Editing Marshallese language (section)

===Historic sound changes===
{| class="wikitable" style=text-align:center 
|+ Marshallese reflexes of [[Proto-Oceanic language|Proto Oceanic]] [[consonant]]s{{sfnp|Bender et al.|2003|pp=4, 5}}
|-
! [[Proto-Oceanic language|Proto-Oceanic]]
|  *mp ||  *mp,ŋp || *p || *m ||  *m,ŋm ||  *k || *ŋk || *ŋ || *y || *w || *t || || *s,nj || *ns,j || *j || *nt,nd || *d,R || *l || *n || *ɲ
|-
! [[Micronesian languages|Proto-Micronesian]]
|  *p ||  *pʷ || *f || *m ||  *mʷ ||  *k || *x || *ŋ || *y || *w || *t || *T || *s || *S || *Z || *c || *r || *l || *n || *ɲ
|-
! Marshallese
| {{IPA|/pʲ/}} || {{IPA|/pˠ/}} || {{IPA|/j/}} || {{IPA|/mʲ/}} || {{IPA|/mˠ/}} || {{IPA|/k, kʷ/}} || {{IPA|∅}} || {{IPA|/ŋ, ŋʷ/}} || {{IPA|/j/}} || {{IPA|/w/}} || {{IPA|/tʲ/}} || {{IPA|/tʲ/}} || {{IPA|/tˠ/}} || {{IPA|/tˠ/}} || {{IPA|∅}} || {{IPA|/rʲ/}} || {{IPA|/rˠ, rʷ/}} || {{IPA|/lʲ, lˠ, lʷ/}} || {{IPA|/nʲ, nˠ, nʷ/}} || {{IPA|/nʲ/}}
|-
|}

Marshallese consonants show splits conditioned by the surrounding Proto-Micronesian vowels. Proto-Micronesian *k *ŋ *r become rounded next to *o or next to *u except in bisyllables whose other vowel is unrounded. Default outcomes of *l and *n are palatalized; they become velarized or rounded before *a or sometimes *o if there is no high vowel in an adjacent syllable. Then, roundedness is determined by the same rule as above.