Kovai_language

Kovai language

Kovai language

Language

Kovai (Kobai, Kowai) is a Papuan language spoken on Umboi Island, halfway between mainland Papua New Guinea and the island of New Britain, and mostly within the caldera of that volcanic island.

Quick Facts Native to, Region ...

Phonology

Vowels

More information Front, Central ...
  • Vowels may be heard as lax [ɪ ɛ ʌ ɔ ʊ] when in closed syllables.[2]

Consonants

More information Labial, Alveolar ...
  • In word-final position /b ɡ/ can be heard as devoiced [b̥ ɡ̊], and may also be realized as fricatives [β ɣ] in intervocalic positions.[3]

References

  1. [1]
    Kovai at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
  2. [2]
    Bugenhagen, Robert D. (1994). Language change on Umboi island. Tom Dutton and Darrell T. Tryon (eds.), Language contact and change in the Austronesian world: Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter. p. 46.
  3. [3]
    Brown, Alan (1992). Kovai (Umboi) organized phonology data. SIL.
For a list of words relating to Kovai language, see the Kovai language category of words in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.


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