Toda is a Southern Dravidian language (Tamil-Kannada branch) spoken in the Nilgiri
hills of India (1000 speakers according to SoWL appendix).
Map of India (PDF)
It is remarkable for the large number of contrasting sibilants. As Ladefoged notes, it is
also unusual for exhibiting the largest number of contrasts in syllable-final rather than
syllable-initial position.
Labiodental
|
S
pɔf
|
Dental
|
S
pɔθ
|
Laminal alveolar
|
S
kɔs̻
|
Apical post-alveolar
|
S
pɔs̠
|
Laminal post-alveolar
|
S
pɔʃ
|
Sub-apical palatal
|
S
pɔʂ
|
Velar
|
S
pɔx
|
Click here for linguagrams, palatograms, and reconstructions of tongue shape.
PDF (pp. 3-6)