Ikanirae Seru Phonology
Sounds
The 5 vowel letters (a, e, i, o, u) and 8 consonant letters of Ikanirae Seru are each in a one-to-one correspondence with the phonemes of Ikanirae Seru.. However, since Ikanirae Seru is spoken exclusively as a second language, many of its phonemes have a variety of allowable realizations according to what the speaker finds convenient. There are also one or two obligatory allophony rules. Phonetic transcriptions are given in X-SAMPA.
Consonants
t = [t]; aspirated or unaspirated
k = [k]; aspirated or unaspirated
s = [s]
h = [h]
n = [n]
m = [m]
r = [4] (tapped "r") or [r\] (approximant, as English "r")
y = [j] (like English "y")
Vowels
a = [a] mostly, but [A] and [&] ("ash") are also okay.
e = [E] or [e]
i = [i] in most contexts, but [I] when before or after "y".
o = [O] or [o]
u = [u] or [M] (high back vowel, round or unround
Syllable Structure
Syllable structure is (C)V: every syllable contains one vowel, and may (but need not) have an onset (consonant at beginning). Codas (consonants at ends of syllables) are forbidden. Consecutive vowels belong to separate syllables. Glottal stops are inserted between two identical vowels, so the word "tiuu" (friend) is phonetically [ti.u.?u]. Glottal stops may be inserted between other vowel combinations, but this is speaker-dependent.