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Maisin (or Maisan) is a language of Papua New Guinea with both Austronesian and Papuan features.
[edit] Phonology
[edit] Vowels
[edit] Monophthongs
[edit] Diphthongs
|
Ending with /i/ |
Ending with /e/ |
Ending with /a/ |
Ending with /o/ |
Ending with /u/ |
| Starting with /i/ |
/ii/ |
|
/ia/ |
|
|
| Starting with /e/ |
/ei/ |
/ee/ |
|
|
/eu/ |
| Starting with /a/ |
/ai/ |
|
/aa/ |
|
/au/ |
| Starting with /o/ |
/oi/ |
|
|
/oo/ |
/ou/ |
| Starting with /u/ |
|
|
/ua/ |
|
/uu/ |
[edit] Consonants
[ŋ] and [kʷ] are not phonemic, but are distinguished in the orthography.
[edit] Phonotactics
Syllables can begin and end with up to one consonant each. I.e., English wrong /rɔŋ/ would be an acceptable word, but strength /streŋθ/ would not. Words can only end in either a vowel or [ŋ]. The vowels /u/ and /o/ never occur word-initially. /β/ never occurs before /o/ or /u/.
[edit] Writing system
| A a |
B b |
D d |
E e |
F f |
Fw fw |
G g |
I i |
J j |
K k |
M m |
| /a/ |
/b/ |
/d/ |
/e/ |
/ɸ/ |
/ɸʷ/ |
/ɡ/ |
/i/ |
/ʝ/ |
/k/ |
/m/ |
| N n |
O o |
R r |
S s |
T t |
U u |
V v |
W w |
Y y |
Kw kw |
Ŋ ŋ |
| [n] |
/o/ |
/ɾ/ |
/s/ |
/t/ |
/u/ |
/β/ |
/w/ |
/j/ |
[kʷ] |
[ŋ] |
Literacy varies from 20% to 80% in different areas.
[edit] References
- Ray, Sidney H. (Jul.–Dec. 1911). "Comparative notes on Maisin and other languages of eastern Papua". The Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland 41: 397–405.
- Ross, Malcolm (1984). Maisin: a preliminary sketch. Pacific Linguistics.
- Strong, W. M. (Jul.–Dec. 1911). "The Maisin Language". The Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland 41: 381–396.
[edit] External links
