Evenki phonology

The Evenki language typically has CV syllables but other structures are possible. Bulatova and Grenoble list Evenki as having 11 possible vowel phonemes; a classical five-vowel system with distinctions between long and short vowels (except in ) and the addition of a long and short, while Nedjalkov claims that there are 13 vowel phonemes. Evenki has a moderately small consonant inventory; there are 18 consonants (21 according to Nedjalkov 1997) in the Evenki language and it lacks glides or semivowels.

Consonants
Below are tables of Evenki consonant phonemes, including those identified by Nedjalkov (1997) in italics.

The phoneme has a word-final allophone,, as well as an intervocalic variant,. Likewise, some speakers pronounce intervocalic as. Speakers of some dialects also alternate and ). Consonant inventories given by researchers working on dialects in China are largely similar. The differences noted: Chaoke and Kesingge et al. give  instead of  and lack, , or ; furthermore, Kesingge et al. give  instead of.

Vowels
Below is a chart of Evenki vowels found among Russian dialects, including those identified by Nedjalkov (1997) in italics.

The Evenki vowel inventory of Chinese dialects, however, is markedly different (Chaoke, 1995, 2009):

Like most Tungusic languages, Evenki employs vowel harmony—suffix vowels are matched to the vowel in the root. However, some vowels, /i/, /iː/, /u/, /uː/ and certain suffixes do not adhere to the rules of vowel harmony. Knowledge of the rules of vowel harmony is fading, as vowel harmony is a complex topic for elementary speakers to grasp, the language is severely endangered (Janhunen), and many speakers are multilingual.

Syllable structure
Possible syllable structures include V, VC, VCC, CV, CVC, and CVCC. In contrast to dialects in Russia, dialects in China do not have /k/, /ŋ/, nor /r/ in word-initial position.