Kamtok sounds

Initial studies of Kamtok phonology reveal that the language has 6 vowel sounds and 21 consonant phonemes. Kamtok thus makes use of almost as many consonants as English, although Kamtok and English consonants are quite not the same.

As for vowels sounds, Kamtok has barely half the number used in English. This apparent economy of vowel sounds at the phonemic level hides a certain complexity that becomes visible when one examines their concrete realizations. Cases of sounds in complementary distribution will require more careful study. Kamtok’s phonemes are presented in tables 1 and 2 and figures 1 and 2.

The first column contains the symbol used to represent the sound. The second contains a brief description of the sound, while the third provides an example of a Kamtok word or form in which the sound is found. This word is also presented in contrast with another word with which it constitutes a minimal pair.