Wano language

Wano
RegionCentral Papua
EthnicityWano
Native speakers
1,000 (2011)[1]
Language codes
ISO 639-3wno
Glottologwano1243
ELPWano

Wano is a Papuan language of the Indonesian province of Central Papua.

Phonology

Consonant phonemes[2]
Bilabial Alveolar Palatal Velar Glottal
Nasal m n
Plosive p b t d k ʔ
Fricative β
Approximant j w
Vowel phonemes[2]
Front Back
High i u
Mid ɛ ɔ
Close a

As well as the monophthongs described above, Wano also has seven diphthongs: /i̯a/, /ɛi̯/, /ai̯/, /au̯/, /ɔi̯/, /ɔu̯/, and /ui̯/.[2]

Allophony

The voiced plosives /b/ and /d/ are imploded word-initially and intervocalically.[2]
When a nasal occurs before /p/, /p/ becomes a prenasalized voiced plosive [ᵐb]. Similarly, when a nasal occurs before /t/ or /k/, they become, respectively, [ⁿd] and [ᵑɡ].[2]
/p/, /k/, /ɡ/, and /ɡ/'s allophone, [ᵑɡ] become labialized before /w/, with /ɡ/ becoming [ɣʷ].[2]
The sequences /tj/ and /dj/ become the palatal fricatives /ç ʝ/.[2]

Grammar

Nouns

Inalienable nouns could be pluralized by suffixing -i (after consonants) or -vi (after vowels), while alienable nouns do not (similar to Indonesian, where pluralization is optional).[3] The inalienable plurals can be postposed with numerals (aburi kena "her two children").

See also

References

  1. ^ Wano at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
  2. ^ a b c d e f g Burung, Willem (2007). The Phonology of Wano (PDF). SIL International.
  3. ^ Burung, Willem (2016). A grammar of Wano (PhD thesis). University of Oxford.


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