Stop sounds /b, t, d, k, ɡ/ may have affricated phonetic variants as [b͡v, t͡s, d͡z~ɖ͡ʐ, k͡f, ɡ͡v] when occurring before /ə/. Sounds /ɣ, m/ may have variants as [ɣ͡v, ᶬv] when in the same position.
Sounds /p/ and /h/ only occur in interjections, ideophones or loanwords.
/p, t, k/ may also have aspirated allophones [pʰ, tʰ, kʰ] in word-initial positions.
Prenasal fricative sounds /ᶬf, ⁿs, ᶮʃ/ may also have allophones as prenasal affricate [ᶬp͡f, ⁿt͡s, ᶮt͡ʃ] sounds.
Sounds /d͡ʒ, ʃ, k, ɡ, m, ŋ/ may be labialized as [d͡ʒʷ, ʃʷ, kʷ, ɡʷ, mʷ, ŋʷ] when before a vowel, and occurring only in the first syllable.
Nso uses an orthography based on theGeneral Alphabet of Cameroon Languages (AGLC). An orthography had initially been created before being modified to follow the recommendations of the AGLC.[7]
Nso alphabet
a
b
c
d
e
ə
f
g
h
i
j
k
l
m
n
ŋ
o
p
r
s
t
u
v
w
y
z
ʼ
Nso uses 23 digraphs⟨bv, dz, gb, gh, gv, gw, jw, kf, kp, kw, mb, mf, mt, mv, nj, ns, nt, ny, ŋg, ŋk, ŋw, sh, ts⟩ and 7 trigraphs⟨ghv, mbv, ndz, nsh, ŋgv, ŋgw, shw⟩. Long vowels are indicating by doubling the vowel ⟨aa, ee, əə, ii, oo, uu⟩. Diphthongs are noted⟨ay, ey, əy, oy, uy, iy⟩.[8]
The high tone is indicated with the acute accent and the low tone with the grave accent on the vowel.
McGarrity, Laura and Botne, Robert (2001).Between Agreement and Case Marking in Lamnso. IUWPL 3: Explorations in African Linguistics: From Lamnso' to Sesotho (2001), edited by Robert Botne and Rose Vondrasek, pp. 53–70. Bloomington, IN: Noun classes and categorization: Proceedings of a symposium on categorization and noun classification, Eugene, Oregon, October 1983. Amsterdam: J. Benjamins.
