Shiaxa language

(Redirected from Siagha language)

Shiaxa (Sjiagha) and Yenimu (Jénimu, Oser), together known as South Awyu, are a Papuan language or languages of Papua, Indonesia. Whether they constitute one language or two depends on one's criteria for a 'language'. The two varieties are,[2]

Shiaxa
South Awyu
Yenimu
RegionPapua, Indonesia
Native speakers
13,000 including Edera[Ethn is broken again] (2002)[1]
Dialects
  • Shiaxa
  • Yenimu
Language codes
ISO 639-3aws
Glottologsout2941

Phonology

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Consonants
Labial Alveolar Dorsal
Nasal m n
Plosive voiceless p t k
voiced b d ɡ
Fricative f s x
Tap ɾ
Glide w j
  • Word-initial voiced stops /b, d, ɡ/ may have prenasalized allophones [ᵐb, ⁿd, ᵑɡ] when the preceding word within a sentence ends in a vowel.
  • /s/ may have an allophone of [ɕ] when preceding /i/, and may also have an affricate allophone [ts] in word-initial positions.
  • /x/ may be voiced as [ɣ] in intervocalic positions.
  • /n/ when in word-final position, may nasalize a preceding vowel [Ṽ].
  • In the Yenimu dialect, /ɾ/ may also have lateral allophones as [l] or [ɺ].[3]
Vowels
Front Central Back
High i u
Mid e o
Low a

References

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  1. ^ Shiaxa at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
  2. ^ New Guinea World - Awyu
  3. ^ Voorhoeve, C. L. (2001). Proto-Awyu-Dumut phonology II. In Andrew Pawley and Malcolm Ross and Darrell Tryon (eds.), The Boy from Bundaberg: Studies in Melanesian Linguistics in Honor of Tom Dutton: Canberra: Research School of Pacific and Asian Studies, Australian National University. pp. 361–381.
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  • Shiaxa at the Awyu–Ndumut research group at VU University Amsterdam: [1]