Editing Tzeltal language (section)

===Phonological processes===

When a vowel is found in the context [_ʔC], the vowel is pronounced with [[creaky voice]].{{sfn|Polian|2006|p=18}}

[[Syncope (phonetics)|Contraction]] may occur with consecutive identical phonemes, either at a word- or morpheme-boundary.  For example, the word /ta aʼtel/ ("at work") may be pronounced [taʼtel], the two [a] phonemes having been pronounced as one.<ref name="Monod-Becquelin 1997 65">{{Cite book |last=Monod-Becquelin |first=Aurore |title=Parlons Tzeltal: Une langue Maya du Mexique |publisher=L'Harmattan |year=1997 |isbn=9782738457998 |location=Paris |pages=65}}</ref>

The [[phoneme]] [h] may undergo a number of [[phonological process|processes]] depending on context and [[dialect]].  In most dialects, most notably that of Bachajón, word-final [h] is very light and in rapid speech often disappears entirely if not protected by some other element.  For example, in the Bachajón dialect, the nominal root ''bah'' ("corncob/field mouse") in isolation would lose the final [h] and sound like ''ba'', but if the root takes the particle -''e'', the word will be pronounced [bahe].  This process does not hold true for word-final [j].  All dialects retain [h] before [[voiceless consonants]].  Similarly, medial [h] has disappeared from the Oxchuc dialect but not from the Bachajón dialect, such that ''yahl'' ("below") and ''chʼahil'' ("smoke") in Bachajón would be said ''yal'' and ''chʼail'' in [[Oxchuc]].<ref name="tzeltal.org">{{Cite book |last=Smith |first=Joshua Hinmán |url=http://www.tzeltal.org/cgi-bin/stuart/tzeltal/static_page.cgi?page=download |title=Manual of Spoken Tzeltal |date=1999-04-27 |editor-last=Bertens |editor-first=Madelief |translator-last=Robinson |translator-first=Stuart P. |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060927153139/http://www.tzeltal.org/cgi-bin/stuart/tzeltal/static_page.cgi?page=download |archive-date=2006-09-27 |url-status=usurped}}</ref>  Further, in the Oxchuc dialect, an [h] preceding a plain consonant will change the consonant into an [[ejective]] stop; thus ''baht''' ("he/she went") in Oxchuc corresponds to ''baht'' in other dialects.<ref name="tzeltal.org" />

In the majority of cases, root-initial [[glottal stop]] is pronounced, though it is often omitted in [[orthography]]. [ʼ] is only lost when the root is closely related to the preceding word.  For example, the glottal stop in the particle -''ʼix'' ("already") will never be pronounced, because the [[particle (linguistics)|particle]] always attaches to the preceding word.  The [[prefix]] ''ʼa-'' ("you/your") sometimes retains the [[glottal stop]], but not when it occurs in a [[verb]] form.  Similarly, the [[glottal stop]] in the particle ''maʼ'' has been lost in verbal forms.  Thus, words beginning or ending with a vowel and not a glottal stop should be pronounced together with the word preceding or following it.  For example, ''tal ix'' ("he already came") would sound like [talix].<ref name="tzeltal.org" />