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Telefol Language
Telefol is a language spoken by the Telefol people in Papua New Guinea, notable for possessing a base-27 numeral system. History The Iligimin people also spoke Telefol, but they were defeated by the Telefol proper. Orthography Single and represent both their single and long vowels, since they rarely contrast. is written pre-consonantally and word-finally. Single is written intervocalically, and is written intervocalically. and are written and (since they're pronounced and respectively). Initial is also written with in loan words, e.g. ''Got'' 'God'. Phonology Consonants and only appear in a few particles and some exclamations. and only appear in a few loans. Vowels There are two contrastive phonemic tones in Telefol, high and low. For example, ''ùlín'' 'club' vs. ''úlìn'' 'planted'. and , and , are nearly in complementary distribution. Also, single /e/ and /o/ don't occur in one-syllable words or in terminal syllables. Vowel length only ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Telefol People
The Telefol people are an ethnic group in the Sandaun Province of Papua New Guinea. History Telefol history starts with the "Old Woman" ( Afek) traveling through the land that is now the Eliptaman valley. She, as told through their creation stories, founded the Telefolip, the most sacred of Yolam Houses or Haus Tambaran in the Star Mountains Region about 300 years ago. Myth has it that there is a tunnel system between Mount Fubilan, the Yolam House at Bultem and the Telefolip exists, and that is how shell money and other valuable items came to the Telefol. The Telefol defeated the Telefol-speaking Iligimin people after the Iligimin people razed the Telefolip in the 19th century. The Telefol then proceeded to settle their lands. They then went on to defeat the Untou people, ritualistically cannibalizing the adults and absorbing the children into their group. Once the Untoumin were annihilated, the Telefolmin and Miyanmin would sometimes raid each other until the later ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lateral Consonant
A lateral is a consonant in which the airstream proceeds along one or both of the sides of the tongue, but it is blocked by the tongue from going through the middle of the mouth. An example of a lateral consonant is the English ''L'', as in ''Larry''. Lateral consonants contrast with central consonants, in which the airstream flows through the center of the mouth. For the most common laterals, the tip of the tongue makes contact with the upper teeth (see dental consonant) or the upper gum (see alveolar consonant), but there are many other possible places for laterals to be made. The most common laterals are approximant Approximants are speech sounds that involve the articulators approaching each other but not narrowly enough nor with enough articulatory precision to create turbulent airflow. Therefore, approximants fall between fricatives, which do produce a ...s and belong to the class of liquid consonant, liquids, but lateral fricative consonant, fricatives and affricate co ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tifal Language
Tifal is an Ok language spoken in Papua New Guinea. Dialects are (1) Tifal (Tifalmin) and Urap (Urapmin) and (2) Atbal (Atbalmin). Geography The Tifal language is bounded by Papuan and Irian Jaya speakers to the south and west, the Telefomin valley in the east, and the Sepik river to the north. Orthography Phonology Consonants : is realized as word finally, as in syllable-coda position before a consonant, and elsewhere. : is realized as in syllable coda before a consonant and elsewhere. : is realized as intervocalically, e.g. : 'water container'. : is intervocalically, in syllable coda before consonants, and elsewhere. : is realized as before . : is alveolar adjacent to back vowels and alveodental elsewhere. One dialect realizes as intervocalically. Vowels and rarely contrast. Phonotactics Syllable structure is (C)V()(C). The expression ''kwiin takan'' 'oh my!' may be an exception. only occurs word-initially. only occurs syllable-initially. is al ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mian Language
Mian is an Ok language spoken in the Telefomin district of the Sandaun province in Papua New Guinea by the Mian people. It has some 3,500 speakers spread across two dialects: ''West Mian'' (a.k.a. ''Suganga''), with approximately 1,000 speakers in around Yapsiei, and ''East Mian'', with approximately 2,500 speakers in and around Timeilmin, Temsakmin, Sokamin, Gubil, Fiak and Hotmin. Phonology Phonologically, Mian is very similar to other Papuan languages in the size of its phoneme inventory, but it nevertheless has some peculiarities, such as its contrast between a plain and a pharyngealized ˤ It is also a tonal language. Vowels Mian has six vowels, including the pharyngealized open front vowel. Mian also has four diphthongs: /ɛ/ is realized as in word-initial low-tone syllables, elsewhere. /a/ is realized as in unaccented syllables, in word-initial low-tone syllables beginning with a consonant, elsewhere. /o/ is realized as in word-initial low- ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Oksapmin Language
Oksapmin is a Trans–New Guinea language spoken in Oksapmin Rural LLG, Telefomin District, Sandaun, Papua New Guinea. The two principal dialects are distinct enough to cause some problems with mutual intelligibility. Oksapmin has dyadic kinship termsThe Oksapmin Kinship System , retrieved May 21, 2009. and a body-part counting system that goes up to 27.. Classification Oksapmin has been influenced by the (the name "Oksapmin" is from Telefol), and the similarities with those languages were attributed to borrowing in the classifica ...[...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Dyadic Kinship Term
Dyadic kinship terms (abbreviated or ) are kinship terms in a few languages that express the relationship between individuals as they relate one to the other. In English, there are a few set phrases for such situations, such as "they are father and son", but there is not a single ''dyadic term'' that can be used the way "they are cousins" can; even the latter is not truly dyadic, as it does not necessarily mean that they are cousins ''to each other.'' The few, and uncommon, English dyadic terms involve in-laws: co-mothers-in-law, co-fathers-in-law, co-brothers-in-law, co-sisters-in-law, co-grandmothers, and co-grandfathers. Examples of dyadic terms for blood kin include Kayardild (Australian) ''ngamathu-ngarrba'' "mother and child", derived from ''ngamathu'' "mother", and ''kularrin-ngarrba'' "brother and sister", from ''kularrin'' "cross-sibling", with the dyadic suffix ''-ngarrba.'' Not all such terms are derived; the Ok language Mian has a single unanalysable root ''lum ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Open Vowel
An open vowel is a vowel sound in which the tongue is positioned as far as possible from the roof of the mouth. Open vowels are sometimes also called low vowels (in U.S. terminology ) in reference to the low position of the tongue. In the context of the phonology of any particular language, a ''low vowel'' can be any vowel that is more open than a mid vowel. That is, open-mid vowels, near-open vowels, and open vowels can all be considered low vowels. Partial list The open vowels with dedicated symbols in the International Phonetic Alphabet are: * open front unrounded vowel * open front rounded vowel This vowel is not known to occur as a phoneme distinct from in any language. * open back unrounded vowel * open back rounded vowel There also are central vowels that do not have dedicated symbols in the IPA: * open central unrounded vowel or (commonly written as if it were front) * open central rounded vowel There is no unambiguous way of transcribing the open central ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mid Vowel
A mid vowel (or a true-mid vowel) is any in a class of vowel sounds used in some spoken languages. The defining characteristic of a mid vowel is that the tongue is positioned midway between an open vowel and a close vowel. Other names for a mid vowel are lowered close-mid vowel and raised open-mid vowel, though the former phrase may also be used to describe a vowel that is as low as open-mid; likewise, the latter phrase may also be used to describe a vowel that is as high as close-mid. Vowels The only mid vowel with a dedicated symbol in the International Phonetic Alphabet is the mid central vowel with ambiguous rounding . The IPA divides the vowel space into thirds, with the close-mid vowels such as or and the open-mid vowels such as or equidistant in formant space between open or and close or . Thus a true mid front unrounded vowel can be transcribed as either a lowered (with a lowering diacritic) or as a raised (with a raising diacritic). Typical truly mid vow ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Close Vowel
A close vowel, also known as a high vowel (in U.S. terminology), is any in a class of vowel sounds used in many spoken languages. The defining characteristic of a close vowel is that the tongue is positioned as close as possible to the roof of the mouth as it can be without creating a constriction. A constriction would produce a sound that would be classified as a consonant. The term "close" is recommended by the International Phonetic Association. Close vowels are often referred to as "high" vowels, as in the Americanist phonetic tradition, because the tongue is positioned high in the mouth during articulation. In the context of the phonology of any particular language, a ''high vowel'' can be any vowel that is more close than a mid vowel. That is, close-mid vowels, near-close vowels, and close vowels can all be considered high vowels. Partial list The six close vowels that have dedicated symbols in the International Phonetic Alphabet are: * close front unrounded vowel * c ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Back Vowel
A back vowel is any in a class of vowel sound used in spoken languages. The defining characteristic of a back vowel is that the highest point of the tongue is positioned relatively back in the mouth without creating a constriction that would be classified as a consonant. Back vowels are sometimes also called dark vowels because they are perceived as sounding darker than the front vowels. Near-back vowels are essentially a type of back vowels; no language is known to contrast back and near-back vowels based on backness alone. The category "back vowel" comprises both raised vowels and retracted vowels. Articulation In their articulation, back vowels do not form a single category, but may be either raised vowels such as or retracted vowels such as .Scott Moisik, Ewa Czaykowska-Higgins, & John H. Esling (2012"The Epilaryngeal Articulator: A New Conceptual Tool for Understanding Lingual-Laryngeal Contrasts"/ref> Partial list The back vowels that have dedicated symbols in the Intern ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |