Korowai language
Korowai (Kolufaup) is a Trans-New-Guinean language spoken in South Papua, Indonesia. It is spoken by the Korowai people who live along the Becking River.
| Korowai | |
|---|---|
| Kolufaup | |
| Region | Becking River, South Papua, Indonesia |
| Ethnicity | Korowai |
Native speakers | 3,500 (2007)[1] |
Trans-New Guinea
| |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | khe |
| Glottolog | koro1312 |
| ELP | Korowai |
Phonology
| Labial | Alveolar | Palatal | Velar | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Plosive | p b | t d | ɟ ⟨j⟩ | k g |
| Prenasalized | ᵐb ⟨mb⟩ | ⁿd ⟨nd⟩ | ᵑg ⟨ngg⟩ | |
| Fricative | ɸ ⟨f⟩ | s | x ⟨kh⟩ | |
| Nasal | m | n | ||
| Approximant | w | l | j ⟨y⟩, ɥ ⟨hü⟩ |
- /b/ and /d/ are in free variation with [ɓ] and [ɗ] respectively.
- /ɸ x/ can be voiced [β ɣ] intervocalically.
| Front | Central | Back | |
|---|---|---|---|
| High | i y ⟨ü⟩ | u | |
| Mid-high | e ⟨é⟩ | (ə ⟨e⟩) | |
| Mid-low | ɛ ⟨è⟩ | ɔ ⟨o⟩ | |
| Low | a |
- /e/ can be heard as [ɪ] in unstressed syllables.
- /a/ can vary to [æ] in stressed syllables.
- /ɔ/ is pronounced [o] before /w/.
- All vowels are lengthened in stressed syllables and word-finally.
- /ə/ is epenthetic and is never in stressed syllables.
Stress is unpredictable and phonemic.[2]
Notes
- Korowai at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
- de Vries, Lourens; van Enk, Gerrit J. (1997). The Korowai of Irian Jaya: Their Language and its Cultural Context. Oxford Studies in Anthropological Linguistics. Vol. 9. Oxford University Press. ISBN 9780195105513.
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