Editing Guarani language (section)

== Phonology ==
Guarani syllables consist of a consonant plus a vowel or a vowel alone; syllables ending in a consonant or two or more consonants together do not occur. This is represented as ''(C)V''.

In the below table, the IPA value is shown. The orthography is shown in angle brackets below, if different.

=== Consonants ===
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align: center;"
|+ Guarani consonants<ref>{{cite web |others=Michael, Lev, Tammy Stark, Emily Clem, and Will Chang (compilers) |year=2015 |url=http://linguistics.berkeley.edu/~saphon/en/inv/GuaraniP.html |title=Phonological inventory of Paraguayan Guarani |department=South American Phonological Inventory Database |version=1.1.4. |website=Survey of California and Other Indian Languages |location=Berkeley |publisher=University of California}}</ref>
|-
! colspan="2" rowspan="2" |
! rowspan="2" | [[Labial consonant|Labial]]
! rowspan="2" | [[Alveolar consonant|Alveolar]]
! rowspan="2" | [[Alveolo-palatal consonant|Alveolo-<br>palatal]]
! colspan="2" | [[Velar consonant|Velar]]
! rowspan="2" | [[Glottal consonant|Glottal]]
|-
! {{small|plain}} || {{small|[[Labialization|lab.]]}}
|-
! colspan="2" | [[Nasal consonant|Nasal]]
| rowspan="2" | {{IPA link|ᵐb}}~{{IPA link|m}}<br />{{angbr|mb~m}}
| rowspan="2" | {{IPA link|ⁿd}}~{{IPA link|n}}<br />{{angbr|nd~n}}
| rowspan="2" | {{IPA link|ᵈj}}~{{IPA link|ɲ}}<br />{{angbr|j~ñ}}
| rowspan="2" | {{IPA link|ᵑɡ}}~{{IPA link|ŋ}}<br />{{angbr|ng}}
| rowspan="2" | {{IPA link|ᵑɡʷ}}~{{IPA link|ŋʷ}}<br />{{angbr|ngu}}
| rowspan="2" |
|-
! rowspan="2" | [[Stop consonant|Stop]]|| {{small|[[Voiced consonant|voiced]]}}
|-
! {{small|[[Voiceless consonant|voiceless]]}}
| {{IPA link|p}}
| {{IPA link|t}}
|
| {{IPA link|k}}
| {{IPA link|kʷ}} {{angbr|ku}}
| {{IPA link|ʔ}} {{angbr|ʼ}}
|-
! colspan="2" | [[Fricative]]
|
| {{IPA link|s}}
| {{IPA link|ɕ}} {{angbr|ch}}
| colspan="3" | {{IPA link|x}} ~ {{IPA link|h}} {{angbr|h}}
|-
! colspan="2" | [[Approximant]]
| {{IPA link|ʋ}} {{angbr|v}}
|
|
| {{IPA link|ɰ}} ~ {{IPA link|ɰ̃}}<br />{{angbr|g}} ~ {{angbr|g̃}}
| {{IPA link|w}} ~ {{IPA link|w̃}}<br />{{angbr|gu}} ~ {{angbr|g̃u}}
|
|-
! colspan="2" | [[Flap consonant|Flap]]
|
| {{IPA link|ɾ}} {{angbr|r}}
|
|
|
|
|}

The [[voiced]] consonants have oral [[allophone]]s (left) before oral vowels, and [[Nasalization|nasal]] allophones (right) before [[nasal vowel]]s. The oral allophones of the voiced stops are [[prenasalized]].

There is also a sequence {{IPA|/ⁿt/}} (written {{angbr|nt}}). A trill {{IPA|/r/}} (written {{angbr|rr}}), and the consonants {{IPA|/l/}}, {{IPA|/f/}}, and {{IPA|/j/}} (written {{angbr|ll}}) are not native to Guarani, but come from Spanish.

Oral {{IPA|/ᵈj/}} is often pronounced {{IPAblink|dʒ}}, {{IPAblink|ɟ}}, {{IPAblink|ʒ}}, {{IPAblink|j}}, depending on the dialect, but the nasal allophone is always {{IPAblink|ɲ}}.

The dorsal fricative is in free variation between {{IPAblink|x}} and {{IPAblink|h}}.

{{angbr|g}}, {{angbr|gu}} are approximants, not fricatives, but are sometimes transcribed {{IPAblink|ɣ}}, {{IPAblink|ɣʷ}}, as is conventional for Spanish. {{angbr|gu}} is also transcribed {{IPA|[ɰʷ]}}, which is essentially identical to {{IPAblink|w}}.

All syllables are open, viz. CV or V, ending in a vowel.

=== Glottal stop ===
The [[glottal stop]], called {{lang|gn|puso}} in Guarani, is only written between vowels, but occurs phonetically before vowel-initial words. Because of this, some words have several glottal stops near each other that consequently undergo a number of different [[dissimilation]] techniques. For example, "I drink water" {{lang|gn|ʼaʼyʼu}} is pronounced {{lang|gn|hayʼu}}. This suggests that irregularity in verb forms derives from regular sound change processes in the history of Guarani. There also seems to be some degree of variation between how much the glottal stop is dropped (for example {{lang|gn|aruʼuka > aruuka > aruka}} for "I bring"). It is possible that word-internal glottal stops may have been retained from fossilized compounds where the second component was a vowel-initial (and therefore glottal stop–initial) root.<ref name=Ayala>{{cite book |last=Ayala |first=José Valentín |year=2000 |title=Gramática Guaraní |location=Asunción |publisher=Centro Editorial Paraguayo S.R.L. |page=19 |oclc=50608420}}</ref>

=== Vowels ===
{{IPA|/a/, /e/, /i/, /o/, /u/}} correspond more or less to the Spanish and IPA equivalents, although sometimes the open-mid allophones {{IPAblink|ɛ}}, {{IPAblink|ɔ}} are used more frequently. The grapheme {{angbr|y}} represents the vowel {{IPAslink|ɨ}} (as in [[Polish language|Polish]]). Considering nasality, the vowel system is perfectly symmetrical, each oral vowel having its nasal counterpart (most systems with nasals have fewer nasals than orals).

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align: center;"
|+ Oral and nasal vowels
! colspan="2" | !! [[Front vowel|Front]]!! [[Central vowel|Central]]!! [[Back vowel|Back]]
|-
! rowspan="2" | [[Close vowel|Close]]
! {{small|oral}}
| {{IPA link|i}} {{angbr|i}}
| {{IPA link|ɨ}} {{angbr|y}}
| {{IPA link|u}} {{angbr|u}}
|-
! {{small|nasal}}
| {{IPA link|ĩ}} {{angbr|ĩ}}
| {{IPA link|ɨ̃}} {{angbr|ỹ}}
| {{IPA link|ũ}} {{angbr|ũ}}
|-
! rowspan="2" | [[Open vowel|Open]]
! {{small|oral}}
| {{IPA link|e}} {{angbr|e}}
| {{IPA link|a}} {{angbr|a}}
| {{IPA link|o}} {{angbr|o}}
|-
! {{small|nasal}}
| {{IPA link|ẽ}} {{angbr|ẽ}}
| {{IPA link|ã}} {{angbr|ã}}
| {{IPA link|õ}} {{angbr|õ}}
|}

==== Nasal harmony ====
Guarani displays an unusual degree of [[nasal harmony]]. A nasal syllable consists of a nasal vowel, and if the consonant is voiced, it takes its nasal allophone. If a stressed syllable is nasal, the nasality spreads in ''both'' directions until it bumps up against a stressed syllable that is oral. This includes [[affix]]es, [[postposition]]s, and compounding. Voiceless consonants do not have nasal allophones, but they do not interrupt the spread of nasality.

For example,

:{{IPA|/ⁿdo+ɾoi+ⁿduˈpã+i/}} → {{IPA|[nõɾ̃õĩnũˈpãĩ]}}
:{{IPA|/ro+ᵐbo+poˈrã/}} → {{IPA|[ɾ̃õmõpõˈɾ̃ã]}}

However, a second stressed syllable, with an oral vowel, will not become nasalized:
:{{IPA|/iᵈjaˈkãɾaˈku/}} → {{IPA|[ʔĩɲãˈkãɾ̃ãˈku]}}
:{{IPA|/aˈkãɾaˈwe/}} → {{IPA|[ʔãˈkãɾ̃ãˈwe]}}<ref>{{cite book |last=Walker |first=Rachel |year=2000 |title=Nasalization, neutral segments, and opacity effects |isbn=9780815338369 |page=210|publisher=Psychology Press }}</ref>

That is, for a word with a single stressed vowel, all voiced segments will be either oral or nasal, while voiceless consonants are unaffected, as in oral {{IPA|/ᵐbotɨ/}} vs nasal {{IPA|/mõtɨ̃/}}.