Editing Zarma language (section)

==Phonology==
=== Vowels ===

There are ten vowels: the five oral vowels ({{IPA|/a/}}, {{IPA|/e/}}, {{IPA|/i/}}, {{IPA|/o/}}, {{IPA|/u/}}) and their [[nasal vowel|nasalized]] counterparts. There is slight variation, both allophonic and dialectal. [[Vowel length]] is phonemically distinctive. There are a number of combinations of a vowel with a semivowel {{IPA|/w/}} or {{IPA|/j/}},  the semivowel being initial or final.

===Consonants===
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align: center"
!colspan="2"|
! [[Labial consonant|Labial]]
! [[Dental consonant|Dental]]
! [[Palatal consonant|Palatal]]
! [[Velar consonant|Velar]]
! [[Glottal consonant|Glottal]]
|-
!colspan="2"| [[Nasal consonant|Nasal]]
| {{IPA link|m}}
| {{IPA link|n}}
| {{IPA link|ɲ}}
| {{IPA link|ŋ}}
|
|-
!rowspan="2"| [[Plosive]]
! {{small|[[Voicelessness|voiceless]]}}
| {{IPA link|p}}
| {{IPA link|t}}
| {{IPA link|c}}
| {{IPA link|k}}
|
|-
! {{small|[[Voice (phonetics)|voiced]]}}
| {{IPA link|b}}
| {{IPA link|d}}
| {{IPA link|ɟ}} {{grapheme|j}}
| {{IPA link|g}}
|
|-
!rowspan="2"| [[Fricative]]
! {{small|voiceless}}
| {{IPA link|f}}
| {{IPA link|s}}
| ||
| {{IPA link|h}}
|-
! {{small|voiced}}
|
| {{IPA link|z}}
| || ||
|-
!colspan="2"| [[Approximant]]
| {{IPA link|w}}
| {{IPA link|l}}
| {{IPA link|j}} {{grapheme|y}}
| ||
|-
!colspan="2"| [[Flap consonant|Flap]]
|
| {{IPA link|ɾ}} {{grapheme|r}}
| || ||
|-
!colspan="2"| [[Trill consonant|Trill]]
|
| {{IPA link|r}} {{grapheme|rr}}
| || ||
|}

The combinations {{IPA|/ɡe/, /ɡi/, /ke/}} and {{IPA|/ki/}} usually have some palatal quality to them and may even be interchangeable with {{IPA|/ɟe/, /ɟi/, /ce/}} and {{IPA|/ci/}} in the speech of many people.

All consonants may be short, and all consonants except /c/, /h/, /f/ and /z/ may be long. (In some dialects, long /f/ exists in the word ''goffo''.)

===Lexical tone and stress===
Zarma is a tonal language with four tones: high, low, fall and rise. In Dosso, some linguists (such as Tersis) have observed a dipping (falling-rising) tone for certain words: ''ma'' ("the name").

[[Stress (linguistics)|Stress]] is generally unimportant in Zarma. According to Abdou Hamani (1980), two-syllable words are stressed on their first syllable unless that syllable is just a short vowel: a-, i- or u-. Three-syllable words have stress on their second syllable. The first consonant of a stressed syllable is pronounced a bit more strongly, and the vowel in the preceding syllable is weakened. Only emphasized words have a stressed syllable. There is no change of tone for a stressed syllable.