the eye of the storm

phollúgní

Phollúgni Útsí is a vowel-rich, consonant-light language, and probably difficult for Western Europeans to pronounce correctly (I find it very hard myself!). Native speakers often elide many consonants to the point that they almost vanish altogether.

As an example, take the name of the island of Hamota. The 'h' is very light, little more than a slight 'breathiness' preceding the first 'a'. The 't' is somewhere between 't' and 'dh', and many native speakers will barely pronounce it at all, reducing to a slightly tongued breath just before the final 'a'.

The vowels, on the other hand, should be clearly distinguished. The 'o' in 'Hamota' is 'o' sound heard in the English 'more', not the long 'o' found in 'phone'. If you pronounce it wrong it is liable to be confused with 'avóda' ('cloud').

 

Consonants	Bilabial	Labio-dental	Dental	Alveolar	Post-alv.	Palatal	Velar	Glottal
Plosive	p		t, d				k, q
Nasal	m			n		gn	ng
Fricative		f, v	th, dh	s	sc		gh	h
Approximant		ph		r			w
Lateral Approximant				l		ll