Editing Tobian language (section)

== Phonology ==

=== Vowels ===
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center;"
|+ Vowels<ref name=":0" />
! colspan="2" |
! Front
! Central
! Back
|-
! rowspan="2" | High
! {{small|close}}
| {{IPA link|i}}
| {{IPA link|ɨ}} {{ns}} {{IPA link|ʉ}}
| {{IPA link|u}}
|-
! {{small|open}}
| {{IPA link|i̯}}
|
| {{IPA link|u̯}}
|-
! rowspan="2" | Mid
! {{small|close}}
| {{IPA link|e}}
| {{IPA link|ø}}
| {{IPA link|o}}
|-
! {{small|open}}
| {{IPA link|e̯}}
| {{IPA link|œ}}
| {{IPA link|o̯}}
|-
! rowspan="2" | Low
! {{small|close}}
| {{IPA link|ã}}
|
|
|-
! {{small|open}}
| {{IPA link|a}}
|
|
|}

"œ" is used rarely and sounds similar to the French "eu" but the lips do not round out at the end of the sound and has critical meaning in words. There is a central low vowel that sounds like the "u" in "but", but it does not have semantic value and it has very rare occurrence.<ref name=":0" />

=== Diphthongs ===
There are a lot of diphthongs in Tobian and according to Capell, "several of them are difficult for Europeans".<ref name=":0" />

{| class="wikitable"
! diphthong !! colspan="2" | example
|-
|äe || {{lang|tox|mäe}} || breadfruit
|-
|äi || {{lang|tox|fäivi}} || woman
|-
|aḛ || {{lang|tox|wa′ŋaḛt}} || then
|-
|ai || {{lang|tox|maik}} || swordfish
|-
|a:i || {{lang|tox|ma:il}} || forehead decoration
|-
|ao̯ || {{lang|tox|wao̯}} || top
|-
|au || {{lang|tox|jau}} || needle
|-
|a:u || {{lang|tox|sa:u}} || piece
|-
|ei || {{lang|tox|lei}} || agent of action
|-
|oʉ || {{lang|tox|woʉ}} || rather of house
|-
|øi || {{lang|tox|røi}} || coconut oil
|-
|øʉ || {{lang|tox|Pannøʉ}} || Palau
|}

=== Homonyms and near homonyms ===
Like most other languages, Tobian has examples of homonyms but they are not as abundant. Meanings can vary solely on vowel length. Also small differences in sounds can produce major differences in meanings.<ref name=":0" /> For example, the difference between voiceless (f) and voiced (v) consonants are important but there are many exceptions where it does not affect the meaning.

{| class="wikitable"
|{{lang|tox|ŋøŋa}} || 1. to chew betelnut || 2. a stick used in weaving
|-
|{{lang|tox|ʉl}} || 1. a lobster || 2. to pull, drag
|-
|{{lang|tox|taitai}} || 1. to excel, precede || 2. to shave
|}

==== Some minimal pairs ====
{| class="wikitable"
| {{lang|tox|mäk}} || tattooing
| {{lang|tox|ma}} || kind of garnish
|-
| {{lang|tox|′pannʉ}} || coconut leaf
| {{lang|tox|Pannøʉ}} || Palau
|-
| {{lang|tox|i′te}} || my name
| {{lang|tox|i′tøʉ?}} || who?
|-
| {{lang|tox|teiføʉ}} || thirsty
| {{lang|tox|taivøʉ}} || new
|-
| {{lang|tox|ŋøs}} || tired
| {{IPA|ŋo̯s}} || glans penis
|}

====Stress and prosody====
Tobian utilizes both stress and pitch accents or tones. Compared to the other dialects, it uses less musical tone. It is not a tonal language because the tone does not change the meaning of the word. Although it is not tonal, the speech has a wide variety of tone variations that appear to be emotional rather than linguistic and either show emphasis or other semantic components. Stress accents are used but not as much as English or Russian. In the past, the stress marks would normally be placed on the last syllable of the words. In the present, the stress marks can be placed either on the last syllable or the second to last syllable.

# Stress on the [[penultimate]] (second to last)
# Stress on the final syllable
# Stress  on the [[antepenultimate]] (third to last)
# Sentence stress
# [[Vowel harmony]]
# [[Vowel length]]
# Furtive vowels (Slightly heard or silent vowels)

=== Consonants ===
{| class="wikitable"
|+Consonants
!
!Bilabial
!Labio-dental
!Dental-alveolar 
!Palatal
!Velar
|-
|Plosives
|p, b
|
|t, d
|c
|k, ɡ
|-
|Nasals
|m
|
|n
|
|ŋ
|-
|Fricatives
|
|f, v
|s (z), ʂ (ʐ)
|j
|x, ɣ
|-
|Lateral
|
|
|(l)
|(ɫ)
|
|-
|Rolled
|
|
|r
|
|
|-
|Continuants
|w
|
|
|
|(w)
|}