The Wounaan language, also known as Noanamá and Woun Meu, is a Chocoan language, with around 10,000 speakers on the border between Panama and Colombia.

Phonology

The following tables show the vowel and consonant phonemes of Wounaan, transcribed using the International Phonetic Alphabet.

Vowels

Vowels
FrontCentralBack
unroundedrounded
Closeoraliɯu
nasalĩɯ̃ũ
Close-midoraleɤo
nasalɤ̃õ
Openorala
nasalã

Consonants

BilabialAlveolarPalatalVelarGlottal
Stopvoicelessptkʔ
aspirated
voicedbdg
Affricate
Fricativesɕh
Nasalmn
Approximantljw
Trillr
Flapɾ
  • /ɕ/ occurs as [t͡ʃ] across dialects, and as [ʃ] at the end of a word.

Notes

  • Mejía, Gustavo (2000). "Presentación y descripción fonológica y morfosintáctica del waunana". In González de Pérez, María Stella; Rodríguez de Montes, María Luisa (eds.). Lenguas indígenas de Colombia: una visión descriptiva. Santafé de Bogotá: Instituto Caro y Cuervo. pp. 85–96.
  • Murillo Miranda, José Manuel; Marín Esquivel, Rebeca (2022). . Revista Lengua y Literatura (in Spanish). 8 (1): 17–39. doi:.