Editing Luganda (section)

=== Phonotactics ===
[[Syllable]]s can take any of the following forms:
* V (only as the first syllable of a word)
* CV
* GV
* NCV
* CSV
* GSV
* NCSV
where V = [[vowel]], C = single [[consonant]] (including nasals and semivowels but excluding geminates), G = [[geminate consonant]], N = [[nasal stop]], S = [[semivowel]]

These forms are subject to certain [[phonotactics|phonotactic]] restrictions:
* Two vowels may not appear adjacent to one another. When [[morphology (linguistics)|morphological]] or [[grammar|grammatical]] rules cause two vowels to meet, the first vowel is [[elision|elided]] or reduced to a [[semivowel]] and the second is [[long vowel|lengthened]] if possible.
* A vowel following a consonant–semivowel combination (except {{IPA|[ɡːw]}}) is always long, except at the end of a word. After {{IPA|[ɡːw]}} a vowel can be either long or short. At the end of a word, all vowels are pronounced short.<ref>Luganda Basic Course, p.xi.</ref>
* A vowel followed by a nasal–plosive combination is always long.
* A vowel followed by a geminate is always short. This rule takes precedence over all the above rules.
* The [[velar consonant|velar]] [[plosive consonant|plosives]] {{IPA|/k/}} and {{IPA|/ɡ/}} may not appear before the vowel {{IPA|[i]}} or the semivowel {{IPA|[j]}}. In this position they become the corresponding [[postalveolar consonant|postalveolar]] [[affricate consonant|affricates]] {{IPA|[tʃ]}} and {{IPA|[dʒ]}} respectively.
* The consonants {{IPA|/j/}}, {{IPA|/w/}} and {{IPA|/l~r/}} cannot be [[gemination|geminated]] or [[prenasalised stop|prenasalised]].
* A consonant cannot be both geminated and prenasalised.

The net effect of this is that all Luganda words follow the general pattern of alternating [[consonant cluster]]s and [[vowel]]s, beginning with either but always ending in a vowel:
* (V)XVXV...XV
where V = [[vowel]], X = [[consonant cluster]], (V) = optional vowel

This is reflected in the [[syllabification]] rule that in writing, words are always hyphenated after a vowel (when breaking a word over two lines). For example, {{lang|lg|Emmotoka yange ezze}} 'My car has arrived' would be split into syllables as {{lang|lg|E‧mmo‧to‧ka ya‧nge e‧zze}}.