Möxali

Möxale is the primary language of the Lavondu people of T'ugü, and a lingua franca throughout surrounding coastal regions of Fountainhead, particularly those connected to T'ugü by maritime trade. Möxale emerged as a mixed language in bilingual communities of Xiyeru in T'ugü following the Xiyeru Exodus.

Phonology
Möxale is most commonly spoken as a second language, by many peoples over a wide area throughout its long history, so there is much variation in the phonology. There are, however, some patterns and general tendencies common to all speakers or particular subgroups. In order to view Möxale as a whole, its phonology is discussed here using the romanisation of its core phonemic inventory, which is common to almost all varieties of the language. Each phoneme can be understood as representing a diaphoneme, an abstracted phonological unit with an analogous phoneme in each variety of Möxale which may have different phonetic realisations depending on the dialect or historical stage. Particular phonetic varieties are also given in square brackets where relevant.

Vowels
The vowels a e i o u are most typically realised as [ä e i ɔ o], though Öb tend to realise e a as [ɪ ɑ]. The vowels ä ö can vary in height quite freely between [ø e̞] and [œ æ] depending on speaker and phonological environment, but the height hierarchy ä < ö < e is usually maintained. Adjacent vowels at the phonemic level are always separated by a non-phonemic [ʔ], which is not represented in the native script but romanised as ’ within words.