Editing Sandawe language (section)

===Phonotactics===
The majority of Sandawe syllables are [[consonant|C]][[vowel|V]]. Morpheme-initially, consonant clusters are of the form Cw; these are not found in the middle of morphemes. Most consonants are attested in this Cw sequence apart from the labials, the glottals ({{lang|sad|ʼ}}, {{lang|sad|h}}), sonorants ({{lang|sad|r}}, {{lang|sad|l}}, {{lang|sad|y}}, {{lang|sad|w}}), and the rather infrequent consonants {{lang|sad|n}}, {{lang|sad|d}}, {{lang|sad|dl}}, & the voiced clicks, which may simply be gaps in attestation. The rounded vowels {{lang|sad|o}}, {{lang|sad|u}} are not found after Cw sequences. Vowel initial syllables, as in {{lang|sad|cèú}} 'buffalo', are not found initially, though initial glottal stop is not written ({{lang|sad|íóó}} {{IPA|/ʔíóː/}} 'mother').

Glottal stops {{IPA|/ʔ/}} are found as syllable codas, though these may be released in an [[echo vowel]] in some circumstances. Hunziker et al. prefer to analyze these are final consonants, because the quality of the echo vowel is predictable, and otherwise this is the only place where the vowels {{IPA|/e/}}. {{IPA|/a/}}, {{IPA|/o/}} would have voiceless allophones.

Hunziker et al. find complementary distribution between homorganic [[Nasal stop|N]]C clusters, which occur only medially (there are no word-final nasal consonants), and nasal vowels, which they only transcribe word finally. It would therefore seem that NC clusters are the realization of a preceding nasal vowel.

Other final consonants are found as consonant clusters in the middle of a word. Historically, these are presumably due to vowel elision, as evidenced by records from the early 20th century and also by tone patterns. In the northwestern dialect, words are found with final consonants where tonal patterns suggest there was once a voiceless final vowel, and where the southeastern dialect retains a voiceless {{IPA|i}} or {{IPA|u}}.