Mao language (Manipur)

Mao, also known as Sopvoma, is a Sino-Tibetan language of the Angami–Pochuri linguistic sub-branch. It is spoken primarily in Senapati district, northwestern Manipur and in Nagaland, India. It is similar to Angami. The speakers of this language use Meitei language as their second language (L2) according to the Ethnologue.

Consonants

 * /t͡ʃʰ/ and /w/ only rarely occur, and with /t͡ʃʰ/ only occurring in word-initial position.
 * The pre-aspirated voiceless /ʰr̥/, may have a word-initial allophone of, [ʂ] rarely occurs phonemically.
 * [ɡ] only occurs marginally from loanwords.
 * /t̪, p͡f/ in word-initial position may be heard as [t̪ʰ, p͡fʰ] in free variation, rarely as phonemic.
 * /h/ may have an allophone of word-initially, word medially in free variation. [x] rarely occurs as a phoneme.
 * /m/ before a central vowel /ɨ/ can have an allophone of a labiodental.
 * /n/ before high vowel sounds can have an allophone of a palatalized.

Vowels

 * [ə] only occurs inter-morphemically.
 * /ɨ/ can be heard as rounded [ʉ] in free variation.
 * In word-initial position, /i, u/ can be lowered to [ɪ, ʊ].
 * /e, o/ can be lowered to [ɛ, ɔ] in word-final position.