Amara is an Austronesian language spoken by about 1200 individuals along the northwest coast of West New Britain Province, Papua New Guinea on the island of New Britain. Speakers have close to 100% bilingualism with Bariai, and many also speak Tok Pisin.
| Amara | |
|---|---|
| Native to | Papua New Guinea |
| Region | parts of West New Britain Province |
Native speakers | 230 (2011)[1] |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | aie |
| Glottolog | amar1272 |
| ELP | Amara |
Phonology
edit| Labial | Alveolar | Velar | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Plosive | p b | t d | k g |
| Fricative | s | ||
| Nasal | m | n | ŋ |
| Approximant | r, l |
- The voiced stops /b d g/ frequently manifest as fricatives [β ɹ ɣ] after vowels.
| Front | Central | Back | |
|---|---|---|---|
| High | i | u | |
| Mid | e | o | |
| Low | a |
References
edit- ^ Amara at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
- ^ a b Thurston, William R. (1996). Ross, Malcolm R. (ed.). "Amara: An Austronesian Language of Northwestern New Britain". Studies in the Languages of New Britain and New Ireland 1: Austronesian Languages of the North New Guinea Cluster in Northwestern New Britain. Pacific Linguistics: Series C. 135. Canberra: Research School of Pacific and Asian Studies, Australian National University: 197–248.