Kabardian Language - Phonology

Phonology

Many speakers of Kabardian, like many of Adyghe, pronounce some of the ejective consonants as pharyngealized ejectives (, ) or as pharyngealized pulmonic consonants (, ). The phoneme written кӀ can be pronounced or, depending on the word. In the Kabardian dialect, there are labiodental fricatives, which correspond to and in other Adyghe dialects; for example, the Kabardian word зэвы (zavə) "narrow" is pronounced зэжъу (zaʐʷə) in standard Adyghe. The Kabardian consonants, correspond to, in other Adyghe dialects. In the Kabardian Beslenei dialect, there exist an Alveolar lateral ejective affricate which correspond to in other dialects. Like the Adyghe Shapsug dialect, in the Beslenei dialect there is a palatalized voiced velar plosive and a palatalized voiceless velar plosive which in other dialects those consonants were merged with and .