Thote Diachronics

At some point in the past, initials /ts dz s z/ with medial /j/ together become /tɕ dʑ ɕ ʑ/.

PTB *a becomes /a/.
PTB *i becomes /i/.
PTB *əy becomes /i/.
PTB *wəy becomes /wi/.
PTB *u becomes /u/.
PTB *əw becomes /u/.
PTB *e becomes /e/.
PTB *ey becomes /i/.
PTB *ay becomes /e/.
PTB *aːy becomes /e/.
PTB *way becomes /we/.
PTB *waːy becomes /we/.
PTB *o becomes /o/.
PTB *ow becomes /u/.
PTB *aw becomes /o/.
PTB *aːw becomes /o/.
PTB *oy becomes /wi/.
PTB *uy becomes /wi/.

All initial voiceless plosives in root-initial syllables are aspirated without prefixes.
Initial voiceless plosives with the prefixes /b d ɡ k r l s/ are not aspirated.
Initial voiceless plosives in root-initial syllables with the preinitials /m ʔ/ are aspirated.
Initial voiceless plosives in affixes are not aspirated.

Syllables with voiceless initials /p pʰ t tʰ k kʰ ts tsʰ tɕ tɕʰ s ɕ h ʔ/ take high tone by default.
Syllables with voiced initials /b d ɡ dz dʑ z ʑ m n ŋ r l w j/ take low tone by default.
Syllables with the preinitials /s ʔ p k/ take high tone regardless of their initials.
Syllables with the preinitials /b d ɡ m/ take low tone regardless of their initials.
However, syllables in affixes take on the tone of the syllables they attach to.
Also, as a continually productive rule, in polysyllables (excepting affixes) if the tone assigned to the first syllable of the polysyllable is high, then the first syllable is high in tone and the rest of the syllables are low in tone; otherwise the last syllable is high in tone and the rest of the syllables are low in tone.

Post-final and final /s/ is elided.

Most but not all other postfinals are elided.

Medial /j/ (including as the second part of a medial cluster) followed by /a/ becomes /e/.

Prefixal /b d ɡ k r l s m ʔ/ followed by initial /r l w j/ become initial /b d ɡ k r l s m ʔ/ followed by medial /r l w j/ except where it would result in /rr/ or /ll/.

Initial /ʔ/ followed by medial /w/ becomes initial /w/.

Initial /ʔ/ followed by medial /j/ becomes initial /j/.

Initial /ʔ/ followed by medial /r/ becomes initial /r/.

Initial /ʔ/ followed by medial /l/ becomes initial /l/.

Initial /d k kʰ ɡ s ŋ/ followed by medial /r/ become /dʐ tʂ tʂʰ dʐ ʂ ɳ/.

Initial /p k s h/ followed by medial /l/, including as part of a medial cluster, become /ɬ/.

Syllables with prefixal /r/ rhoticize their vowels such that /a e i o u/ become /aʳ eʳ iʳ oʳ uʳ/.

Syllables with medial /r/ rhoticize their vowels such that /a e i o u/ become /aʳ eʳ iʳ oʳ uʳ/, with the medial being lost.

Medial /l/ becomes medial /j/.

Medial /lj/ becomes medial /j/.

Initial /p pʰ b t tʰ d k kʰ ɡ s ɬ m n ŋ r l h/ followed by medial /j/ become /tɕ tɕʰ dʑ tɕ tɕʰ dʑ tɕ tɕʰ dʑ ɕ ɬ ɲ ɲ ɲ r l j/.

Medial /w/ (including as the second part of a medial cluster) followed by /a/ becomes /o/, followed by /e/ becomes /o/, followed by /i/ becomes /u/, followed by /o/ becomes /o/, followed by /u/ becomes /u/.

Most preinitials are lost, but some preinitials, primarily those with grammatical function, are preserved as sesquisyllables where the prefix is separated from the main syllable by /a/. In this case /b d ɡ/ become /p t k/.

Initial /ʔ/ is lost.

In many disyllables where the first syllable is an open syllable the vowel of the second syllable is often elided and the initial of the second syllable is attached as a final to the first syllable such that /p pʰ b/ > /p/, /t tʰ d/ > /t/, /ts tsʰ dz tɕ tɕʰ dʑ/ > /ts/, /k kʰ ɡ/ > /k/, /s z ɬ ɕ ʑ h/ > /s/, and the rest are unchanged.

Syllables with the finals /r l/ rhoticize their vowels such that /a e i o u/ become /aʳ eʳ iʳ oʳ uʳ/.

/eʳ oʳ/ become /iʳ uʳ/.