Benabena language explained

Benabena
States:	Papua New Guinea
Region:	Goroka District, Eastern Highlands Province
Speakers:	45,000
Date:	2000 census
Ref:	e25
Familycolor:	Papuan
Fam1:	Trans–New Guinea
Fam2:	Kainantu–Goroka
Fam3:	Goroka
Iso3:	bef
Glotto:	bena1264
Glottorefname:	Benabena

Benabena (Bena) is a Papuan language spoken in the Goroka District of Eastern Highlands Province, Papua New Guinea.

Phonology

Vowels

	Front	Back
Close	pronounced as /ink/	pronounced as /ink/
Mid	pronounced as /ink/	pronounced as /ink/
Open	pronounced as /ink/

• Vowel sounds /i, e, a, o, u/ can also be heard as [ɪ, ɛ, ʌ, ɔ, ʊ] in word-initial or word-medial positions.

Consonants

	Bilabial	Labio- dental	Alveolar	Retroflex	Palatal	Velar	Glottal
Nasal	pronounced as /link/		pronounced as /link/
Stop	pronounced as /link/		pronounced as /link/			pronounced as /link/	pronounced as /link/
Fricative	pronounced as /link/	pronounced as /link/	pronounced as /link/		pronounced as /link/	pronounced as /link/	pronounced as /link/
Approximant				pronounced as /link/

• /p, t, k/ can be heard as aspirated [pʰ, tʰ, kʰ] in syllable-initial position, and can be heard as unreleased as [p̚, t̚, k̚] when preceding a consonant.
• /β/ can be heard as a stop [b] in word-initial position, and also may rarely fluctuate with a glide [w].
• /ʝ/ can be heard as a glide [j] in stressed syllable word-initial position and can be heard as [z] in word-initial unstressed syllable position.
• /s/ can be heard as [ʃ] before high vowels /i, u/.
• /ɣ/ can be heard as [ɡ] in free variation among speakers.
• /ɭ/ can be heard as a tap [ɽ] in free variation.^[1]

External links

• Benabena dictionary

Notes and References

1. Book: Young, Rosemary & Robert . The phonemes of Bena-Bena (a routine statement) . 1961.