a syllable. Between instances of [], or after at the end of a syllable, the velar is realized as the uvular [] or []. For example: {| |in-coko | |'his or her house' | | |- |tokná:wa | |'money' | | |} Fricatives There are four voiceless fricatives in Muscogee Creek: . can be realized as either labiodental () or bilabial in place of articulation. Predominantly among speakers in Florida, the articulation of is more laminal, resulting in being realized as [], but for most speakers, is a voiceless apico-alveolar fricative . Like , the glottal is sometimes realized as the uvular [] when it is preceded by or when syllable-final: {| |oh-leyk-itá | |'chair' | | |- |ohɬolopi: | |'year' | | |} Sonorants The sonorants in Muscogee are two nasals ( and ), two semivowels ( and ), and the lateral , all voiced. Nasal assimilation occurs in Creek: becomes [] before . Sonorants are devoiced when followed by in the same syllable and results in a single voiceless consonant: {| |camhcá:ka | |'bell' | | |- |akcáwhko | |'a type of water bird' | | |} Geminates All plosives and fricatives in Muscogee can be geminated (lengthened). Some sonorants may also be geminated, but and are less common than other sonorant geminates, especially in roots. For the majority of speakers, except for those influenced by the Alabama or Koasati languages, the geminate does not occur. Vowels The vowel phonemes of Muscogee are as follows: There are three short vowels and three long vowels . There are also the nasal vowels (in the linguistic orthography, they are often written with an ogonek under them or a following superscript "n"). Most occurrences of nasal vowels are the result of nasal assimilation or the nasalizing grade, but there are some forms that show contrast between oral and nasal vowels: {| |pó-ɬki | |'our father' |- |opónɬko | |'cutworm' |} Short vowels The three short vowels can be realized as the lax and centralized () when a neighboring consonant is coronal or in closed syllables. However, will generally not centralize when it is followed by or in the same syllable, and will generally remain noncentral if it is word-final. Initial vowels can be deleted in Creek, mostly applying to the vowel . The deletion will affect the pitch of the following syllable by creating a higher-than-expected pitch on the new initial