Awa language (Papua New Guinea) explained

Awa
Date:	2003
Ref:	e18
Familycolor:	Papuan
Iso3:	awb
Glotto:	awap1236
Glottorefname:	Awa (Papua New Guinea)

Awa is a Kainantu language of Papua New Guinea.

Phonology

Consonants

+ Consonant phonemes		Bilabial		Alveolar		Palatal		Velar		Glottal
Nasal	width=20px style="border-right: 0;"		width=20px style="border-left: 0;"	pronounced as /ink/	width=20px style="border-right: 0;"		width=20px style="border-left: 0;"	pronounced as /ink/
Stop	width=20px style="border-right: 0;"	pronounced as /ink/	width=20px style="border-left: 0;"	pronounced as /ink/	pronounced as /ink/				width=20px style="border-right: 0;"	pronounced as /ink/	width=20px style="border-left: 0;"	pronounced as /ink/	width=20px style="border-right: 0;"	pronounced as /ink/	width=20px style="border-left: 0;"
Affricate			pronounced as /ink/
Approximant					pronounced as /ink/		pronounced as /ink/
Trill				pronounced as /ink/

Vowels

	Front	Central	Back
High	pronounced as /link/		pronounced as /link/
Mid	pronounced as /link/	pronounced as /ink/	pronounced as /link/
Low	pronounced as /link/		pronounced as /link/

Allophones

• /p/, /t/, and /k/ are [β], [ɾ], and [ɣ] intervocalically after mid and back vowels
• /r/ is [d] following the vowel [i], and [r] elsewhere
• /t̪s/ is voiced [d̪z] after a nasal consonant
• /j/ may be pronounced [z]

Phonotactics

• Syllables follow the structure (C)V(C)
• The phonemes /b/, /g/, /r/, and /j/ do not occur word initially
• /ʔ/ is the only consonant occurring word finally

Tone

• Awa has the high, low, rising, and falling tonemes