Shiaxa (Sjiagha) and Yenimu (Jénimu, Oser), together known as South Awyu, are a Papuan language or languages of Papua, Indonesia. Whether they constitute one language or two depends on one's criteria for a 'language'. The two varieties are,[2]
- Bamgi River Awyu (Oser, Yenimu/Jénimu)
- Ia River Awyu (Shiaxa/Sjìagha)
Phonology
| Labial | Alveolar | Dorsal | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nasal | m | n | ||
| Plosive | voiceless | p | t | k |
| voiced | b | d | ɡ | |
| Fricative | f | s | x | |
| Tap | ɾ | |||
| Glide | w | j | ||
- Word-initial voiced stops /b, d, ɡ/ may have prenasalized allophones [ᵐb, ⁿd, ᵑɡ] when the preceding word within a sentence ends in a vowel.
- /s/ may have an allophone of [ɕ] when preceding /i/, and may also have an affricate allophone [ts] in word-initial positions.
- /x/ may be voiced as [ɣ] in intervocalic positions.
- /n/ when in word-final position, may nasalize a preceding vowel [Ṽ].
- In the Yenimu dialect, /ɾ/ may also have lateral allophones as [l] or [ɺ].[3]
| Front | Central | Back | |
|---|---|---|---|
| High | i | u | |
| Mid | e | o | |
| Low | a |
References
- ^ Shiaxa at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
- ^ New Guinea World - Awyu
- ^ Voorhoeve, C. L. (2001). Proto-Awyu-Dumut phonology II. In Andrew Pawley and Malcolm Ross and Darrell Tryon (eds.), The Boy from Bundaberg: Studies in Melanesian Linguistics in Honor of Tom Dutton: Canberra: Research School of Pacific and Asian Studies, Australian National University. pp. 361–381.
External links
- Shiaxa at the Awyu–Ndumut research group at VU University Amsterdam: [1]
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This page was last edited on 14 January 2024, at 08:37