Andegerebenha Vowel Phonology

Abstract

The most common vowel system in Australian languages and the system ancestral to other Australian vowel systems is the triangular system /i-u-a/, with or without phonemic length. This paper shows that this is not appropriate for Andegerebenha, considers the suitability of a two-vowel system /e-a/, and rejects this in favour of one vowel plus length /a-a-/. The short vowel is greatly influenced in quality by the adjacent consonants; the longer one much less so. The consonant inventory is augmented by the addition of a number of labialised consonants, which embody the rounding of earlier *u. Conversely, the phenome/V/, a velar glide, was introduced when an earlier *w acquired the feature [-round] of adjacent vowels.