Bola, or Bakovi, is an
Oceanic language
The approximately 450 Oceanic languages are a branch of the Austronesian languages. The area occupied by speakers of these languages includes Polynesia, as well as much of Melanesia and Micronesia. Though covering a vast area, Oceanic languages ...
of
West New Britain
West New Britain is a province of Papua New Guinea on the islands of New Britain. The provincial capital is Kimbe. The area of the province is 20,387 km² with a population of 264,264 as of the 2011 census. The province's only land border is w ...
in
Papua New Guinea
Papua New Guinea (abbreviated PNG; , ; tpi, Papua Niugini; ho, Papua Niu Gini), officially the Independent State of Papua New Guinea ( tpi, Independen Stet bilong Papua Niugini; ho, Independen Stet bilong Papua Niu Gini), is a country i ...
. The Harua (Xarua) dialect developed on a palm plantation.
Phonology
Phonology of the Bola language:
/t/ is realized as sounds /s, ʃ/ when only occurring in front of /i/. The voiced stops /b d ɡ/ can often sound prenasalized
b ⁿd ᵑɡamong various speakers. /ɣ/ can be pronounced as a glottal fricative among younger speakers.
/i/ before vowel sounds /ɑ ɛ ɔ u/ is pronounced as a glide sound .
[van den Berg & Wiebe (2019)]
References
Further reading
*
External links
Organised Phonology DataGenesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy, Joshua, Ruth, Jonah, and the New Testament in the Bola language of Papua New Guinea
Meso-Melanesian languages
Languages of West New Britain Province
{{MesoMelanesian-lang-stub