Phoneme inventory

Consonants

Labial Alveolar Post-alveolar Velar Uvular
Nasal m n ŋ
Stop (fortis)
Stop (lenis) p t k q
Stop (voiced) b d g
Affricative (fortis) tt͡s tt͡ʃ
Affricative (lenis) t͡s t͡ʃ
Affricative (voiced) d͡z d͡ʒ
Fricative (fortis) ʃː
Fricative (lenis) s ʃ x
Fricative (voiced) z ʒ ɣ
Approximant w l
Trill ʀ

Vowels

Front Central Back
Close iː i yː y u
Mid e̞ː e̞ ø̞ː ø̞ o̞ː o̞
Open aː a

Additionally, there exist five diphthongs: i͡e̞ y͡ø̞ u͡o̞ i͡a u͡a, written ie yø uo ia ua.

For the purposes of this article, fortis gemination of consonants will be expressed with a doubled consonant symbol: /pː/ "pp". The lenis affricatives /t͡s/ and /t͡ʃ/ shall be written as c and č respectively, and cc and čč when fortis /tt͡s tt͡ʃ/. /ʒ/ shall be written as ž, ʃ as š, and the voiced affricatives /d͡z/ and /d͡ʒ/ as dz and dž respectively. /ɣ/ shall be written as ǧ, and /ʀ/ as r.

Long vowels will be expressed with an acute accent on the vowel: /yː/ "ý". The true mid vowels e̞ ø̞ o̞ will be written as e ø o (é ǿ ó when long).

Case table

Qiackeb has two noun classes: animate and inanimate. Animate words are answers to the question "who?" and inanimates are answers to the question "what?" Inanimates are additionally split in two, based on whether they are consonant stem or vowel stem. All animates are vowel stems ending in long vowels. (Personal names might end in a short vowel or a diphthong.) With qwé "woman", bzie "cat", šiam "dog":

Animate Inanimate I Inanimate II
Absolutive qwé bzie šiam
Ergative qwékes bzienim šiamim
Genetive qwéko bziekan šiaman
Dative qwéri bzieǧi šiami
Allative qwéla bziela šiamal
Instrumental qwécas bziecas šiamcas
Locative qwégax bziegax šiamgax
Comparative qwébal bziebal šiambal
Vocative qwés bzies šiamo