Editing Guarani language (section)

==== 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/}}.