Cerma language

Cerma (Kirma) is a Gur language of Burkina Faso. It is spoken by the Gouin people (sometimes called Ciramba or Gouin (Gwe, Gwen)).

• Although /w/ is phonetically a labial-velar consonant, Lauber includes it in the dorsal/laryngeal column because its distribution is more like /k/ or /h/ than the labials or labial-velars.²
• Lauber excludes /l̪/, /r̪/, and //N// from the continuant section because their distributions are different.²
• /l̪/ is nasalized [l̃] "in a nasal context" and a voiceless alveolar lateral [l̥] at the end of an utterance.³
• /r̪/ is a nasal tap [ɾ̪̃] "in a nasal context" and a voiceless tap [ɾ̥] at the end of an utterance.³
• The archiphoneme //N// has the following allophones:⁴
  • [m] before /b/, /p/, and /m/
  • [ɱ] before /f/ and /v/
  • [n̪] before /t̪/, /d̪/, /s̪/, and /n̪/
  • [ɲ] before /ɟ/, /c/, and front vowels
  • [ŋ] before /k/, /g/, /h/, /w/, and the central and back vowels
  • [ŋ͡m] before /k͡p/ and /g͡b/
• /Nj/ also becomes [ɲ].⁴
• Hürlimann and Pike (1985) note that the palatals are affricates, using the symbols ⟨č⟩ and ⟨j⟩.⁵

• Lauber treats nasalization as a feature of the syllable, not the vowel.²
• In closed syllables, /i, u/ become near-close [ɪ, ʊ].⁷
• In the last syllable of the nuclear element of the phonological word before /r/, /e, ɔ, o/ are lengthened [eː, ɔː, oː].⁸