Segmental Phonology: Consonants

This chapter discusses the consonant phoneme inventory, briefly comparing the Chichewa consonant inventory with that of Proto-Bantu, before turning to the distribution of the consonants in different morphologically defined positions (stem-initial, stem-medial, affixes). The second half of the chapter surveys the main consonantal phonological processes. The processes discussed include regular and productive processes, like nasal place assimilation and postnasal stop aspiration, and morphologically conditioned consonant mutations involved in the formation of noun class 5/6 singular–plural pairs and in the formation of causative verbs.