Madak language explained

Madak
Region:	New Ireland
Speakers:	3,000
Date:	1985
Ref:	e18
Familycolor:	Austronesian
Fam3:	Oceanic
Fam4:	Western
Fam5:	Meso-Melanesian
Fam6:	(New Ireland)
Fam7:	Madak languages
Iso3:	mmx
Glotto:	mada1285
Glottorefname:	Madak

Madak, also known as Mandak, is an Austronesian language spoken in New Ireland, Papua New Guinea. The Library of Congress subject classification uses Mandak.

Phonology

Consonants^[1] !!Labial!Alveolar!Velar!Glottal

Plosive	pronounced as /link/ pronounced as /link/	pronounced as /link/ pronounced as /link/	pronounced as /link/ pronounced as /link/	(pronounced as /link/)
Fricative	pronounced as /link/	pronounced as /link/	pronounced as /link/
Nasal	pronounced as /link/	pronounced as /link/	pronounced as /link/
Approximant		pronounced as /link/, pronounced as /link/

• /ʔ/ only appears word-finally.
• The voiced plosives /b d g/ are prenasalised [ᵐb ⁿd ᵑg] word-medially.
• The unvoiced plosives /p t k/ are unreleased [p̚ t̚ k̚] when in syllable codas.

Vowels!!Front!Central!Back

High	pronounced as /link/		pronounced as /link/
Mid	pronounced as /link/		pronounced as /link/
Low		pronounced as /link/

Additionally, Madak has the following diphthongs: /ei/, /ai/, /iu/, /ao/, /au/.

Stress is predictable, occurring on the second syllable. Syllables containing the consonants /ɣ/, /β/, or /r/ are skipped when determining stress.

External links

• Kaipuleohone's Robert Blust collection includes written notes on Madak, listed in the collection as Mandak

Notes and References

1. Lee, Robert (1994). Madak Organised Phonology Data. SIL International.