Editing Eyak language (section)

==Phonology==
The following charts are based on the material in Krauss (1965); [[International Phonetic Alphabet|IPA]] equivalents are shown in square brackets. The orthography used by Krauss is also used by the Eyak people. An alternative version uses {{angbr|ə ł x̣ g̣}} instead of {{angbr|A L X G}} for {{IPA|/ə ɬ χ q/}}, and {{angbr|j č š c cʼ}} instead of {{angbr|dj ch sh ts tsʼ}} for {{IPA|/t͡ʃ  t͡ʃʱ ʃ t͡s t͡sʼ/}} respectively. 

===Consonants===
{| class="wikitable" style=text-align:center
|-
! rowspan="2" colspan="2" | 
! rowspan="2" | [[Labial consonant|Labial]]
! colspan="3" | [[Alveolar consonant|Alveolar]]
! rowspan="2" | [[Palato-alveolar consonant|Palato-<br>alveolar]]
! colspan="2" | [[Velar consonant|Velar]]
! rowspan="2" | [[Uvular consonant|Uvular]]
! rowspan="2" | [[Glottal consonant|Glottal]]
|-
! {{small|plain}}|| {{small|[[sibilant]]}} || {{small|[[Lateral consonant|lateral]]}}
! {{small|plain}} || {{small|[[Labialization|labial]]}}
|-
! rowspan="3" | [[Stop consonant|Stop]]
! {{small|[[Aspirated consonant|unaspirated]]}}
| {{IPA link|b}} {{angbr|b}}{{efn|name=bŋ}}
| {{IPA link|t}} {{angbr|d}}
| {{IPA link|ts}} {{angbr|dz}}
| {{IPA link|tɬ}} {{angbr|dl}}
| {{IPA link|tʃ}} {{angbr|dj}}
| {{IPA link|k}} {{angbr|g}}
| {{IPA link|kʷ}} {{angbr|gw}}
| {{IPA link|q}} {{angbr|G}}
| 
|-
! {{small|[[Aspirated consonant|aspirated]]}}
| 
| {{IPA link|tʰ}} {{angbr|t}}
| {{IPA link|tsʰ}} {{angbr|ts}}
| {{IPA link|tɬʰ}} {{angbr|tl}}
| {{IPA link|tʃʰ}} {{angbr|ch}}
| {{IPA link|kʰ}} {{angbr|k}}
| 
| {{IPA link|qʰ}} {{angbr|q}}
| 
|-
! {{small|[[Ejective consonant|ejective]]}}
| 
| {{IPA link|tʼ}} {{angbr|t’}}
| {{IPA link|tsʼ}} {{angbr|ts’}}
| {{IPA link|tɬʼ}} {{angbr|tl’}}
| {{IPA link|tʃʼ}} {{angbr|ch’}}
| {{IPA link|kʼ}} {{angbr|k’}}
| 
| {{IPA link|qʼ}} {{angbr|q’}}
| {{IPA link|ʔ}} {{angbr|'}}
|-
! colspan="2" | [[Fricative]]
| 
| 
| {{IPA link|s}} {{angbr|s}}
| {{IPA link|ɬ}} {{angbr|L}}
| {{IPA link|ʃ}} {{angbr|sh}}
| {{IPA link|x}} {{angbr|x}}
| {{IPA link|xʷ}} {{angbr|xw}}
| {{IPA link|χ}} {{angbr|X}}
| {{IPA link|h}} {{angbr|h}}
|-
! colspan="2" | [[Sonorant]]
| {{IPA link|m}} {{angbr|m}}{{efn|name=mn|The nasals [n] and [m] occur in loanwords; in native words, Krauss (1965) suggests that they can be interpreted as /l/ and /w/ (respectively) followed by a nasalized vowel.}}
| {{IPA link|n}} {{angbr|n}}{{efn|name=mn}}
| 
| {{IPA link|l}} {{angbr|l}}
| {{IPA link|j}} {{angbr|y}}
| {{IPA link|ŋ}} {{angbr|ŋ}}{{efn|name=bŋ|/b/ and /ŋ/ occur only in loanwords.}}
| {{IPA link|w}} {{angbr|w}}
| 
| 
|}
{{notelist}}

Aspirated stops contrast with unaspirated stops only before vowels.

All consonants may be found stem-initially, except /h/, which is interpreted as zero. /h/ has the allophone [h] only word-initially or directly following a vowel.

===Vowels===
Eyak has five vowel qualities /ɪ e a ə ʊ/, three of which also distinguish duration, [[nasalization]], [[creaky voice]] (i.e. glottalization), and [[breathy voice]] (‘aspiration’ in Krauss's terminology). The vowel {{IPAslink|ə}} only occurs as short and in [[modal voice]], without nasalization. {{IPAslink|a}} can also vary between {{IPAblink|a}} or {{IPAblink|ɔ}}, and {{IPAslink|e}} can vary between {{IPAblink|e}}, {{IPAblink|ɛ}}, or {{IPAblink|æ}}. Breathy voice vowels are all short {{IPA|/ɪ̤ e̤ a̤ ʊ̤/}}, although most of them can also be nasalized {{IPA|/ɪ̤̃ ã̤ ʊ̤̃/}}.
:{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
|-
!
! colspan="2" | [[Front vowel|Front]]
! colspan="2" | [[Central vowel|Central]]
! colspan="2" | [[Back vowel|Back]]
|-
!
!'''Oral'''
!'''Nasal'''
!'''Oral'''
!'''Nasal'''
!'''Oral'''
!'''Nasal'''
|-
! [[Close vowel|Close]]
| {{IPAlink|ɪ}} ɪː ɪ̰ ɪ̰ː ɪ̤ 
|ɪ̃ ɪ̃ː ɪ̰̃ ɪ̰̃ː ɪ̤̃
|
|
| {{IPAlink|ʊ}} ʊː ʊ̰ ʊ̰ː ʊ̤
|ʊ̃ ʊ̃ː ʊ̰̃ ʊ̰̃ː ʊ̤̃
|-
! [[Mid vowel|Mid]]
| eː ḛ ḛː e̤
|
| {{IPAlink|ə}} 
|
|
|
|-
! [[Open vowel|Open]]
|
|
| aː a̰ a̰ː a̤
|ã ãː ã̰ ã̰ː
|
|
|}

==== Writing vowels in Eyak ====
In the system developed to represent Eyak in writing, long vowels are represented by characters following the basic vowel: a colon <:> for long vowels, an apostrophe < ’> for glottalized (or creaky voice) vowels, an <h> for breathy voiced (“aspirated”) vowels and an <n> for nasalized vowels. 
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
|-
! ''‘Unmodified’ (modal, oral)''!! ''Glottal (creaky voice)''!! ''‘Aspirated’ (breathy voice)''!! ''Long''!! ''Glottal long''!! ''Glottal nasal''!! ''‘Aspirated’ nasal''!! ''Long nasalized''!! ''Long glottalized nasal''
|-
| i
| i’
| ih
| i:
| i:’
| in’
| inh
| i:n
| i:n’ 	
|-
| rowspan="2" | A
| e’
| eh
| e:
| e:’	
|
|
|
|
|-
| a’
| ah
| a:
| a:’
| an’
| anh
| a:n
| a:n’ 	
|-
| u
| u’
| uh
| u:
| u:’
| un’	
| unh	
| u:n	
| u:n’ 	
|}

===Suprasegmentals===
All [[Syllable|syllables]] begin with an onset, so that no two vowels may occur consecutively. Only vowels can be the nuclei of syllables. Stems are [[Syllable weight|heavy syllables]], whereas affixes tend to be light. 

Unlike many of the [[Athabascan languages]] to which it is related, Eyak is not [[Tone (linguistics)|tonal]]. It does not use variations in fundamental frequency (i.e. ‘pitch accents’) to convey contrast. [[Stress (linguistics)|Lexical stress]] usually falls on stems and/or [[Syllable weight|heavy syllables]]. In sequences of heavy syllables, the stress falls on the penultimate syllable, as in ''qʼahdiʼlah'' /qʼa̤ˈtɪ̰la̤/ “goodbye”.