A'ou language
A'ou or Red Gelao is an endangered Gelao language spoken by fewer than 100 people in Guizhou, China. Only the Hongfeng and Bigong dialects are still spoken, each with only a few dozen speakers.
Dialects
The main dialects of A'ou, which all have limited mutual intelligibility, are:- Hongfeng
- Bigong
- Qiaoshang
Mulao is sometimes also included, in addition to Yi, an extinct A'ou variety of Sichuan.
Phonology
Consonants
- Consonant clusters may include /pl, bl, vl, ml/.
- /d/ may have an allophone of , heard in free variation.
- Nasal sounds /m, n, ŋ/ may be heard as prenasal sounds when in combination with low tones in initial position.
- /χ/ may also be heard as velar in free variation.
Vowels
- Sounds /ə, ɯ, ɤ/ are only heard when in vowel diphthongs /əu, aɯ, əɯ, ɤu/ or triphthongs /iəɯ, iəu, uəɯ/.
- /ə/ only rarely occurs as a monophthong.
- /ɛ/ may also be heard as in free variation.