Boiken language explained

Boiken
States:	Papua New Guinea
Region:	Sepik River basin
Date:	2004
Ref:	e25
Familycolor:	Papuan
Fam1:	Sepik
Fam2:	Middle Sepik
Fam3:	Ndu
Iso3:	bzf
Glotto:	boik1241
Glottorefname:	Boikin

Boiken (Nucum, Yangoru) is one of the more populous of the Ndu languages of Sepik River region of northern Papua New Guinea. It is spoken around Boiken Creek in Yangoru-Saussia District, East Sepik Province and adjacent islands off the north coast of northern Papua New Guinea.

Phonology

! Labial! Dental! Alveolar! Dorsal!Glottal

Nasal		pronounced as /link/	pronounced as /link/	pronounced as /link/	(pronounced as /link/)
Stop		pronounced as /link/		pronounced as /link/	pronounced as /link/	(pronounced as /link/)
Affricate			pronounced as /link/
Fricative	voiceless	pronounced as /link/		pronounced as /link/	pronounced as /link/
	voiced				pronounced as /link/
Approximant		pronounced as /link/	pronounced as /link/		pronounced as /link/
Trill				pronounced as /link/
Flap				pronounced as /link/

• Stop sounds /p, t̪s̪, t, k/ are heard as voiced [b, d̪z̪, d, ɡ] when following a nasal counterpart.
• /k/ has an allophone of a glottal [ʔ] in word-final position, or when preceding a consonant in word-medial position.
• Sounds /ɸ, s, x/ can be voiced as [β, z, ɣ] in intervocalic positions.
• /n/ is heard as [ŋ] when preceding velar consonants, or freely in word-final position.
• /r/ can be heard as a voiceless trill [r̥] in word-initial positions.

Boiken vowels!!Front!Central!Back

Close	pronounced as /link/	pronounced as /link/	pronounced as /link/
Mid	pronounced as /link/	pronounced as /link/	pronounced as /link/
Open	pronounced as /link/	pronounced as /link/	pronounced as /link/

• /ɨ, ə/ have allophones of [ɪ, ɛ] when following dental and alveolar sounds.
• /u/ has an allophone of [ʊ] when preceding /k/ heard as a glottal [ʔ] in word-medial and word-final positions.
• /o/ has an allophone of [ɔ] when following labial and velar sounds.

External links

• Paradisec houses two collections of Arthur Capell's materials that include Boiken (AC1 and AC2) as well as notes from Don Laycock's work (DL2) all of these collections are open access.