Iwal language

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Iwal (also called Kaiwa from Jabem Kai Iwac 'Iwac highlanders') is an Austronesian language spoken by about 2,000 people in Morobe Province, Papua New Guinea.

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[edit] Phonology

Iwal distinguishes 5 vowels and 16 consonants. Unlike most of its neighboring languages, it distinguishes the lateral /l/ from the trill /r/, the latter derived from earlier *s, as in aru from Proto-Oceanic (POc) *qasu 'smoke', ruru- from POc *susu 'breast', and ur from POc *qusan 'rain'.

[edit] Vowels (orthographic)

Front Central Back
High i u
Mid e o
Low a

[edit] Consonants (orthographic)

Bilabial Alveolar Velar Glottal
Voiceless stop p t k
Voiced stop b d g
Nasal m n ng
Fricative v s -h-
Lateral l
Rhotic r
Approximant w y

[edit] References

  • Bradshaw, Joel (2001). "Iwal grammar essentials, with comparative notes." In Andrew Pawley, Malcolm Ross, Darrell Tryon, eds., The boy from Bundaberg: Studies in Melanesian linguistics in honour of Tom Dutton, 51-74. Canberra: Pacific Linguistics.
  • Anon. (2004). Organised Phonology Data: Iwal (Kaiwa) language. Summer Institute of Linguistics. [1]