Phukha language

Phukha
Phula
Native to	China, Vietnam
Native speakers	13,246
Language family	Sino-Tibetan Tibeto-Burman Lolo–Burmese Loloish Southeastern Highland Phula Phowa Hlepho–Phukha Phukha
Language codes
ISO 639-3	phh
ELP	Phula

Phukha is one of the Loloish languages spoken by the Phula people of Vietnam and China.

Phonology

Consonants

Phukha has the following consonants.

		Labial	Coronal		Retroflex	Palatal	Velar	Uvular
			Central	Lateral
Stops	Aspirated	pʰ	tʰ				kʰ
	Voiceless	p	t				k
	Voiced	b	d				ɡ
Affricates	Aspirated		tsʰ	tɬʰ	tʂʰ	tʃʰ
	Voiceless		ts	tɬ	tʂ	tʃ
	Voiced			dɮ
Fricatives	Voiceless	f	s	ɬ	ʂ	ʃ		χ
	Voiced	v	z	ɮ	ʐ	ʒ		ʁ
	Voiced laryngealized	v*	z*			ʒ*
Nasals		m	n				ŋ
Approximants		w		l		j

Vowels

Phukha has the following vowels.

	front	central	back unrounded	back rounded
High	i	ɨ	ɯ	u
Hi-Mid	e	ə		o
Lo-Mid	ɛ		ʌ	ɔ
Low		a

Tones

Phukha has five tones: high (55), mid (33), low (22), low-rising (24), and low-falling (21).

References

Robert Wayne Fried. 2000. "A Preliminary Phonological Sketch of Phu-kha, a Tibeto-Burman Language Spoken in Northern Vietnam," University of Texas at Arlington MA thesis.

Jamin R. Pelkey. 2005. "Puzzling over Phula: Toward the Synthesis and Statement of a Sub-Branch," Linguistics of the Tibeto-Burman Area 28/2:41-78.