts mtsʰ mdz/. In the 31 tone, the preceding /m/ can be pronounced [p].

Segmental analysis is typically difficult. Here, as usual, we take diphthongs as CV or VC sequences (even /aɯ̯ a̠ɯ̯/), but we accept nasal vowels as units even though they are probably VC sequences with a placeless nasal C. (Nasal vowels never occur with a consonantal coda.)

Toneless syllables can occur in prefixes.

We follow the source in assuming initial vowels with prothetic glottal stop; an alternative would be to analyze the glottal stop as phonemic and a consonantal onset as obligatory.