Misima language

Misima-Panaeati, also called Misiman, is an indigenous Austronesian language spoken on the islands of Misima, Panaeati, and the islands of the eastern half of the Calvados Chain of Papua New Guinea.

Misima
Misima-Panaeati
RegionMilne Bay Province, Papua New Guinea
Native speakers
18,000 (2002)[1]
4,000 monolinguals
Latin
Language codes
ISO 639-3mpx
Glottologmisi1243

Phonology

Vowels

Misima-Paneati has five vowel phonemes.[2]

Front Back
High i /i/ u /u/
Mid e /e/ o /o/
Low a /a ~ ə ~ ʌ/

Consonants

Misima-Paneati has 17 consonant phonemes.[2]

Bilabial Alveolar Palatal Velar Glottal
Plain Labialized Plain Labialized Plain
Stop Voiceless p /p/ pw /pʷ/ t /t/ k /k/
Voiced b /b/ bw /bʷ/ d /d/ g /ɡ/ gw /ɡʷ/
Nasal m /m/ mw /mʷ/ n /n ~ ŋ/
Fricative Voiceless s /s/ h /h/
Voiced v /β/
Approximant y /j ~ ʝ/
Lateral approximant l /l/

Syllables

In Misima-Paneati, the following syllable types commonly occur: V, CV, CVC, and VC.[3]

The open syllables V and CV are found in all positions of words, whereas the closed syllables CVC and VC are only found word finally and across morpheme boundaries, with the exception of the following five words:[3]

  • /ˈamna/ – 'feelings'
  • /ˈkimpos/ – 'centre pole'
  • /kinˈbʷai/ – 'fingernail'
  • /sinˈɡili/ – 'centre rib of coconut leaf'
  • /tabˈnaha/ – 'sneeze'

The only monomorphemic consonant clusters that always occur across syllable boundaries are:[4]

  • /mn/
  • /mp/
  • /nb/
  • /nɡ/
  • /bn/

Notes
  1. Misima at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
  2. Callister 1993, p. 1
  3. Callister 1993, p. 17
  4. Callister 1993, p. 18

References
  • Callister, Sandra (2005). Baaba ana talisi ana buki. Ukarumpa: Summer Institute of Linguistics. ISBN 9980-0-3055-0.
  • Callister, William (1993). "Misiman phonology". Phonologies of Austronesian languages. 2: 1–24.
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