Phonology and orthographyBaxasautya i letraya
ConsonantsKonsautes
| Labial | Alveolar | Palatal | Guttural | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nasal | m /m/ | n /n/ | ||
| Stop | p /pʰ/, b /b/ | t /tʰ/, d /d/ | c /t͡ʃʰ/, j /d͡ʒ/ | k /kʰ/, g /g/ |
| Fricative | f /f/ | s /s/ | x /ʃ/ | h /h~x/ |
| Approximant | w /ʋ~w/ | l /l~ɫ/ | y /j/ | |
| Trill | r /r~ɹ̠~ʁ/ |
VowelsKaulsautes
Basa de Dunya has five base vowel sounds: a /ä/, e /e/, i /i/, o /o/, and u /u/. As with the consonants, variation in pronunciation is entirely acceptable, so long as they are all clearly distinct.
It also has four diphthongs: ai /äɪ̯/, au /äʊ̯/, ei /eɪ̯/, and oi /oɪ̯/.
The stress of a word always falls on its penultimate syllable, unless indicated otherwise by an acute accent: funu /ˈfu.nu/, fununi /fu.ˈnu.ni/, kimréig /kʰim.ˈreɪ̯g/.
PhonotacticsTKTK
The syllable structure of Basa de Dunya was chosen as a compromise between ease of pronunciation and recognisability of roots. Valid Basa syllables take the following form:
| Permitted onsets | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| null | ||||
| b | bw | by | br | bl |
| c | cw | |||
| d | dw | dy | dr | |
| f | fw | fy | ||
| g | gw | gy | gr | gl |
| h | hw | hy | ||
| j | jw | |||
| k | kw | ky | kr | kl |
| l | ||||
| m | mw | my | ||
| n | nw | ny | ||
| p | pw | py | pr | pl |
| r | ||||
| s | sw | sy | ||
| t | tw | ty | tr | |
| w | ||||
| x | xw | |||
| y | ||||
| Permitted codas, where a is any vowel and ai any diphthong | ||
|---|---|---|
| a | ai | |
| ab | aib | amb |
| ac | aic | anc |
| ad | aid | and |
| af | aif | amf |
| ag | aig | ang |
| aj | aij | anj |
| ak | aik | ank |
| al | ||
| am | aim | |
| an | ain | |
| ap | aip | amp |
| ar | ||
| as | ais | ans |
| at | ait | ant |
| ax | aix | anx |
When n /n/ forms part of a cluster nk or ng, it assimilates to a velar [ŋ]. The cluster ng in particular may be pronounced as [ŋ] at the end of a word.
y /j/ is elided after i /i/: Kristosni “Christian” + -ya “ness” → kristosnia “Christianity”.
OrthographyTKTK
The Basa alphabet has twenty-three letters, omitting Q, V, and Z:
An apostrophe ’ is placed between vowels when they might otherwise be confused for a diphthong. No’ila’ismo “atheism”, for instance, is pronounced as /no.i.la.ˈis.mo/.