Phonology
Itelmen has a larger phonological inventory than other Chukotko-Kamchatkan languages, and permits complex consonant clusters in some environments. However, Itelmen has a different system of vowel harmony than its relatives Chukchi and Koryak.
Volodin (1997) gives the following consonant inventory, shown here with both the Cyrillic and IPA forms. Itelmen is unusual in having a voicing (VOT) distinction in fricatives but not in plosives.
| Bilabial | Alveolar | Palatal | Velar | Uvular | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Plosive and Affricate |
p ⟨п⟩ | t ⟨т⟩ | t͡ʃ ⟨ч⟩ | k ⟨к⟩ | q ⟨ӄ⟩ | |
| pʼ ⟨п'⟩ | tʼ ⟨т'⟩ | t͡ʃʼ ⟨ч'⟩ | kʼ ⟨к'⟩ | qʼ ⟨ӄ'⟩ | ||
| Fricative/ Approximant |
ɸ ⟨ф⟩ | s ⟨с⟩ | x ⟨х⟩ | χ ⟨ӽ⟩ | ||
| β ⟨в⟩ | z ⟨з⟩ | j ⟨й⟩ | ||||
| Nasal | m ⟨м⟩ | n ⟨н⟩ | ɲ ⟨њ⟩ | ŋ ⟨ӈ⟩ | ||
| Lateral | l ⟨л⟩ | ʎ ⟨љ/ӆ⟩ | ||||
| Trill | r ⟨р⟩ | |||||
In addition to the consonants shown above, some sources also include the glottal stop /ʔ/, as well as glottalised nasal and lateral phonemes, including /mˀ/, /nˀ/, and /lˀ/. 's' and 'z' may be apical post-alveolar fricatives rather than alveolar fricatives. There may also be distinct labialised consonant phonemes.
There are five vowel phonemes: /a/, /e/, /i/, /o/, and /u/. Schwa also appears but its phonemic status is unclear.
Read more about this topic: Itelmen Language