Nii language

Trans–New Guinea language of Papua New Guinea
Nii
Ek Nii
Native toPapua New Guinea
RegionWestern Highlands Province
Native speakers
(12,000 cited 1991)[1]
Language family
Language codes
ISO 639-3nii
Glottologniii1240

Nii is a Trans–New Guinea language of the Chimbu–Wahgi branch spoken in the highlands of Papua New Guinea.

Nii has an unusual number of lateral consonants: a typical dental approximant, /l̪/, plus both dental and velar lateral fricatives, /ɬ̪/ and /𝼄/, which are optionally voiced between vowels and do not occur in initial position.[2]

Phonology

Vowels

Front Central Back
High i u
Near-High ɪ
Mid e o
Open ɑ

Consonants

Nii Consonants
Labial Dental Alveolar Palatal Velar
Nasal m n ŋ
Plosive voiceless p (t̪)[a] (t)[b] k
prenasalized ᵐb ⁿd ⁿdz ᵑɡ
Fricative s̪
Trill r̝
Lateral ɬ̪ l ʟ̝̊
Approximant w j
  1. ^ Allophone of /s̪/
  2. ^ Allophone of /r̝/

References

  1. ^ Nii at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
  2. ^ Foley, 1986:63, The Papuan languages of New Guinea

Further reading

  • Stucky, Al (1994). "Organised Phonology Data" (PDF). {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
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Official languagesMajor Indigenous
languagesOther Papuan
languages
Angan
Awin–Pa
Binanderean
Bosavi
Chimbu–Wahgi
New Ireland
Duna–Pogaya
East Kutubuan
East Strickland
Engan
Eleman
Ok–Oksapmin
Teberan
Tirio
Turama–Kikorian
Larger families
Sign languages


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