Editing Crow language (section)

===Consonants===
Crow has a very sparse consonant inventory, much like many other languages of the [[Great Plains]].

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center;"
!
! [[Labial consonant|Labial]]
! [[Alveolar consonant|Alveolar]]
! [[Palatal consonant|Palatal]]
! [[Velar consonant|Velar]]
! [[Glottal consonant|Glottal]]
|-
! [[Plosive]]
| {{IPA link|p}}
| {{IPA link|t}}
| {{IPA link|tʃ}} {{grapheme|ch}}
| {{IPA link|k}}
| ({{IPA link|ʔ}})
|-
! [[Fricative]]
|
| {{IPA link|s}}
| {{IPA link|ʃ}} {{grapheme|sh}}
| {{IPA link|x}}
| {{IPA link|h}}
|-
! [[Sonorant]]
| {{IPA link|m}}~{{IPA link|b}}~{{IPA link|w}}
| {{IPA link|n}}~{{IPA link|d}}~{{IPA link|ɾ}}
|
|
|
|}

[[Plosive|Stops]] are aspirated word-initially, word-finally, when geminated (e.g. [ppʰ]) and when following another stop (e.g. [ptʰ]). Stops in a consonant cluster with ''h'' as the initial radical (''hp'', ''ht'', ''hk'') are unaspirated and lax. Gemination in stops only occurs intervocalically. Intervocalic single, nongeminate stops are lax, unaspirated, and generally voiced. The difference between voiced stops ''b'' and ''d'' (allophones of ''m'' and ''n'') and voiceless stops is hardly discernible when following a fricative, since both are unaspirated and lax. The phoneme ''k'' has a palatalized allophone [kʲ] that occurs after ''i'', ''e'', ''ch'' and ''sh'', often word-finally.

[[Fricative]]s are tense; they are only lax when intervocalic. Palatal ''sh'' is often voiced intervocalically; ''s'' is sometimes voiced intervocalically; ''x'' is never voiced. The alveolar fricative /s/ has an optional allophone /h/ in phrase-initial position:
*''sáapa'' "what" > [háapa]
*''sapée'' "who"  > [hapée]

[[Sonorant]]s voiced /m/ and /n/ have three allophones: ''w'' and ''l'' intervocalically, ''b'' and ''d'' word initially and following an obstruent, and ''m'' and ''n'' in all other conditions. In conservative speech, ''l'' is realized as a tapped ''r'', however in general cases it is realized as ''l'', perhaps due in part to the influence of English. Word initially, ''b'' is optional for /m/, though ''b'' is more commonly realized. The glottal sonorant /h/ assimilates to the nasality of the following segment, but retains its voicelessness. When following ''i'' or ''e'' or preceding ''ch'', /h/ may be realized as an alveopalatal fricative.