I'saka (kris1246-1)

Donohue, Mark; San Roque, Lila. I'saka: a sketch grammar of a language of north-central New Guinea. 2004. hh:g:DonohueSanRoque:Isaka

Consonants (8)

p b t d k
s
j w

Vowels (10)

i u
ɛ ɔ
a

Tones (6)

˥˩ ˩ ˩˥ ˩˥˥ ˩˥˩ ˩˩˥

Notes

Tone is word-level. Disyllabic tone patterns are HL, LL, LH, LR, RH, RL. In monosyllables:

- HL > F

- LL > L

- LH > R

- LR > R

- RH > H

- RL > F

Vowels have weak nasalization after /b d/ [m n] and strong nasalization following any other onset, including zero.

Initial clusters are /pd bd td sd/; these are only allowed in monosyllables. /l p/ are found in coda position only rarely, and there's one instance of coda /s/. (Coda /l p s/ were probably introduced by loans.) Otherwise, syllable structure is (C)V(j w).

Initial clusters can't appear in nasal syllables.

Allophonic rules