Wantoat language

Wantoat
Taap
Native to Papua New Guinea
Region Morobe Province
Native speakers
 (8,200 cited 1978)[1]
Language codes
ISO 639-3 wnc
Glottolog want1252[2]

Wantoat, named after the Wantoat River, is one of the Finisterre languages of Papua New Guinea. Dialects are Wapu (Leron), Central Wantoat, Bam, Yagawak (Kandomin), continuing on to Awara, though the last is only 60–70% lexically similar with Wantoat and Wapu. Major Wantoat villages are Gwabogwat, Mamabam, Matap, Ginonga, Kupung.

Phonology

Consonants[3]
mn ŋŋʷ
ᵐbⁿdⁿzᵑɡᵑɡʷ
ptskkʷ
j w

Consonants clusters with mixed voicing occur within words:

okᵑɡa 'your uncle', kaotⁿdu 'half', ɡeᵐbikᵐbik 'lip', temⁿzin 'they will shoot it', kapⁿza 'strong'
i u
e o
ə
æ
ɑ

Vowel sequences are /ie iə iɑ iu, ee eə eɑ eu, əə, ææ æə, ɑɑ ɑo ɑu, oi oə oɑ, uu/.

Syllables are minimally V and maximally CVVC. Stress is distinctive but has a low functional load.

References

  1. ↑ Wantoat at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015)
  2. ↑ Hammarström, Harald; Forkel, Robert; Haspelmath, Martin; Bank, Sebastian, eds. (2016). "Wantoat". Glottolog 2.7. Jena: Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History.
  3. ↑


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