Editing Chukchi language (section)

== Phonology ==
{{Main|Chukchi phonology}}

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
|+Chukchi consonant phonemes
!
![[Bilabial consonant|<small>Bilabial</small>]]
![[Alveolar consonant|<small>Alveolar</small>]]
![[Retroflex consonant|<small>Retroflex</small>]]
![[Palatal consonant|<small>Palatal</small>]]
![[Velar consonant|<small>Velar</small>]]
![[Uvular consonant|<small>Uvular</small>]]
![[Glottal consonant|<small>Glottal</small>]]
|-
!<small>[[Nasal consonant|Nasal]]</small>
|{{IPAlink|m}}
|{{IPAlink|n}}
|
|
|{{IPAlink|ŋ}}
|
|
|-
!<small>[[Stop consonant|Stop]]</small>
|{{IPAlink|p}}
|{{IPAlink|t}}
|
|{{IPAlink|t͡ʃ}}
|{{IPAlink|k}}
|{{IPAlink|q}}
|{{IPAlink|ʔ}}
|-
!<small>[[Fricative consonant|Fricative]]</small>
|{{IPAlink|β}}
|{{IPA link|s}}
|
|
|{{IPAlink|ɣ}}
|
|
|-
![[Lateral consonant|<small>Lateral</small>]]
|
|{{IPAlink|ɬ}}
|
|
|
|
|
|-
!<small>[[Approximant consonant|Approximant]]</small>
|
|
|{{IPAlink|ɻ}}
|{{IPAlink|j}}
|
|
|
|}

* [ɸ, x, ɻ̊, j̊] are heard as allophones of /β, ɣ, ɻ, j/ after voiceless stops.<ref name=":1">{{Cite web |date=2013-10-30 |title=chapter2_9 |url=http://privatewww.essex.ac.uk/~spena/Chukchee/chapter2.html#postlex |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131030024912/http://privatewww.essex.ac.uk/~spena/Chukchee/chapter2.html#postlex |archive-date=2013-10-30  |access-date=2022-10-21 }}</ref>
* /ɻ/ is mostly heard as an alveolar trill [r], when in between vowels.<ref>Skorik (1961)</ref>
* /s/ is phonetically [s~t͡ʃ] in free variation and only occurs in the men's dialect.
* /t͡ʃ/ becomes [s] before /q/ and only occurs in the women's dialect.
* /s/, /t͡ʃ/ and /ɻ/ have different distributions between men's and women's dialects.<ref>Dunn (1999)</ref>

There are no voiced [[plosive consonant|stops]] in the language; these are only found in [[loanword]]s.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Chukchi language, alphabet and pronunciation|url=https://omniglot.com/writing/chukchi.htm|access-date=2020-08-02|website=omniglot.com}}</ref>

The vowels are {{IPA|/i/}}, {{IPA|/u/}}, {{IPA|/e₁/}}, {{IPA|/e₂/}}, {{IPA|/o/}}, {{IPA|/a/}}, and {{IPA|/ə/}}. {{IPA|/e₁/}} and {{IPA|/e₂/}} are pronounced identically but behave differently in the phonology. (Cf. the two kinds of {{IPA|/i/}} in [[Eskimo language|Inuit Eskimo]], whose known cause is the merger of two vowels {{IPA|/i/}} and {{IPA|/ə/}}, which are still separate in [[Eskimo language|Yup'ik Eskimo]].)

A notable feature of Chukchi is its [[vowel harmony]] system largely based on [[vowel height]]. {{IPA|/i, u, e₁/}} alternate with {{IPA|/e₂, o, a/}}, respectively. The second group is known as "dominant vowels" and the first group as "recessive vowels"; that is because whenever a "dominant" vowel is present anywhere in a word, all "recessive" vowels in the word change into their "dominant" counterpart. The [[schwa]] vowel {{IPA|/ə/}} does not alternate but may trigger harmony as if it belonged to the dominant group.

Initial and final consonant clusters are not tolerated, and schwa epenthesis is pervasive.

Stress tends to: 1. be penultimate; 2. stay within the stem; 3. avoid [[schwa]]s.