Benabena (Bena) is a Papuan language spoken in the Goroka District of Eastern Highlands Province, Papua New Guinea.
| Benabena | |
|---|---|
| Native to | Papua New Guinea |
| Region | Goroka District, Eastern Highlands Province |
Native speakers | 45,000 (2000 census)[1] |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | bef |
| Glottolog | bena1264 |
Phonology edit
Vowels edit
| Front | Back | |
|---|---|---|
| Close | i | u |
| Mid | e | o |
| Open | a | |
- Vowel sounds /i, e, a, o, u/ can also be heard as [ɪ, ɛ, ʌ, ɔ, ʊ] in word-initial or word-medial positions.
Consonants edit
| Bilabial | Labio- dental |
Alveolar | Retroflex | Palatal | Velar | Glottal | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nasal | m | n | |||||
| Stop | p | t | k | ʔ | |||
| Fricative | β | f | s | ʝ | ɣ | h | |
| Approximant | ɭ |
- /p, t, k/ can be heard as aspirated [pʰ, tʰ, kʰ] in syllable-initial position, and can be heard as unreleased as [p̚, t̚, k̚] when preceding a consonant.
- /β/ can be heard as a stop [b] in word-initial position, and also may rarely fluctuate with a glide [w].
- /ʝ/ can be heard as a glide [j] in stressed syllable word-initial position and can be heard as [z] in word-initial unstressed syllable position.
- /s/ can be heard as [ʃ] before high vowels /i, u/.
- /ɣ/ can be heard as [ɡ] in free variation among speakers.
- /ɭ/ can be heard as a tap [ɽ] in free variation.[2]
References edit
- ^ Benabena at Ethnologue (25th ed., 2022)
- ^ Young, Rosemary & Robert (1961). The phonemes of Bena-Bena (a routine statement).
