Ulumandaʼ is unusual among the Austronesian languages of Sulawesi for featuring a
vowel harmony opposition of front vowels /æ, ø, y/ to corresponding back vowels /ɑ, o, u/ comparable to that of the
Uralic languages. Originally, fronted vowels arose from the fronting of back vowels before syllable-final
velar consonants*k and *Å‹, but were phonemicized in final syllables when word-final *-m and *-n merged with *Å‹ to result in -Å‹ but did not front a preceding back vowel unlike original *-Å‹. These fronted vowels then fronted any other back vowels in a word except if a neutral vowel like *e or *i intervened between the vowels.
A contrastive pair includes /uraŋ/ "person" vs. /uræŋ/ [yræŋ] "shrimp".
^Friberg, Timothy; Laskowske, Thomas V. (1989).
"South Sulawesi languages"(PDF). In J.N. Sneddon (ed.). Studies in Sulawesi linguistics part 1. NUSA 17. Jakarta: Badan Penyelenggara Seri Nusa. pp. 1–17.
Ulumandaʼ is unusual among the Austronesian languages of Sulawesi for featuring a
vowel harmony opposition of front vowels /æ, ø, y/ to corresponding back vowels /ɑ, o, u/ comparable to that of the
Uralic languages. Originally, fronted vowels arose from the fronting of back vowels before syllable-final
velar consonants*k and *Å‹, but were phonemicized in final syllables when word-final *-m and *-n merged with *Å‹ to result in -Å‹ but did not front a preceding back vowel unlike original *-Å‹. These fronted vowels then fronted any other back vowels in a word except if a neutral vowel like *e or *i intervened between the vowels.
A contrastive pair includes /uraŋ/ "person" vs. /uræŋ/ [yræŋ] "shrimp".
^Friberg, Timothy; Laskowske, Thomas V. (1989).
"South Sulawesi languages"(PDF). In J.N. Sneddon (ed.). Studies in Sulawesi linguistics part 1. NUSA 17. Jakarta: Badan Penyelenggara Seri Nusa. pp. 1–17.