Shi, or Mashi, is a Bantu language of the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
Phonology
Consonants
| Labial | Dental/ Alveolar |
Post-alv./ Palatal |
Velar | Glottal | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nasal | m | n | ɲ | |||
| Plosive/ Affricate |
voiceless | p | t | t͡ʃ | k | |
| voiced | b | d | d͡ʒ | ɡ | ||
| Fricative | voiceless | f | s | ʃ | h | |
| voiced | v | z | ||||
| Rhotic | voiceless | r̥ | ||||
| voiced | r | |||||
| Lateral | l | |||||
| Approximant | w | j | ||||
- Sounds /t, d, n/ are commonly heard as dental [t̪, d̪, n̪].
- /d͡ʒ/ may also be heard as a fricative [ʒ].[3]
Vowels
| Front | Central | Back | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Close | i iː | u uː | |
| Close-mid | e eː | o oː | |
| Open | a aː |
References
- ^ Shi at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
- ^ Jouni Filip Maho, 2009. New Updated Guthrie List Online
- ^ Bashi Murhi-Orhakube, Constantin (2012). Grammaire du mashi: phonologie, morphologie, mots grammaticaux et lexicaux. Paris: L’Harmattan.
