Editing Nǁng language (section)

===Vowels===
Like most languages in southern Africa, Nǁng has five vowel qualities. These may occur [[strident vowel|strident]] and [[nasal vowel|nasalized]]. A word may have two adjacent vowels, which resemble a long vowel or diphthong.

The strident vowels are thought to have the phonation called [[harsh voice]]. They are strongly pharyngealized, and for some speakers involve low-frequency trilling that presumably involves the [[aryepiglottic fold]]. The four strident vowel qualities (there is no strident ''i'') are rather different from the non-strident vowels, as is common when a vowel is [[pharyngealized]].

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
! ||High front||Mid front||Low central||Mid back||High back/central
|-
! Modal
| {{IPA|i [i̞]}} || {{IPA|e [e̞]}} || {{IPA|a [ä]}} || {{IPA|o [o̞]}} || {{IPA|u [u̽]}}
|-
! Nasal
| {{IPA|ĩ [ĩ̞]}} || {{IPA|ẽ [ẽ̞]}} || {{IPA|ã [ä̃]}} || {{IPA|õ [õ̞]}} || {{IPA|ũ [u̽̃]}}
|-
! Strident{{notetag|These are often written with a superscript {{angbr IPA|ʢ}}.}}
| || {{IPA|e𐞴 [ɛ̰̰]}} || {{IPA|a𐞴 [ɑ̟̰̰]}} || {{IPA|o𐞴 [ɔ̟̰̰]}} || {{IPA|u𐞴 [ɵ̰̰]}}
|-
! Nasal strident
| || (?) || {{IPA|ã𐞴 [ɑ̟̰̰̃]}} || {{IPA|õ𐞴 [ɔ̟̰̰̃]}} || {{IPA|ũ𐞴 [ɵ̰̰̃]}}
|}

Nǁng is the only Khoisan language known to have a strident front vowel, {{IPA|/e𐞴/}}, though this is rare, occurring in only two known words, zeqe {{IPA|/zḛ̰́é/}} 'to fly' and ǂʻheqbe {{IPA|/ᵑ̊ǂḛ̰̀βé/}} 'man's loincloth'. The lack of a nasalized equivalent is thought to be an [[accidental gap]] or simply unattested due to the small number of known words.

The tone-bearing segment may be a syllabic nasal, {{IPA|/ŋ̍/}}, rather than a vowel, as in the name Nǁng.

Only certain sequences of vowels may occur in a bimoraic foot, regardless of whether there is an intervening consonant. (That is, the permitted vowels are the same whether a word is CVcV or CVV.) If the first vowel is any variety (nasal, strident, etc.) of {{IPA|/i, e, ŋ̍/}}, then the second vowel must be identical. If the first vowel is {{IPA|/a/}}, then the second may be anything but {{IPA|/ŋ̍/}}. If the first vowel is {{IPA|/o/}} or {{IPA|/u/}}, then the second may be either {{IPA|/a/}} or a vowel of the same [[vowel height|height]]: that is, ''oa, oo, oe; ua, uu, ui''. The vowels must be both oral or both nasal; nasal vowels cannot follow a [[nasal stop]] (though they may follow [[nasal click]]s). Only the first vowel may be strident.

Front vowels can only follow the click types {{IPA|ǀ}} and {{IPA|ǂ}} (the [[back-vowel constraint]]), with a single known exception, {{IPA|[ᵑǁˀé]}} 'to go'. Front vowels and strident vowels may also not follow {{IPAblink|χ}}, whether an affricate release or a fricative, with the exception of three female kin terms where the second syllable is {{IPA|/χè/}}. As with the lack of strident front vowels, there are thus a small number of exceptions for these constraints with {{IPA|/e/}}, but none with {{IPA|/i/}}.